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Failure when shooting with lead bullets indicates that the powder detonated rather than burned. This is a common problem shooting pistol powder in large capacity cases.
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You are referring to SEE (secondary explosion effect). This can occur with small charges of SLOW powders in large cases. Powder quickness slower than 3031 can be dangerous with reduced loads. Fast powders are safe with reduced loads when used properly. See the book Firearms Pressure Factors. Blowups that occur with fast powders are typically due to double charges.Comment
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Phillip McGregor (OFC)
"I am neither a fire arms nor a ballistics expert, but I was a combat infantry officer in the Great War, and I absolutely know that the bullet from an infantry rifle has to be able to shoot through things." General Douglas MacArthurComment
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Agree - I see the SEE detonation phenomena reported as reduced loads of fast powders very often on various forums. Whereas it is reduced charges of slow powders that cause SEE.Comment
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I would not go to the expense or bother of installing a barrel. In the May- June 1985 issue of Rifle, Hugh Douglas took three or four low number receivers, without bolt or barrel, and hit them with a nylon faced hammer. He held the receiver in the left hand, hammer in the right. All of the receivers he whacked, included a double heat treat, broke.SlamFire....it's very interesting how the Marine Corps had that very simple approach for testing low number receivers. I have a couple of low number receivers without barrels. I would like to try this method and just see what happens. Would it be better to have a barrel installed first?Comment
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I have the tools in install a barrel and a few worn barrels. Is this what the marine corps did? I would think that hanging the receiver would work better but probably with the same results.
Thanks LouisComment
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Back to the original question about what to shoot - .22LR after you convertthe rifle. Otherwise, test the receiver first by whacking it smartly as described above.Comment
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Keep shooting them, with each destroyed rifle the intact rifles go up in price
liberum aeternumComment
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I think weird stuff happens firing lead bullets - whichever theories you prefer: the double charge theory or the loose gas check theory. I have a friend who dented the chamber on the perfect 98 Krag using mild lead bullet loads.
Incidentally, no dissing of Swampyankee was intended. My time in the hobby is 50 years - back then I think there was just more reading, also a lot more emphasis ON the milsurps... That aspect took up a lot of magazine articles and ad space. Buying, shooting and back then CONVERTING them.Comment
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Why would anyone risk firing a rifle whose receiver will shatter just by hitting it with a ball peen hammer? If a qualified experienced gunsmith recommends not firing a lsn 03, I'd heed the warning.Comment
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I love these LN 03 discussions that crop up on a regular basis. Good thing the Marines didn't know how unsafe these rifles are, or they might have surrendered at Belleau Wood without firing a shot. Needless to say, the Corps ignored any warnings and wore out many barrels with those old receivers. Of all the WWI USMC 5th and 6th Regiment 03 serial numbers I have collected, all but two are LN rifles, generally in the 200K to 400K range. I, like the Marines, shoot my LN's without reservation or fear of destruction. I use ball ammo for the most part. When I hear of any rifle blowing up, there is usually a handload involved.
Many people might not admit to blowing up a rifle with their own handloads, but I am not one of them. I blew up a fine 257 Roberts built on a 98 Mauser action back in the 60's. It was unpleasant to say the least. My major injury was a wooden splinter stuck to the bone in my left forearm. Velocity was a big deal back in those days, and I was inching up the velocity, and simply over did it. If I remember correctly, the powder was 4895, and I was at or exceeding what was considered max loads. My shooting glasses were etched from either brass or burnt powder. I have a collection of severed case heads from everything from 22-250's on up. As Clint says, "I ain't like that anymore". I did blow a primer in a LN 03 several years ago. All I saw was a puff of smoke and the floor plate fell off.
I hunt with a LN 03. It has been in my family for many decades, and all the previous owners have gone to their just rewards. I will pass the little rifle on to someone in my family when I go. By the way, I salvaged the receiver from that 257 Roberts and rebuilt the rifle. It is my favorite hunting rifle to this day. It sports a P&S Sales light weight barrel, a Mod 70 type safety, a Weaver 4x12 scope in Buehler mounts, and a 3/8" wide Timney target trigger with external adjustment (VERY light trigger pull), with all highly polished parts. It is in a Claro Walnut stock, glass bedded receiver, free floated barrel, and refinished many times through the years, and it is currently rust blued to a beautiful iridescent blue. I dropped it in a lake one night many years ago while spot lighting beavers. It stayed in the lake for several days until I could get it out (it was very cold). There was no water in the scope. I made my best hunting shot with that rifle - an off hand shot at 474 measured yards that killed an 8-point buck instantly (Hill Country, Texas 1981).
Good luck with whatever you choose to shoot.
jtComment
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Shot this beauty long time ago before we knew of the scare and would shoot it today if I still owned it. It sold for allot of money due to its condition so I cannot shoot it anymore. It ws given away by the US Government Mottled receiver and all. Rick B
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Neat photos!Comment
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Very nice!!Comment
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