Enfield Mk 5 ammo question

Ruffinit

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Was talking tonight with someone that has a surplus Enfield and a bunch of antique (corrosive) ammo for it. When I was suggesting he switch to modern ammo, he told me he had heard that modern ammo jams them.

Y'all help me out with understanding this issue so I can steer him right, please. I don't want him killing this old gem with corrosive ammo.

Thanks!
Ruffy

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Modern .303 ammo should be safe to fire in a surplus Enfield rifle, assuming that there aren't any headspace issues with the rifle.

The only instance of "jamming" that comes to mind is known as rim-jam or rim-lock. Since the 303 round is a rimmed cartridge, it is possible for the rim of top cartridge to be stuck on the rim of the cartridge beneath it. This isn't due to the ammunition (modern or surplus), but rather how it's loaded in the magazine/stripper clip.

Seating_-_2.jpg
Seating_-_1.jpg
 
Modern .303 ammo should be safe to fire in a surplus Enfield rifle, assuming that there aren't any headspace issues with the rifle.

The only instance of "jamming" that comes to mind is known as rim-jam or rim-lock. Since the 303 round is a rimmed cartridge, it is possible for the rim of top cartridge to be stuck on the rim of the cartridge beneath it. This isn't due to the ammunition (modern or surplus), but rather how it's loaded in the magazine/stripper clip.

Seating_-_2.jpg
Seating_-_1.jpg

My mind must not be working right...but it looks like those images are labeled incorrectly.


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82be7902b3926bba59f24a6708c957f5.jpg
 
Last edited:
Cool. Must be an enfield thing. That would bind a Mosin up


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The only mosins that bind up are broken.

I can load a clip with every rim behind each other to induce a rimjam on purpose....and then run it through the rifle with no jams.
 
Was talking tonight with someone that has a surplus Enfield and a bunch of antique (corrosive) ammo for it. When I was suggesting he switch to modern ammo, he told me he had heard that modern ammo jams them.

Y'all help me out with understanding this issue so I can steer him right, please. I don't want him killing this old gem with corrosive ammo.

Thanks!
Ruffy

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
Go a different tack. Tell him that corrosive .303 ammo is too precious to use. In literature, you'll read of people entering a room and smelling cordite in the air. Being that this is some of the last ammo using cordite, he should preserve it for future generations to know what this smells like. :p
 
Corrosive ammo is fine, so long as you are not lazy and clean your rifle properly afterwards.
 
A lot of the surplus Brit and Pakistani .303 is click-bang or just click. The stuff from the 40s and 50s is almost always this way except I did luck into a sealed liner of headstamp GB 50 .303 that not only was sure-fire but accurate as all get out. 1960 South African ball is also click-bang although the 70s/80s vintage ball is primo.
 
A lot of the surplus Brit and Pakistani .303 is click-bang or just click. The stuff from the 40s and 50s is almost always this way except I did luck into a sealed liner of headstamp GB 50 .303 that not only was sure-fire but accurate as all get out. 1960 South African ball is also click-bang although the 70s/80s vintage ball is primo.
You are not wrong about that. I bought a whole crate of surplus 1942 headstamped Bren gun ammo. It is mostly good, but every so often, you get a click- bang or just a click. But when it shoots, it actually shoots pretty darn well in both my No.1 and my P-14.
 
I ran across this one a few years ago. Some one milled the bayonet lug off. Perfect bore may have never been fired made in 1945. Personally I would not put corrosive ammo in mine. The ammo in the photo is all I have shot in it made in Serbia soft point 150 grain non corrosive. Took this picture two Sunday's ago deer hunting near my home.
 

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