potential for accurcy?

[muzzy]

i have a euroarms 3 band I purchased in late 70s. It is marked london armoury co. what i want to know is if this gun has the ability tto shoot well? any information on bullets, beding, and powder would be appreciated.

 

[Southron]

If the bore of your Euroarms Enfield is in good condition, I see no reason why it cannot be made to shoot very accurately.

Arms in N-SSA competition are often "Accurized." This consists of the following procedures:

1. Doing a "Lock Job" to reduce the Trigger Pull down to approximately 3 Pounds. [Anything less is illegal under N-SSA rules.]

Here is a good article how to do a Lock Job:

http://www.nwtskirmisher.com/useful-locks.shtml

Note: When you finish your lock job, IF the hammer catches on half-cock when you try to shoot it, unscrew the Sear Spring Screw half a turn. That should solve the problem.

2. A good light Trigger Pull is only ONE of the necessary items. All replica Enfields come with sloppy bedding in the stock. This can be cured by performing a "Glass Bedding Job" of the Tang, Tang Screw hole and the breech section. I highly recommend using Acraglas Gel.

http://www.ssfirearms.com/proddetail.asp?prod=SA112

With a good Glass Bedding job, it will be impossible to tell that the Enfield has been glass bedded when it is assembled.
If you don't know how to do a glass bedding job, I highly recommend that you get a gunsmith that knows what he is doing to glass bed your rifle for you.

Note: Always shoot your Enfield with a TIGHT TANG SCREW.

3. You will need to use Minie Balls made out of PURE, SOFT LEAD, that are SIZED 2 Thou of an Inch UNDER your bore diameter.

Note:Check the heading of the above article on doing lock jobs for an article on casting lead. A good bullet is the Lyman 575213 OS or the Lyman 575213PH:

http://www.ssfirearms.com/proddetail.asp?prod=575213PH

Note: If you don't want to invest in a Minie Ball Mould, S & S also sells cast and sized Minie Balls in that same section that the moulds are displayed in.

4. Be sure to run your cast Minie Balls thru a "Sizing Die." If you already have a reloading press, you can have a machinist make you up a die of the correct diameter (2 Thou of an Inch under Bore Diameter) along with a ram. Again, you want to size your bullets 2 Thou under your bore diameter. Have him make the nose of the Ram identical to the shape of the Base Plug of the mould so it is a perfect fit in the hollow base of the Minie Ball.

5. Get a digital scale and WEIGH EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOUR CAST MINIE BALLS. Separate them into different "Lots" of Plus or Minus 2 Grains. Then keep the "Lots" together and shoot them together.

Note: As for the overly "Light" Minies, throw them back into the melting pot as they have hidden air pockets in them and they will not shoot accurately.

6. Order a hundred plastic .58 Caliber "Cartridge Tubes" they are easy to use.

http://www.ssfirearms.com/proddetail.asp?prod=A-2B

Just dump the powder in, insert the Minie Ball NOSE FIRST into the tube and then dip the grease grooves of the Minie Ball in the "cartridge" into a melted mixture consisting of 60% Beeswax and 40% Bore Butter. Then sit the cartridges on a sheet of aluminum foil until the lube cools and hardens. Avoid using Crisco and Paraffin in your lube mixtures.

As for the "used" cartridge tubes, you can wash them in the clothes washer and set them aside in the sun to fully dry. They can be used over and over.

6. To "Sight In" your Enfield you will have to have a Dovetailed Front Sight. This is another job for a gunsmith that has a milling machine. He will have to heat the old front sight with a propane torch and then knock it off. Then he will have to cut the dovetail for the new front sight:

http://www.ssfirearms.com/proddetail.asp?prod=58S148A&cat=87

Note that the new front sight is much taller than the sight than the original front sight that came on the arm.

7. Actually, the "Sight In" process is a two-step process. The first one will be to determine which powder charge gives you the smallest group at 100 yards. Here is how to proceed:

Step # 1:Use Minie Balls that weigh the same and are sized. Then load up 5 rounds with 40 Grains (by volume) of FFFg black powder. Load up the next 5 rounds with 42 Grains of FFFg black powder, etc., until you get up to 56 Gtains of FFFg black powder.

Then get on a Bench Rest and shoot a target at 100 yards. On the five shots, you want to hold the sights on exactly the same spot on the target every shot.

Note: At this stage, you don't care where the bullets impact on the target in relation to he Bullseye, what you are looking for is the smallest, tightest group. Be sure to clean your bore between each 5 shot group. Sooner or later, you will find one particular load that shoots small groups-that is the "Load" for your Enfield. If you change anything: the lot of powder, the Minie Ball or even the brand of caps, that might cause the group to open up. So, try to keep everything the same.

Step #2: Now that you have determined your most accurate load, load up a dozen or so rounds using that powder charge and head back to the range and the Bench Rest. Here are a couple things to keep in mind:

Most likely, with that tall, dovetailed front sight, the rifle will shoot LOW with normal sight settings. To adjust the ELEVATION of your rifle, you will have to FILE DOWN the front sight blade. Do that until by holding "Dead Center" your bullets are landing level with the height of the Bullseye.

Adjusting the Windage is simple, just tap the front sight in the dovetail left or right until your bullets are landing in the Bullseye. HINT: When adjusting the front sight for Windage, you have to tap it in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION to move your point of impact.

Well, there it is. Now join a N-SSA unit near you and start to having FUN, FUN, FUN winning medals with your Enfield, jsut contact the Recruiting Officer at the N-SSA website:

www.n-ssa.org/

 

[Southron]

Oh yes, you can get real Beeswax in the "Candle" section of Michaels craft stores at your local shopping center. Bore Butter can be gotten from Dixie Gun Works:

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/advanc...43i8djfpoue7utqel8564&keywords=LC0203&x=2&y=5

Of course when shooting your Enfield, shoot it with the ramrod laid by the sight in bench and NOT in the rifle. Wear eye protection. Always re-load your Enfield with the hammer down on a fired cap (to keep air out of the breech so as not to keep any burning embers from the previous shot alive) and keep the muzzle pointed away from your body.

 

[Bonny Blue Flag]

Southron, it was a pleasure to read your response to muzzy. You really know your stuff.

--BBF

 

[Southron]

Dear BBF

THANKS for your kind remarks. I started shooting in the N-SSA in 1968 and picked up a few things along the way.

All My Best

Southron