303 British (Lee-Enfield) headspace question

Enfields have interchangeable bolt faces in three different lengths to adjust headspace. It may well be fixable if you can find the parts.

it should close on a go, fail to close on a no go and field

I am baffled at what this is telling me. Advise??

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it tells me your head space gauges are wrong or your ammo is incredibly out of spec.... or you messing up along the way

The bolt head can spin around the bolt and change the specs, as you noted. Twirl it so it's in against the bolt as tightly as possible then try the guages again.

It should close on go and not close on no-go.
Since it closes on No-go your headspace is too loose.
As was stated, what you have to do is figure out which size bolt head is on your rifle, then go one size higher, then check the space again to make sure it's OK.
Enfields were often made with loose headspace to increase their reliability but it's a PITA for us reloaders.

And on chambering rounds when it won't close on a go gauge, that doesn't really suprise.
The rim on your casing is probably thinner than the rim on a go gauge.
I ran into the same thing when I thought I had a headspace problem with my 30-30.
All it means is that there is wide variation in the specs that ammo is made to.

"...fail to close on a no go and field..." The bolt should close on a Go. Closing on a No-Go indicates the HS is high, but not necessarily terminally so. You need a Field guage. ($26 from Brownell's) The bolt can close on the No-Go(you'd rather it didn't though), but never the Field. The Field is used if the No-Go test fails. If it closes on the Field, the headspace is excessive. If it doesn't, your rifle's headspace is still high, but is also safe to shoot.
"...will accept a live round..." It would. If your headspace was too little, a cartridge fail to chamber. It will with high HS.
"...against the bolt as tightly as possible..." Nope. It's supposed to move freely. The extractor lug on the bolt head should line up with the lug on the bolt. If you've got it going past there and tight, you won't be able to put the bolt in the rifle at all. If the bolt head is turned out even one turn, it won't close. This is what I suspect you've done. It's common.
"...three different lengths to adjust headspace..." Four. 0 to 3. However, that applies to No. 4 rifles only. There is no number on a No. 1 Mk III bolt head.
"...Mine is marked 4..." It's been rumoured that there were a few 4's made in the 50's. I've never seen one though. If the bolt closes on the Field guage with that bolt head, you need to have the barrel removed, the threaded shank turned back and the chamber reamed. Pricey. Look around for a bolt body and try that. Gunparts likely.

Jeep Geek - Glad you figured it out.

Most all Enfields are a little loose in head space. They also have pretty generous chambers. Take it out and shoot it and see what your brass looks like. Your probably good to go.

The SAAMI gauges arre not correct for the British .303. A Field SAAMI is about equal to a mil-spec No-Go.

Of my current 13 .303's, 8 will not close on a SAAMI Field, and the other 5 will. I have fired all, and find no classic head space issues on the 5 that will close.

Remember that the headspace is measured at the case base or rim, not the shoulder. If you want some real excitement, put a caliper on the case rim of various makers of cartridges, and then measure the headspace gauges rims. You will find a HUGE variance. I ended up using Jeff S's method, taking them out and shooting them. Not the best method, but if you don't at least have a SAAMI Field gauge, you are not going to get a correct reading on your headspace of your rifle.

This is the biggest irony in all of shooting.(exaggeration) Enfields have sloppy chambers and suffer from a rear lug bolt and stretchable receiver. This is the gun we'd really like to measure the chamber on with HS gauges. But the gauges don't measure the chamber like most other cals. It simply measures the thickness of the rim of the case. If you have caliper you can add a layer of masking tape to the back of your no-go gauge to create what they call a "field gauge" which is slightly larger still than tha no-go gauge. The no-go should be .067" thick. Add .007" of tape and make your own "field gauge". Try closing the bolt SLOWLY on the no-go with the added tape measured to .074".

The whole point is moot though as I've learned if you can chamber a round it's probably good to shoot. A gauge telling you if you have too much slop in the rim area of the case isn't gonna give you much useful information. Where you get into trouble is resizing cases for reloading. Neck size only or you'll be splitting cases after 2 or 3 sizings from all the stretching in those big chambers.

Definately only neck size the brass. (at least that's been my experience)

So- take it out and shoot it, and after, just neck size the brass?

Roger, aye...

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Yep. On the first one, hold your breath and lift your cheek so your face isn't directly behind the bolt. Make sure no one else is watching or taping you.

Yep. On the first one, hold your breath and lift your cheek so your face isn't directly behind the bolt. Make sure no one else is watching or taping you.

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Thats what I do with all new to me old military surplus rifles that I haven't shot or seen shot. I just feel better not having it anywhere around my face when it explodes on the first shot.

Jeepgeek, you will enjoy hunting with it. I have a Savage Enfield that has a sporter stock and a scope mounted on it that is my go to hunting rifle. It has worked well for Elk and deer and next year will be going Moose hunting with me. The .303 is a sweet shooting and hard hitting round.

Rather than holding your face off to the side and thus placing your face, skull, and eyes 3" away from a rifle that's going to potentially explode (probably unlikely), find yourself an old tire and piece of heavy string to use as a lanyard.
Use the tire to hold the rifle, point it at the berm, run the lanyard under the bench where you'll be hiding, and gently pull the cord.

If you do the above method. Be sure the weapon is SECURED to the tire. You don't want recoil to fling your weapon around.

I have the same HS "problem".. I neck size the brass and load to moderate pressure levels, (using cast bullets), it shoots great and the brass lasts much longer than FL sizing.