British 303 - Help

[Contenderizer]

A friend of mine recently gave me a sporterized British 303. The markings on the receiver are: "No4MK 2(F)FTR" Along with the gun he also gave me a ton of old ammo that he says has corrosive primers. Can anyone help me with the procedure of removing the bolt? I would prefer to do so when cleaning the gun after shooting this old ammo. Perhaps someone knows of a source for take-down info. Thanks for your help and advice, and, yes, I have great friends!

[hnter]

There's a small serrated push lever on the RH side near the front of the action slide . Push it down, open the action and pull it back just far enough to rotate the front of the bolt straight up from R to L. Then pull the bolt out. Reassemble in the reverse. Very simple actually. :)

BTW shooting old corrosive ammo's no problem, just clean it thoroughly, but the old brass probably shouldn't be reloaded.

If the stuffs corrosively primed reloaded stuff, trash can it, don't shoot it.

Fact is I wouldn't shoot sombody elses reloads in it UNLESS ya trust em with yer life, which ya are!

Hnter

[Gil Martin]

You have a WWII British military rifle that was arsenal reconditioned per the FTR (Factory Through Repair) designation. hnter gave good advise. If your rifle has the micro adjustable rear sight, it must be raised to remove the bolt from the receiver.

Shooting corrosive ammo requires some additional cleaning steps much like shooting blackpowder. Regular gun solvent and oil are inadequate to properly clean the bore after shooting corrosive ammo. G.I. bore cleaner works well as does hot soapy water patches followed by wet patches, then dry patches and oil patches. Failure to get the corrosive salt residue out will lead to rusting and pitting of the bore. Hope this helps. All the best...
Gil

[PA Hunter]

Glad to see some people still use them. I used my .303 up until a couple years ago for deer hunting when I bought my new .06. I killed allot of deer with that old rifle. I did not like the safety lever on mine it kept springing forward when I slung it over my shoulder.

[Gil Martin]

The old .303 Enfield was the first deer rifle for me and a lot of others. I see that you are from Mertztown. I work at the Lutheran Home in Topton. All the best...
Gil

[Adam Helmer]

Contenderizer,

Welcome to the Forum.

Why not ask your friend, who gave you the rifle, to show you how to remove the bolt? If the prior owner cannot remove the bolt, then you have problems.

The folks here have stated how to remove the bolt. Is your corrosive ammo GI Ball ammo? If its reloads, I would return or trash the stuff.

Adam

[gumpokc]

MY first rifle was a .303 #4mk1.
It had been lightly sporterised (mainly just a new stock).

Have a second one a #1mk3, that had been sporterised, with a heavier barrel and sights put on when i got it.

Both are nice guns, I enjoy them alot.

One word of advice, if you ever disassemble the bolt fully, make _sure_ you put it back togeather corectly, cause me considerable headaches until i figured out what i goofed.
It's very easy to not run the bolthead all the way back down the threads, and even if it's one turn (or a parial turn) from being where it should be (due to gunk, whatever etc) it'll keep it from closing the bolt.

[Gil Martin]

Here are the complete disassembly instructions for the Enfield No. 4. Hope this helps. All the best...
Gil


http://www.surplusrifle.com/no4/rifledisassembly2006/index.asp

[BILLY D.]

Hey Gil

Thats a really neat link. Thanks.

Best wishes, Bill

[Adam Helmer]

Gil,

Fine link, but I think the lad merely wants to REMOVE the bolt for cleaning, not render same into its component parts, eh, wot?

Kinda like asking a guy for "the time" and he tells you how to build a watch. Whatever.

Adam

[muledeer]

Gil was having a "Senior" moment:D
muledeer

[BILLY D.]

Originally posted by muledeer
Gil was having a "Senior" moment:D
muledeer

muledeer

I'm glad he was having a brain wave. There is a wealth of info on that link. I posted it to my favs.

Bill

[Joe Boleo]

Great site and a wealth of information as BILLY D pointed out. I would urge those who want to get clear firearms instructions to go to the site and obtain what information is available because it is supposed to be shutting down in the near future.

Adam,
When a sight link is posted, you get the whole thing, not just a mere snippet. The pictures and text link that Gil posted are like getting clear driving directions. One uses what is appropriate, don't you agree? The original poster did request take down information for the Enfield. Guess you missed that part.

muledeer,
I would expect a Senior response from Gil, he is terrific!

Take care.
Joe

[PJgunner]

"BTW shooting old corrosive ammo's no problem, just clean it thoroughly, but the old brass probably shouldn't be reloaded."

Baloney! You've got to go through the process of cleaning the rifle anyway, so if that brass is Boxer primed, just slosh it around in that hot soapy water that you're cleaning the rifle with, then rinse in clean hot water.
If I'd have trashed the 800 plus rounds of corrosive 30-06 brass, WW-2 issue, LC42 and 43, SL42, and some other odd ball headstamps, I'd have wasted a lot of money buying that ammo. You only have to do it once. In my case, after I cleaned it, i decapped them and cleaned them again just to be sure. Then, I removed the crimps and I've been loading that stuff ever since. Of course, if it is Berdan primed, don't chuck it, but put it in with the rest of the scrap brass you are saving to take to the recyclers. You're not saving it? I recently took 106 pounds of junk brass that's been piling up over the last five years or so. I came home with a check for $116.09. That'll pay for quite a few components, don't you think?
Paul B.

[hnter]

Neet site, I'll use it. Thanks fer posting it.