It has been discussed on other boards at great length of how to make a small calibre rimless cartridge work in the Lee Enfield. I followed the threads with great interest. Some well known and very knowledgeable people added their input..
Great ideas with spring loaded poppet ejectors, side wall retracting ejectors, Parker Hiscock mags, Lithgow sporter bolt heads. Consensus was that it is not an easy thing to do.
I have .22 rim fire trainers for marksmanship practice, but I wanted a small bore high velocity varmint rifle with a scope for predator control around the farm.
So in the mean time, I took a Sht.22 Mk.IV* action with a barrel that has a chamber re-cut for .222 Rem, and fitted a Sht.22 No.2 rim fire extractor to a standard 303 bolt head. I had to play with the extractor claw at the bench with a file to get it to extract and drop the case down the mag well.
While I have been shooting the crap out of this one, some experts still say that it cant be done. Huh?
The rifle is a single loader, so no problems dealing with feeding from a mag and ejection. The mag is simply an empty body to catch the empties.
The KISS principal applies...
Mk.IV* barreled action, bolt with regular 303 bolt head and Sht.22 extractor, Lee Speed take off forearm, Sile buttstock, Weaver TO-1 sight rail, modified steel scope rings, Lyman Alaskan x 2-1/2 scope.
Great little rifle. Shooting it at 100 yards. If I can see something, I can hit it!
------------- . . Look to your front, mark your target when it comes!
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