.303 brass no4 mk1*

[Sweet11-87]

 Recently got  the rifle in the title above, and had it to the range for the 1st time. rifle ran great and was fun to shoot. When cleaning and sorting the brass its had a very clear  stress/stretch mark at the web near the case head that was the full way round every 1 of the 50 cases i fired but non split and the cases were almost comical not the same shape especially round the shoulder as the unfired i still had left over on my bench.

i then full length resized them all and re-primed them(ive since read and been told full length resize of .303 is a bad idea and wont be doing it again and will be getting a neck resizer ). Its also Sellier&Bellot brass (again since been told and read its one of the thinnest and most brittle cases going and will be getting PPU next)

ive acknowledged if i use this brass again its probably going to need to go in the bin and thats fine, my question and one ive received 2 very polarized answers is if/when i fire it again its a fair chance i will get a case rupture but will it be an inconvenience or a major drama.

am i being stupid and risking my rifle and more importantly health or am i throwing away £40 worth of brass and primers for nowt?.

a case separation is never what anyone wants but the older blokes at my club  and tbf theyve shot allot and been around the block were convinced that the enfield was known for it designed to take it and was par for the course and even had tools issued to pull the split brass back out. and then the internet says the magazine will go down the sights will go up the wood will become splinters and the bolt will be in my eye socket.

anyone got any experience with reloading with the enfield or experiences with case failure in them?

Edited June 11 by Sweet11-87

[Imperfection]

I homeload 303 British.

I do tend to neck size the brass as i have had case head separation. It isn't the end of the world (i tapped the remnants out with a cleaning rod) but it was a pain in the ***. I've also had it with 357mag too. I know i should buy a case extractor but two incidents in thousands of rounds is low.

Get yourself a blowtorch and start annealing the brass if you're not already doing it.

 

 

 

[Sweet11-87]

3 minutes ago, Imperfection said:

I homeload 303 British.

I do tend to neck size the brass as i have had case head separation. It isn't the end of the world (i tapped the remnants out with a cleaning rod) but it was a pain in the ***. I've also had it with 357mag too. I know i should buy a case extractor but two incidents in thousands of rounds is low.

Get yourself a blowtorch and start annealing the brass if you're not already doing it.

 

 

 

yeah ive been reading into that ive never played with annealing before but it sounds like it will extend the life of my brass. cheers

[Imperfection]

1 minute ago, Sweet11-87 said:

yeah ive been reading into that ive never played with annealing before but it sounds like it will extend the life of my brass. cheers

Just pick a day, relax and sit there with a bucket of water between your legs. Heat the brass and drop it in the water. It just keeps the brass softer.

[enfieldspares]

I have a large amount...three hundred plus if I recall...of loose PPU cases that have been decapped and then steel pin tumbled. £34 per 100 plus flat rate £9 postage on any amount posted. So for three hundred it'd work out at £37 per 100. I can post a picture if of interest. 

The answer is to partial neck size using your full length sizing die by putting candle soot on a case fired in your rifle and then screwing you r sizing down slowly a bit at a time until the soot is "pressed flat" onto the shoulder. Then turn the die down slightly more and set it at that place with the lock nut. The other answer is to try Lee Collet Sizing die (on all subsequent reloadings once you have at first full length sized the cases) of which I have a used set (collet sizer and standard dead length seating die) in the Lee box with instructions at £26 posted with shellholder.

I have head case head separation with old commercial Winchester ammunition in a No4 and no the rifle doesn't blow up or self destruct. A standard phosphor bronze brush will usually get the front of the case out if, indeed, it doesn't simply drop out of you hold the rifle vertically.

Edited June 11 by enfieldspares

[Lever357]

S&B brass does have a reputation for being poor brass. If you do get a case head separation, it will not damage the rifle or you. I had one with a HXP case and tried a trick I had read online - gently load the next round, it will engage with the remnants of the cartridge case and then withdraw the bolt very slowly and the damaged case should come out. Failing that, a cleaning rod down the muzzle works too.

[Andy H]

I used to have a no1 smle and a no4  and neck sized only but had to make sure to keep the same cartridge cases with the matching gun as the no1 had a very generous chamber and any cartridge used in the no1 would jam in the no4 so all cases used in the no1 had the bases coloured with a sharpie, Favourite loads were Lee 185 grain cast with gas check and 12 grain's of red dot for 100mt plinking and Hornady 174 grain round nose and 37 grains of Vectan SP7 for the no1 and A Sierra 174 grain .311" hpbt match using 40 grains of Varget ( Before it was banned in the EU), for the no4.

[Sweet11-87]

4 hours ago, enfieldspares said:

I have a large amount...three hundred plus if I recall...of loose PPU cases that have been decapped and then steel pin tumbled. £34 per 100 plus flat rate £9 postage on any amount posted. So for three hundred it'd work out at £37 per 100. I can post a picture if of interest. 

The answer is to partial neck size using your full length sizing die by putting candle soot on a case fired in your rifle and then screwing you r sizing down slowly a bit at a time until the soot is "pressed flat" onto the shoulder. Then turn the die down slightly more and set it at that place with the lock nut. The other answer is to try Lee Collet Sizing die (on all subsequent reloadings once you have at first full length sized the cases) of which I have a used set (collet sizer and standard dead length seating die) in the Lee box with instructions at £26 posted with shellholder.

I have head case head separation with old commercial Winchester ammunition in a No4 and no the rifle doesn't blow up or self destruct. A standard phosphor bronze brush will usually get the front of the case out if, indeed, it doesn't simply drop out of you hold the rifle vertically.

Thank you all for your replies, Enfield spares with a name like thst I’m gona take your guidance and opinion mate haha I’ll  come back to you in the brass but if that collet and dead length die is just a neck resizer I’ll for sure buy that from you 

Edited June 11 by Sweet11-87

[enfieldspares]

The collet resizer instructions are here. It's not for everyone though, just as micrometer seater dies, s-dies and etc., etc. aren't. It does what it does well and needs no case lubricant does a Lee collet die. But you would need initially to have full length sized cases any new to you cases that you are then subsequently going to load with it. Here's a link to Lee's document.

https://leeprecision.com/files/instruct/RM3512.pdf

You can however use a normal full length sizing die to just neck size. It's known as "partial sizing" and the method is as I've described above. It also saves you buying a collet die set but, alas, if using a normal full length die to achieve "partial sixing" you'll still need to lubricate the case necks. With a Lee collet die yo won't. This man here has used a spacer but if you are only going to lock the die in position you don't need the spacer just back the die out and adjust the main lock ring accordingly. It's not the best explanation but the only one I could find.

 

Edited June 11 by enfieldspares