Enfield vs. Mauser

[Jim Golden]

MPI use to make stocks for A2, maybe they still do. Good people.

That is where I got my stock. No wood....only composite

 

[Flewis]

Yeah for wood i think Boyds still has then. They have dropped a few different actions.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Yeah, I'm taking the 35W to Africa this year!

@Robmill70
Stock it up with a good 225gn at 2,900fps and have fun or a 250gn speer or Woodleigh at 2,700fps.
I used a 250gr Hornady round nose on my oryx and it was devastating . Golf ball size exit hole. It just seemed to hit harder than the others.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Here is a closeup of my Enfield build. I am very happy with it. Not disparaging any other action, but I really like this one. Just trying to decide what to build my Big Boomer on.... I think the Enfield Model 17 is a good one.

@Jim Golden
My 2 Enfields a P14 and a M17
The M17 has the pepper laminate stock and in 35 Whelen AI

 

[Jim Golden]

Update: I have acquired another Winchester made Model 1917 Enfield action along with a McGowen 26" .458 barrel. I am now undertaking "Big Boomer" which will be a .458 Lott. I'd looked at .460 Weatherby and got a set of dies and think it's really a great cartridge that can be loaded up or down....but even with the giant Enfield action you can only put two in the magazine box. With the Lott, I can hold four in the box. Well, if I can only hold three....I'm thinking I'd rather just get a .500 Nitro double. But with five....then the turn bolt makes sense. And, after talking to many folks on here who are in Africa and have done a hundred times over what I dream of doing...I think the .458 Lott makes a ton of sense and that's what I'm building. I REALLY like the Enfield action and I love the A-Square Hannibal stock. So I'm building another one. The .458 LOTT. So maybe now I take three rifles to Africa....although it will be hard to tell....The .375 Roy will wax about anything....the Lott has very slightly more energy with a bigger bullet....and the Parker 12ga has to come in there somewhere for birds and smaller stuff...

I'm an engineer engi-nerd and love playing with the ballistics and whatnot of them all. But from what you guys have taught me, and what I've studied, I think an Enfield 1917 in .458 Lott should be a pretty good hammer. I think the .375 Roy is a Hammer....but the new one will be even better

I even bought a new skinning knife from Benchmade. I really need to get over to Africa

 

[poco]

Remington made a enfield action also in model 30
find a donor that someone has removed the leeman peep site from

 

[Jim Golden]

Guys, my 'smith wants me to make up a dummy round (or three) with the longest bullet I will use. Does anyone have the dimensions of a 550 gr .458 Bullet? Like a Woodleigh Weldcore? It looks like they're out of production, and from the pictures I saw it looks like the overall length is probably the same as a 500 gr, but they just seat them deeper. But, I want to throat the barrel and give it freebore for a 550 that is loaded longer than standard. So, I need to know the length of one and where the cannelure is.

I tried doing online searches but couldn't find anything of worth.

So far, I've made up about a half dozen dummy rounds using .458 Lott cases from Hornady and a Hornay 500 solid. These are for him to set up the feed rails, although they should be close already as Whitworth Arms already machined them. If I can't get a 550, I can at least seat a 500 out to be the same as a 550 that's not shoved back into the case more than a 500. Might have to only use it as the first shot as it might not fit into the magazine box, but I at least want the option to be able to shoot them. I'd planned on freebore anyway.

I will say this: Russ did a nice job with the machine work he did to the action. The new bolt handle is very nice and I don't need to change it (I like the Timney handles but this one is nearly identical) and he machined a groove in the solid side of the action that really looks sharp and might remove 1/10 ounce But it looks good the way he ships them. My guy will make it even nicer.

But anyway, any drawings or even just dimensions would be appreciated. If you have a Weldcore 550 and could mic it, I'd be very grateful.

Thank you,
Jim

 

[K E Johnson]

From the manual. Hope this helps @Jim Golden .

 

[Jim Golden]

Thanks KE! Just what the doctor ordered!

