Funnily enough Berdan was American and Boxer British. yes, trying to extract the primer from the Berdan pocket is a pain. But the Berdan was infinitismally more reliable as the anvil was integral with the primer pocket.

 

Unlike you, my Father had to use the military bullet. I think 9mm and .308 Win are both 115 gr 

looks like I was wrong; it's 175 gr, with mv of 2400 fps.

You might find this useful

 

Civilian Ammunition

Finding a reliable source of civilian ammunition for weapons chambered in .303 British does not pose problems. Modern ammunition is still manufactured by major producers such as Remington, Federal and Winchester. Reloading equipment and ammunition components are also manufactured by companies such as Hornady. Where extreme accuracy is required, the Sierra Matchking 174 grain HPBT bullet (stock number S2315C) is a popular choice. Commercially produced ammunition is widely available in various FMJ, soft point, hollow point and boat tail designs - both spitzer and round-nosed. The classic 174 grain FMJ bullets are widely available, though purchasers may wish to check whether or not these feature the tail-heavy Mk 7 design. In any case other bullet weights are available eg 150, 180 and 200 grain, both for hunting and target purposes.

Finally your.308 is 149 gr, and 9mm 124 gr. Close. 

Flash,

I use the lighter loads so I limit barrel and action wear. I realise this is probably an unjust fear but the rifle was made in 1915 and if our socialists don't have their way I will hand it down to my kids and hopefully theirs. I need to rescope the thing as the scope is broken but I have higher financial priorities right now. 

Admirable sentiment. My first military rifle was a Martini Carbine, as a cadet in the West India Regiment (now the Barbados Defence Force) where I went to school for a while. At 12 we were judged to be too small to handle .303s.

   

These things were black powder .577-450's so we never got the ammunition for them.

We had the .22 match rifles, you could choose No8 .22 SMLE conversion or .22 Martini Henry. I preferred the SMLE conversion. There was Anschutz as well, never liked the Mauser action.

.22 Cadet match rifles from my youth

 

Anschutz Top of the range Mauser never liked it

  

"Small frame" Martini, theoretically the most accurate

  

No8 SMLE conversion. Loved it! Note Parket Hale Sights

Finally, if your kids hack you off, buy them this.

 

It's the Indian Ishapore Arsenal SMLE III conversion to 7.62. Dirt cheap, the Indians swear the metallurgy's better, but they made short cuts in the sealed pattern process.

Wouldn't touch one with a barge-pole.

They sell well in the |USA

I can't vouch for the quality but a freind owns one and uses it as a brush gun. Not a bad piece he fires sparingly, and only at something that threatens his cows. He bought it because it was a cheap .308 he could put behind the seat of his truck and not feel guilty about it getting all scratched up.

Calculated risk, Hobbs. Probably last him a lifetime.

Flash, this is the same rifle you talked me out of buying.

 

T-Dog

Yes.

If you want to go ahead and buy, you can pick them up easily.  Go for the 2a.

2A Rifle, Ishapore, India

In the interest of economy the Indian government decided to retain the production facilities for the No1 rifle located at the Ishapore plant and embark on ... enfieldrifles.profusehost.net/ri5.htm - 13k - <NOBR>Cached - Similar pages</NOBR>

T-Dog

Remember the Indian Enfields, the Ambassador car, etc etc all Indian copies of our 1950's gear are rebuilt before import. Indians are paid on piecework rates. So quality control goes out of the window.

Understanding supply and logistics, what was desired was to re-chamber the No1 for the 7.62mm round, unfortunately chamber pressures for the 7.62mm was beyond the acceptable limits of the No1 receiver. <o:p></o:p>

 The Ishapore 2A and 2A1 was never intended as a front line service rifle but as a reserve and training weapon, the training part suggests any found on the surplus market may well have indeed been well used.<o:p></o:p>

Fact Fiction and Safety<o:p></o:p>

The 2A and 2A1 having been new manufactured using high strength EN steel, specifically engineered by the Indian government for the 7.62 x 51mm round, I would assume that it is safe to fire the 7.62mm NATO cartridge. However, there is enough controversy found within collector’s circles and on the internet suggesting that some, perhaps all of these rifles are not stronger than the original No1 rifles and that their use may be hazardous. Enough controversy that I feel it is worthy to note but not enough to say with any authority who is right. I would lean towards the safe camp as it was built and issued by a recognized government and having been on the surplus market since around 1995, I have not heard of a rash of catastrophic failures. Given this debate I should point out that there IS a difference between 7.62 x 51mm cartridge and its civilian counterpart the 308 <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Winchester</st1:place></st1:City> cartridge. The most important of which is chamber pressure maximums, to understand this difference I would suggest reading Steve Redgwell’s excellent article on the subject here. With this in mind I would not recommend using commercial 308 Win ammunition, but instead stick to military surplus or 7.62mm service rifle handloads.

Controversies aside, the Ishapore 2A/2A1 rifle is certainly worth notice as an interesting variant of the Lee-Enfield.<o:p></o:p>

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#54

Yes, the fashion on this site is to say I talk crap, but the article above is what I base my judgement on.

The only advantage is cheapness and a certain "look". I'd spend my money on a Parker Hale L42, shown above. BTW what this article does not say is the magazines are very dodgy. Go for a black painted one. the blued ones are thinner and you get stoppages.