Those Silly Brits Converted an Enfield to a .410 Shotty!

[Josh Smith]

Hello,

I bought this:

Not a whole lot of money by any means...

Single shot block instead of the magazine...

From what I've read, the British converted more than a few of these for crowd control in their empire. This is the first one I've seen though.

Authentic markings, done by the British military...

Great bluing, nice tight action - the wood is scrap, but serviceable.

And why did I buy this? Never had a .410 for starters. Second, I can use it to take deer and small game. The deer are close in propositions, but the .410 is legal for them now in Indiana. I wouldn't try a shot over 50 yards, and not even that if the angle weren't perfect.

This was done at around 35 yards.

I shot the above group with Silver Bear ammo just to see what it would do. The two shot group above had me holding in the middle of the plate, while the three shots had me holding at 6 o'clock.

Winchester 3" shoots similarly, but lower, more to point of aim.

Patterns are what one would expect from an open choke shotgun, but it is still dense enough with #6 shot to take a rabbit or squirrel at 15 yards.

I'm still waiting on my new .22, but this will fill a small niche - a niche I didn't even know I had!

Josh <><

 

[roy reali]

re:ElChivato

Cool gun! I like those off-the-wall weapons. Last year I saw a bolt action, 9mm rimfire shotgun. The guy even had the shells. The ammo looked like .410 rounds that were put through the washing machine a few times. I should have bought it. Any use...no, any practicality...no, fun factor...absolutely!

 

[Willie Lowman]

I saw a Mauser converted to 20ga once at the OGCA.

That .410 looks like fun! Is it a single shot or does it still feed from the magazine?

 

[gyvel]

If I recall correctly, it wasn't the Brits who came up with the idea, it was the Indians. First approved in 1927, the conversions were done at Ishapore, and were meant to be used primarily by Indian prison guards.

The original .410 shell used in these guns was actually a blown out .303 case that was filled with either a single lead ball or a shot charge. Those guns that are in the original chambering won't accept a regular .410 shell.

Some of these guns were reamed out to accept regular .410 shells to make them marketable in the U.S., and I'm not sure who did the work, but they were available from Springfield Sporters for many years for well under $100.00. The markings that you thought were "Authentic markings, done by the British military" are actually the importer's mark (In this case, Springfield Sporters of Penn Run, PA) and ATF mandated ID markings that tell us it's a Mk III rifle, and the chambering is .410.

 

[gyvel]

I saw a Mauser converted to 20ga once at the OGCA.

It was a very common practice after WWI to convert surplus 98 Mausers to 12, 16 or 20 gauge shotguns, usually a two-shot affair. Most of them are "Geco," "Geha," or "Remo."

The conversion, however, left a very-much weakened action with a thinner ring and the third locking lug as the only means of locking the action closed.

The other big defect in the design was the removable bolt head that could, and often did fall out and get lost, allowing the shotshell for be fired with no bolt head supporting the base of the shell.

Although considered borderline dangerous, I'm not sure there were any examples of one ever "blowing up." (Other than being fired without the bolt head in place.)

 

[mp25ds4]

yea it seems like theres always one of these on gunbroker.
im not sure how well a single shot, bolt action .410 would work for crowd control tho

 

[moosemike]

They were having problems with the 303 ripping through crowded streets and hitting bystanders. Hence the blown out 303 case shotshell.