Help! my new Enfield Keyholes!

[Erik Jensen]

I just picked up an Enfield No4 MkI from AIM last Wednesday, and finally took it to the 25 yd. range at Bass Pro Shops to try it out. rifling looks decent, it passes the "bullet test" with a round of 7.62X54R (I didn't have any .303 around, and if I'm not mistaken, the bullet diameter is almost identical). I bought two boxes of Remington 174gr. MC. loaded her up, and shot. at 25 yards, the bullets impact at a perfect, textbook 90 degree angle. rather disappointing, to say the least.

so, my question is, what can I do? would headspace have something to do with this? the fired cases looked ok, to my eye, but I know Enfields deform the case shoulders so much that it's hard to tell. is my barrel simply shot out? counter bore it? I don't know what to do...

 

[Roudy]

Keyholed at 25 yards!

Wow Erik, If the bullet keyholed at 25 yards it must really be out of balance. You mention that you checked the bore size with a 7.62X54 round, yes they 303 British and Russian 7.62X54 both have "nominal" bullet sizes of .311 inches....but they could vary from rifle to rifle.

I would clean the rifle really good with special attention to the bore....it may be leaded up. If so get some course brass wool, wrap it around a used up 22 cal bore brush and scrub the dickens out of the bore using a good bore cleaned. If it is leaded up you should be able to see bits and pieces of the lead come out and the brass wool won't damage your bore.

Also check for dings around the muzzle, if it is damaged you can have it re-crowned.

You also might try a different brand of 303 British ammo. Seems like something is not just a 'little' off if it keyholed in that short of a distance.

 

[mustanger98]

I've heard of Enfield bores ranging from .312 to .318 and don't know why this is. If you slug the bore you might find it's not as tight as it should be for factory loaded ammo. Some guys shoot 220gr cast lead handloads (closely mimicking the old blackpowder loads for the Lee Metford) in Enfields and get better accuracy than with factory/service loads.

Ditto on the possibility of recrowning. You might want to check and be sure the muzzle isn't out of round from too much steel cleaning rod- I don't recall what the Brits used for a cleaning kit.

 

[Detritus]

I don't recall what the Brits used for a cleaning kit.

issue was a cotton, or similar material, "pull-through". basicly i piece of string with a brass weight on one end and places to put pieces of Flannelette cloth to oil, wipe, apply solvent, etc. in other words a boresnake without bristles, and less surface in contact with the bore.

if a bore was VERY neglected, ie a rusty and rough to the eye, the use of a patch of wire mesh, by the company armorer only, was authorized.

 

[MartinS]

Have you shot just the one type/brand of ammo? Try some different stuff.

 

[thereisnospoon]

Confused

Never mind my confusion...

Try different ammo...I have really good luck with both S&B and PMP in mine...

 

[hksw]

IMO, try a load with a lighter bullet. Maybe the twist is not fast enough for that heavy of a bullet.

 

[mustanger98]

try a load with a lighter bullet. Maybe the twist is not fast enough for that heavy of a bullet.

Now that it's been mentioned, "ditto". I've dealt with this in other calibers like .223/5.56. .303British has been factory loaded in 150gr and the Hornady 5th Edition manual lists 125grainers too.

 

[George S.]

How does the rifling look at the muzzle? Years of cleaning with steel rods can ruin the lands and that could cause a loss of accuracy and maybe bullet tumble. Find a 'smith that can counterbore it to gain back the edges of the lands.

 

[DMK]

IMO, try a load with a lighter bullet. Maybe the twist is not fast enough for that heavy of a bullet.

Now that it's been mentioned, "ditto". I've dealt with this in other calibers like .223/5.56. .303British has been factory loaded in 150gr and the Hornady 5th Edition manual lists 125grainers too.

Actually, that Remington round was made to duplicate Brit milsurp ammo. No.4 Enfields were made for a "heavy ball" 174gr. bullet.

.303 Brit Cartridge Specs at www.303british.com

If it doesn't shoot straight with that ammo then either the bore is out of spec, worn out or the crown is damaged. Something is making the bullet radically unstable right out of the bore for it to make a 90 degree turn by 25 yards. Since it didn't swallow a bullet at the muzzle, I'd look very closely at the crown to make sure there isn't a ding at the egde or that it's not out of round.

 

[rbernie]

Since it didn't swallow a bullet at the muzzle, I'd look very closely at the crown to make sure there isn't a ding at the egde or that it's not out of round.

+1.

I suspect a crown issue.

 

[dfaugh]

Most typical problem with any milsurp I've seen, has been a bad crown of some sort.

 

[Sunray]

Slug the bore. Hammer a .30 cal cast bullet through using a brass rod from the chamber end and measure it with a micrometer. No. 4 barrels(No.1 barrels too) can measure from .311" to .315" and still be considered ok. Anything greater than .315" is considered shot out. However, Steve at .303british.com is, or was, making larger diameter bullets for these barrels. His site is the best .303 site on the net, with a great deal of info including load data.
Military issue ammo used a 174 grain bullet, but the original load was with a 215 grain bullet.
You should always check the headspace on any Lee-Enfield before you shoot it. Thousands have been assembled with zero QC.

 

[Erik Jensen]

cool. thanks guys. I'll try to pick up a couple sinkers and dowels to slug the bore this weekend. I've been meaning to do that on my mosins and my steyr M95, too. sometime this week, I'll get 'er out to my smith to get the headspace checked and have him take a look at the crown. I don't have a reloading set up yet, but I plan on getting one with my tax refund. then I can *really* get these mil-surps shooting.

 

[ACP230]

I had a Swedish Mauser carbine that keyholed badly and shot patterns, not groups.
It kept on doing it until I used an Outer's Foul Out on it.
It took hours to get all the copper fouling out of the bore.
Now it shoots into an inch and a half at 100 yards and the bullets go through the targets point first.

I'd clean the bore on your Enfield before doing anything else.

If you start getting green gunk out of it, you can figure that at least part of the problem is copper fouling.

 

[hksw]

I just caught the tail end of American Riflemen TV on Outdoor Channel yesterday and they had a .303 SMLE on the show. It looked as if the gun was keyholing on the Shoot-N-C targets. The closing shott was that of the rounds landing on the target and I couldn't help but notice the boat shaped holes.

 

[Firehand]

I got one of the 'shooter special' Enfields from AIM a while back. Bore nice & shiny, and every round- with different brands- keyholed. Checked a little closer, the first 2/3's of the bore was fine, the last stretch toward the muzzle was shiny and the rifling was shot.

I contacted AIM, shipped it back and they shipped a replacement that shoots well.

 

[Erik Jensen]

I just took a closer look, and the rifling looks fine all the way to the muzzle. however, the crown does look a little weird. I think a re-crown is in order, just because, and I'll also do some serious cleaning with solvents and make sure the headspace is kosher.

 

[arjppj]

i used that remington crap in my 1918 no1 mk 3 and it did the same thing that yours did...so i bought some 180 gr PMC and it will smack the target in 1 inch groups at 50 yards. When i shot mine and it make funny marks i scratched my head for an hour trying to figure out how the hell it did that, but the heavier load works well. But some different ammo and see what it does.

 

[Firehand]

Yeah, if the crown is damaged, that'll screw things up. Recrown and see how it does