AIMSurplus Ishapore Enfield 2A .308

[ArsenalOwner]

If any of you are on the fence about ordering one of the Ishapore Enfield .308 rifles from AIM-surplus, my advice is save your money. I ordered one two weeks ago and bought a synthetic stock for it while waiting for it to arrive in the mail. What the ad described was a rifle that would be "Bright, Clean", presumably a shooter. What I got in the mail was a rifle with a feed ramp so chewed up it will not feed a single round from the magazine. The feed ramp has a giant divot worn into it from use, and features a couple of nice horizontal gouges that are each perfectly capable of jamming a round, so unless I want to load one round in to the chamber each shot, I have purchased a $180 club.

If you navigate a few threads down you will see Willtallica's thread about his Ishapore, also from AIM-surplus. It seems his gunsmith pronounced his rifle unfirable as well, in his case because the headspace was excessively loose. I understand that half the fun of these weapons is cleaning away the grease and cheap finish and years of neglect, but if you're like me you want to be investing the time restoring a shooter not a doorstop.

Did any others out there order one of these .308 Enfields from Aim-surplus? If so, did you get a wallhanger like myself, or a rifle in usable condition? It seems that if this company is selling inoperable Enfields then they should mention it in the online ad.

This picture does not really show how deep the gouges are in the feed ramp, but even with the matching serial magazine (which has good feed lips), the rifle jams when loading from the mag.

[Guy Fawkes]

Did you contact Aim about the problem? They have a good reputation for service, perhaps you could give it a try.

[ArsenalOwner]

Yes I messaged their customer service, and am awaiting their response. I will keep this thread updated when I hear back, as you said this company has a good reputation and it is not my intention to damage it. I only want to inform people what to expect if they are considering ordering this particular surplus item.

[ArsenalOwner]

Another issue with the feeding is that the magazine holds the rounds seated so far back in the receiver that the bolt does not go back far enough to load the next round. Maybe this is a problem with the magazine lips that could be fixed with some pliers? I attached a pic in hopes that one of you Enfield experts could tell me which way I need to bend the feed lips to get this thing closer to running? Help!!

[ArsenalOwner]

Me again, one reason the bolt does not go back far enough to feed the next round is that the retaining spring is loose and flapping back and forth, sometimes blocking the bolt from coming back the last few millimeters. I am guessing this is not normal?

[PA Rifleman]

Another issue with the feeding is that the magazine holds the rounds seated so far back in the receiver that the bolt does not go back far enough to load the next round. Maybe this is a problem with the magazine lips that could be fixed with some pliers? I attached a pic in hopes that one of you Enfield experts could tell me which way I need to bend the feed lips to get this thing closer to running? Help!!

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Do not alter the magazine - yet!
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I can tell just from this picture that the problem is being caused not by the magazine, but by restricted bolt travel. If the bolt in this photo is as far back as it'll go, something's blocking it. If you'll notice, the stripper clip groove isn't clear, so obviously the bolt needs to go back more.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised to hear you can't get the bolt out, either.

Find the root cause of this, and it'll probably run okay. My old 2A was in worse shape than yours, and it shot very well. It also had two grooves in the feed ramp, although they looked like they were intentionally machined there. I polished it, along with the bolt face and it fed ammo as smooth as glass.

[bloomautomatic]

I got one a few months back when they were on sale for $99. Haven't shot it yet, but it appears to be functional.

Vince

[ArsenalOwner]

PA Rifleman had the right of it, the bolt travel was being restricted by just a few millimeters due to the loose retaining spring. After removing the forestock and tightening the screw that holds the retaining spring and sear, the bolt travels the full distance, so that problem is solved.
Now my problem is that one round in 5 will feed out of the magazine at too sharp of an angle and the tip will jam into the top of the chamber. As you can see in the pictures I am using boattail hollow-point .308 rounds, however, which may be the problem as this rifle was designed for FMJ ammo. The front magazine feed lips may do a better job guiding standard ball ammunition, I will post here again with results after I pick some up.

[hrc]

Remember that this rifle is designed for the 7.62*51 nato and not .308 winchester. Both are dimensionally pretty much the same but the power levels are not. This rifle was redesigned and built with better steel than the original .303 brit rifles, but I would be careful firing commerical .308 rounds in the rifle.
This gun was altered off a a design from the turn of the last century. and a cartridge that was rimmed. It did solve the problem caliber conversion, but I would not call it perfect or totally foolproof.
I'm not trying to bash the rifle but it was built as a battle rifle. Its rough around the edges but it works. I love the Lee Enfield design and find it to be kinda pretty.

[PA Rifleman]

Remember that this rifle is designed for the 7.62*51 nato and not .308 winchester. Both are dimensionally pretty much the same but the power levels are not. This rifle was redesigned and built with better steel than the original .303 brit rifles, but I would be careful firing commerical .308 rounds in the rifle.

As long as the headspace test passes, he should be okay.

More info:
http://www.thegunzone.com/30cal.html
http://www.smellysmleshooters.net/ammopressure.htm
http://www.fulton-armory.com/308.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_L_problem