“Dhc4ever” wrote:

...lovestruck??? Either it’s a new rifle, shotgun, or lady friend. Which one mate?

Well the last time I talked to him he wasn't doing any shooting

Vince wrote:

I wasn’t really happy with the scope rings I had on the rifle, so I kept looking around for another set of rings. I found exactly what I was looking for today at one of my local gun shops...a set of Hawke brand 1” medium height rings for a Weaver mount. These rings are wider and have four screws securing the top section of the ring to the bottom section...very solid. Needless to say, I fitted them as soon as I got home. The rifle now looks as neat as I hoped with nice clean lines and a solid mount.

Vince,

do you have a full size picture of the whole rifle?

Deer Sniper wrote:

Vince wrote: I wasn’t really happy with the scope rings I had on the rifle, so I kept looking around for another set of rings. I found exactly what I was looking for today at one of my local gun shops...a set of Hawke brand 1” medium height rings for a Weaver mount. These rings are wider and have four screws securing the top section of the ring to the bottom section...very solid. Needless to say, I fitted them as soon as I got home. The rifle now looks as neat as I hoped with nice clean lines and a solid mount. Vince, do you have a full size picture of the whole rifle?

I thought I did, but can’t see it...I’ll get a pic later today after we get back from lunch...it’s Tricia’s 65th Birthday today so we are taking her to lunch.

Tell her Happy Birthday from us!

Will do mate...thanks.

Rifle pics

That's a sharp looking rifle you've got there Vince! What kind of accuracy are you getting from it? Loads?

Deer Sniper wrote:

That's a sharp looking rifle you've got there Vince! What kind of accuracy are you getting from it? Loads?

Being a WWII military rifle, accuracy is not really it’s strong point, with 2 MOA possible with good ammunition. Of course, this can be improved upon with handloads...something I’m trying to do now.

The Mark VII factory loading used a 174 gr (11.28 g) pointed bullet with a flat-base. The .303 British Mark VII cartridge was loaded with 37 gr (2.40 g) of Cordite MDT 5-2 (cordite MD pressed into tubes) and had a muzzle velocity of 2,440 ft/s (744 m/s) and a maximum range of approximately 3,000 yd (2,743 m). I am putting together handloads using a couple of different powders and weight of projectile to improve on this, and try to develop a good accurate hunting load, but this is proving difficult...so far.

The two powders I am using are AR2206H (H4895) and AR2208 (Varget) and projectiles are the Hornady 174gr FMJ, Hornady 174gr RN and Hornady 150gr SP, with only the FMJ producing acceptable accuracy. I am seeing pressure signs (hard extraction etc)from the AR2206H at less than max loadings but the AR2208 seems to be more “gentle” and pleasant to shoot, but I have to do a lot more load development with this powder to find its accuracy node. I am surprised that the two Hornady offerings are not shooting better, but as we well know, some rifles can be finicky with different projectiles.

I have a couple of cast options available...a 180gr Cast GC (180gr was the projectile weight of the original .303 round during WW 1) and a 207gr Cast (Powder coated) that is showing good accuracy from a Mk5 rifle. One guy I have spoken to is getting under 1 MOA with the 207gr. I will be trying the 180gr when I get my hands on a mould, hopefully this week. The 207gr may be available to buy...not sure though at this time.

Range time is making things a bit difficult because we have to book in for reduced shooting sessions because of COVID.

I think I will find 1 - 1.5 MOA acceptable for hunting loads, so that is my first aim, with better accuracy hopefully to come once I find a good combination of components.

Vince,,, Have you thought about pulling the flash hider off to maybe just to polish the crown of the barrel,,, then reinstall the flash-hider. just a thought,,,, I used the larry porterfield (midway) with a screw and sandpaper,,,, it helped a little ,,,,, pete

pete4d wrote:

Vince,,, Have you thought about pulling the flash hider off to maybe just to polish the crown of the barrel,,, then reinstall the flash-hider. just a thought,,,, I used the larry porterfield (midway) with a screw and sandpaper,,,, it helped a little ,,,,, pete

Haven’t heard of that one mate...might just give it a try. I have some 0000 steel wool, some coarse scoured pad and my Drexel has felt polishing pads...might just have to give it a go. Thanks mate.

there is trick guys do with .22lr uses a brass headed screw and polishing paste I believe...
a chap over here has a old old black powder rifle that crown was poked on..I suggested something radicle and it worked...he drilled oversived hole back up barrel..to give it a false muzzle and good clean crown back up the spout a little bit..50 mm ish it worked a treat,kept rifle externally origonal,sights stayed in same spot and it went from 6" back to 2" groups.
he is a very cleaver chap who has made rifles from scratch so had tooling and brain power to do it right.

I can easily recut the crown...my shooting buddy has the cutters, but I want to leave things factory original, so I will try polishing the existing crown and inside of the flash hider. If there is a burr or similar on the crown, I’ll carefully remove it using a case chamfering tool. Nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Vince,,, I used a machine screw with emery cloth mounted in a drill,,, polished a little , shot a few rounds and polished till I liked the group ,,, It did help....... pete

DON'T use a case chamfering tool matey, as you could easily damage the edges of the rifling.
A round headed brass screw & fine valve grinding paste is the way to go if you wish to remove minimal amounts of metal.

English Mike wrote:

DON'T use a case chamfering tool matey, as you could easily damage the edges of the rifling. A round headed brass screw & fine valve grinding paste is the way to go if you wish to remove minimal amounts of metal.

Thanks mate...that works for me and I have both items readily available. The ideal option is a lathe, but would necessitate completely stripping the rifle down and removing the barrel...ain’t gonna happen.

Now, if I can just find a bayonet for the Mk5, within my meagre price range, to complete the set. Biggest problem is they are scarce (don’t know why, there were hundreds of thousands made). There are a lot of reproductions on the market, at “original genuine” prices and they are pretty scrappy in appearance...probably made in Pakistan or India.

I’ve been using my time to make a leather butt stock Piece with a high density foam cheek piece and some bullet loops for spent cartridges. I made a leather mold to make up a small pouch to attach to the left hand side, but it turned out a tad big, so I went with the loops...for now.

It actually came out better than I thought it would, and I think it compliments the look of the rifle. I am not real fussed about the slip on recoil pad, but because I want to keep it original, I don’t have much choice.