Thursday, June 02, 2011
Reliable rifle
The following quote is from blog
http://hubpages.com/hub/Three-Most-Successful-Rifles
The first candidate is the outstanding rifles chambered for the 303 British Round. The rifle came out in 1887 and adopted in 1888. It was invented by James Paris Lee an American, incidentally. Originally loaded with black powder they switched to smokeless and a pointed bullet using Cordite powder. The one used the most was a 174 grain flat base bullet at about 2400 FPS. Cordite powder was used for many years in the 303 as well as British sporting arms. The rifle saw use in both WWl and WWll not to mention many other smaller wars and skirmishes. It is popular in many of the former British colonies including Canada and Australia. As a military rifle it had few peers. It was powerful enough for the job at hand and reliable. It cocks on closing which is liked by some because it would help a little in getting a stubborn round out of the chamber. It also was capable of rapid fire for a bolt action a desirable feature during war time. It has provisions for escaping gas in the unlikely event of a case rupture. Many of them have oversize chambers which was done on purpose to be able to chamber and fire dirty or deformed ammo. That causes case separation especially when handloading. To counteract that problem set your sizing die to just enough sizing to where it will fit in the chamber. Accuracy can be outstanding in one that is in good shape. They have a two piece stock which is disliked by some. Another plus is that they are readily available and fairly inexpensive unless it an odd model. The MK 4 which was brought out in the 1930’s was a stronger and simpler version of the older models. The fact that it was used by the Brits for 70 years would indicate that it is a strong and reliable rifle. Since they were used until 1957 there are a lot of variations out there. The ammo for it is still relatively available and brass is sold at various locations. The bullet is a 311 diameter which can be found easily. Since it is a rimmed cartridge it might turn off some folks but it functioned with great reliability in the weapons it was designed for. The magazine protrudes below the stock which might make it more difficult for a hunter to carry though the balance is forward of magazine. The 303 round loaded with a good hunting bullet is capable of taking most big game animals out there. Some folks compare it to the 30-40 Krag but due to higher loading pressures it will out do its American competitor. The Krag was commonly loaded to 40,000 PSI while The 303 rifles were designed for pressures of 45 to 48,000 PSI though some of the newer ones were chambered for the 308 which can go to 62,000 PSI which would suggest that it was a strong rifle. At one time it was chambered in a few sporting a rifle such as the Winchester model 95 but that is no longer true. No one to my knowledge makes a clone of the Lee Enfield rifle today. It can be sporterized to an extent but it might not be worth the dollars required to make that happen. That is something that the owner would have to determine. You can mount a scope with a side mount which will enhance it accuracy and with a good barrel it may very well be worth the bucks. Adding a sporter stock would enhance it looks if that’s important to you.
The highlighted explains many reliable weapons in the field.
AK47 is very reliable also even without need for cleaning. Its tapered shells and chamber functioned just like oversized chamber to prevent jamming.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Three-Most-Successful-Rifles
The first candidate is the outstanding rifles chambered for the 303 British Round. The rifle came out in 1887 and adopted in 1888. It was invented by James Paris Lee an American, incidentally. Originally loaded with black powder they switched to smokeless and a pointed bullet using Cordite powder. The one used the most was a 174 grain flat base bullet at about 2400 FPS. Cordite powder was used for many years in the 303 as well as British sporting arms. The rifle saw use in both WWl and WWll not to mention many other smaller wars and skirmishes. It is popular in many of the former British colonies including Canada and Australia. As a military rifle it had few peers. It was powerful enough for the job at hand and reliable. It cocks on closing which is liked by some because it would help a little in getting a stubborn round out of the chamber. It also was capable of rapid fire for a bolt action a desirable feature during war time. It has provisions for escaping gas in the unlikely event of a case rupture. Many of them have oversize chambers which was done on purpose to be able to chamber and fire dirty or deformed ammo. That causes case separation especially when handloading. To counteract that problem set your sizing die to just enough sizing to where it will fit in the chamber. Accuracy can be outstanding in one that is in good shape. They have a two piece stock which is disliked by some. Another plus is that they are readily available and fairly inexpensive unless it an odd model. The MK 4 which was brought out in the 1930’s was a stronger and simpler version of the older models. The fact that it was used by the Brits for 70 years would indicate that it is a strong and reliable rifle. Since they were used until 1957 there are a lot of variations out there. The ammo for it is still relatively available and brass is sold at various locations. The bullet is a 311 diameter which can be found easily. Since it is a rimmed cartridge it might turn off some folks but it functioned with great reliability in the weapons it was designed for. The magazine protrudes below the stock which might make it more difficult for a hunter to carry though the balance is forward of magazine. The 303 round loaded with a good hunting bullet is capable of taking most big game animals out there. Some folks compare it to the 30-40 Krag but due to higher loading pressures it will out do its American competitor. The Krag was commonly loaded to 40,000 PSI while The 303 rifles were designed for pressures of 45 to 48,000 PSI though some of the newer ones were chambered for the 308 which can go to 62,000 PSI which would suggest that it was a strong rifle. At one time it was chambered in a few sporting a rifle such as the Winchester model 95 but that is no longer true. No one to my knowledge makes a clone of the Lee Enfield rifle today. It can be sporterized to an extent but it might not be worth the dollars required to make that happen. That is something that the owner would have to determine. You can mount a scope with a side mount which will enhance it accuracy and with a good barrel it may very well be worth the bucks. Adding a sporter stock would enhance it looks if that’s important to you.
The highlighted explains many reliable weapons in the field.
AK47 is very reliable also even without need for cleaning. Its tapered shells and chamber functioned just like oversized chamber to prevent jamming.
