7.62 Nato Lee Loader Enfield 2A

[Eddie O]

I have an Enfield 2A in excellent condition. The Bore shines with deep rifeling and the headspace checks OK with a .308 Field Gauge.

However I am always concerned about the information / mis-information about these weapons.

I have a large ammount of Military surplus nato but have been concerned about shooting it.

My Question. If I pull the Bullets, and drop the powder charge by 1/3 would I be able to reset the bullets with the .308 Lee Handloader?

Would this give me a safe, shootable plinking charge.

I do not want this Enfield left as a Wall Hanger.

Any experts out there on the subject.

This Weapon had a complete overall at some point, all the Steel is Blue, not paint, the Bolt is clean tight and bright.
Thanks,
Ed

[snuffy19608]

Shoot it as is, the 2A & 2A1 were made to use milsurp ammunition. Don't believe the stories about them being bored out .303 tubes and old metal, they were made from scratch with good steel and are still in service here and there.

I have owned one, shot the crap out of it with mostly Portugese surplus. Good solid accurate weapon.

[Eddie O]

Thanks,
It's so hard sometimes with all the doom and gloom so called experts giving misguided info.
Nice to hear from someone who actually ownes and shoots one of these Weapons

Thanks,
Ed

[snuffy19608]

check your p/m's

[Dave_n]

You should log onto the Mil surplus site in Canada. All and I mean all of the Lee Enfield experts are members of that site. A lot migrated from the old Gun and Knife forum, via British Guns then to the Major's Forum and now to the Mil Surp group. Another would be the British Gun Pub under Gunboards. These are posters who grew up with LEs of all types and were discussing these rifles before Dan's grandfather was born!!! Dave_n

[GRIZ]

If I pull the Bullets, and drop the powder charge by 1/3 would I be able to reset the bullets with the .308 Lee Handloader?


This can be a chancy proposition. You just can't reduce powder charges without knowing what kind of powder is used. There is such a thing as secondary explosion effect (S.E.E.) that can occur with reduced charges. This is usually related to ball powders (which most 7.62 NATO is loaded with to my experience)but I'm sure it can happen with any powder. There are instances of this happening in pistol rounds with light charges of Bullseye.

Basically what happens is with all the air space in the cartridge the powder explodes instead of burning. I have had this happen with a 270 but fortunately it didn't hurt me or the rifle. Ballisticians are not 100% sure why this happens but it has been known for some time. The first time I heard of it was in "Cooper on Handguns" back in the 70s.

Google secondary explosion effect if you care to read more.

I have 2As and they have digested any NATO or commercial 308 ammo I've fed them. I think the chambers are a little looser (brass expands a little more) but nothing I've worried about. One of these Enfields shot a 1" group with LC National Match ammo.

[Eddie O]

Thanks to all,
I put 50 Nato Rounds through my 2A today, worked like a charm. Did not get a great grouping, but then I'm not used to shooting any Enfield yet.

The Bolt did feel a little tight once or twice, I examined the spent Brass but did not observe any visable swelling.

I washed the Bore with Windex, and then a good cleaning at home. I saw this on the Board once or twice to remove the Primer Salts?

Is there any way to reload Old Nato, or is it just good for scrap?
Thanks,
Eddie O
PS: Mil Surplus is new to me I'm a retired Balto City Police 99.9% of my shooting has been with ,38, 9mm both of which I reloaded in the past, mostly .38 Wad Cutters. I just picked up a P38, Love it

[Pete D.]

I washed the Bore with Windex, and then a good cleaning at home. I saw this on the Board once or twice to remove the Primer Salts?

Is there any way to reload Old Nato, or is it just good for scrap?

If you are shooting ammo with corrosive primers, Windex will work. So will plain water (Windex works because it is mostly water).
About the brass: it can be reloaded but the brass may have "absorbed" some of the corrosive salts. If you reused it, you'd be recycling that residue and you'd have treat cleaning the gun as if you were firing corrosive ammo. So, you can do it but it is probably not worth the trouble.
Pete

[Dave_n]

Most if not all of the "surplus" NATO ammo (the ones with the cross in a circle on the head stamp), are berdan primed. Not worth reloading unless you are a masochist as you either have to find/make a decapper or use hydraulic pressure to remove the primer. If you look down the fired case, you will see two primer holes, not one centered one.

The "correct way" (from Her Majesty's forces!!), is to pour boiling water down from the breech end and then patch it until dry and then very light oil (a few drops on a patch). Remember the bolt face as well, and the extractor. The heat of the water opens up the microscopic cracks in the bore, dissolves and washes out the potassium salts deposited from the primer. There was even a funnel issued (with its own broad arrow markings) for this job.

Remember the SAMMI gauges are different from the NATO ones; similarly, this also occurs with the 0.303. The chambers in the military firearms are larger than the SAMMI dimensions to permit different producers of ammunition.

7.62 x 51 NATO is slightly different from 0.308 Winchester as the shoulder is set differently and the military brass is thicker. There is an awful lot of BS out there on similarities and differences of the two. The rule of thumb that I use is fps <2800 and bullet weight of 145-150 grains. PSI of close to 50K, and remember, PSI is not the same as CUP and SAMMI psi is measured differently from NATO psi.

If you check Steve Regfield's site on the 0.303, or run a search on the GunBoards "British Gun Pub" site or on the Canadian MilSurp site on 7.62 Nato, you will see the arguments and what they are arguing over.

Enjoy those old beauties. I have No 1 Mk III in 303 (both UK and Indian), a few No 4 Mk I in 303, a No 5 Mk I in 303 and a couple of Ishapore No 2As in 7.62 x 51mm. Much under-rated rifles in the US except amongst afficinados.

The old "joke" in WWI was the US fielded a target rifle (the 1903 A), the German's a hunting rifle (the original Mauser 98, not the 98 K) and the UK, a battle rifle (the Mk III). Enjoy the rifle. Dave_n

[ham385]

Definitely do not....send all ammo to me, I will dispose of it in a safe manner