 

[Flipper Dude]

Never miss a chance to show her off. Still deciding between this 404J and my 458 Lott for ele in June. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Jim Golden]

Flipper, that's gorgeous!

I'm a bit torn on mine. I wanted another A-Square Hannibal stock because they really do mitigate the recoil tremendously. But, you can only get them in composite. And, they look like a boat paddle But, I would have gotten one in wood if I could find one. I tried Boyd's, as one gent recommended, but they no longer make them. The only way I'd get one is to just have some with a router copier device go from scratch using the MPI composite stock as a template. I may do that some year.

Anyway, my other one turned out nicely, I think, and I'm hoping this one is at least as nice. I'll put pictures on here when I get it done. Might be a year

 

[Jack Stevens]

Don’t skimp.

Go big, go proper … .425 WR:

 

[Jim Golden]

Question for you guys running .458 Lott's.... Do most of you use a scope or shoot iron sights? I'm building another Hannibal clone so it "should" be OK to run a scope....but I really don't want to get my head caved in. On the .375 Roy, I just got a single leaf rear iron sight figuring that'd be good enough if the scope (and back up scope) go south. For the Lott, I ordered the three leaf express sight from New England Custom Guns (same place I got the stuff for the other one). Figured I'd try this one with just iron sights first and see how I do. But, if the recoil is manageable, then I might do another Leupold. I'm running a 2x10x42 on the .375.

I really need to get my tail over to Africa. But it's fun building rifles

 

[Velo Dog]

Question for you guys running .458 Lott's.... Do most of you use a scope or shoot iron sights? I'm building another Hannibal clone so it "should" be OK to run a scope....but I really don't want to get my head caved in. On the .375 Roy, I just got a single leaf rear iron sight figuring that'd be good enough if the scope (and back up scope) go south. For the Lott, I ordered the three leaf express sight from New England Custom Guns (same place I got the stuff for the other one). Figured I'd try this one with just iron sights first and see how I do. But, if the recoil is manageable, then I might do another Leupold. I'm running a 2x10x42 on the .375.

I really need to get my tail over to Africa. But it's fun building rifles

For my sissy bones, the .458 Lott has too much recoil for risking facial stitches from scope cuts.
And so, the .375 H&H is my upper limit for recoil when mounting scopes on my rifles.

Also, once you hunt Africa, likely you will sell off almost all of your gun collection to pay for more return adventures there.
I sure as heck did.

 

[AES]

If you end up wanting a complete Dakota in 416R or 458L, let me know. Compared to these action prices, you can have the whole barreled action (actually the whole rifle) with a Swarovski scope and good wood for about 2x the cost. Totally self serving, but the economics make more sense to me.

 

[Flewis]

With the Hannibal stock recoil should be pretty mild.

 

[yumastepside]

Flipper, that is a beautiful rifle ! I would love to see some more pics of it.
I've had numerous Enfields over the years...starting with a 303-270, 25-06, 308 Norma mag, 300 Win mag and I built a P14 in 9.3x74R ( hell of a lot of work ) and now building a 416 Taylor on an m17 action

Roger

 

[Flipper Dude]

I’ll have to snap some more pics. I’ve added two cross bolts since that pic was taken.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Flipper, that is a beautiful rifle ! I would love to see some more pics of it.
I've had numerous Enfields over the years...starting with a 303-270, 25-06, 308 Norma mag, 300 Win mag and I built a P14 in 9.3x74R ( hell of a lot of work ) and now building a 416 Taylor on an m17 action

Roger

@yumastepside
My mate @peter who sill has his father's 303-270 ( to all the Americans that's Aussie speak for the 270-303) . Us Aussies put the parent case first when it comes to three O conversions.
Bob

 

[Jim Golden]

With the Hannibal stock recoil should be pretty mild.

Flipper, I'm also having two 16 ounce mercury recoil reducers installed in the butt stock. Although, one of them will be "fairly easily" removable if it comes out too heavy. We'll see...