|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Article by
Jamie Mangrum |
| |
|
Adobe PDF
Downloadable Version of Article |
|
|
 |
|
Ted Jeo built a
.45 ACP Enfield No. 4 and I have wanted to
shoot one ever since. Especially after reading the
history of the
Delisle carbine written by Mark Trope. My all time favorite pistol
is the
Government 1911 and I think the
.45 ACP is a
phenomenal home protection and shooting round because
1) it is very accurate 2) it will knock down an
assailant with one shot and 3) you do not have to worry
about errant rounds traveling through your home's walls and into your
neighbor's house. I recently saw the ads on
Century Arm's website for an Enfield carbine
chambered in .45 ACP. |
 |
|
Built on the Enfield platform and
uses a standard 1911 pistol magazine.
Overall Length: 35¼" Weight: 7.70
lbs. |
|
When my friend Don at
River
City Gun Exchange had one on the rack I put it on layaway and waited the
several months
until I could afford to pay it off and bring it home. What I brought home, like Ted's
project, appeared to be an
Enfield No. 4
modified with a Rhineland Arms kit. It has a newly
refinished stock and has been parkerized from
head to toe. I found a little rust
inside the bolt, but after
disassembling
it and soaking the parts in oil and I then ran
some patches through and everything seemed ship
shape. The
bore is new and shiny.
|
|
A very obvious
difference between this specimen and Ted's project
carbine is
that Century managed to fit the traditional No. 4 front
sight assembly (including the front sight
guard), onto the new .45 caliber barrel,
which is both practical in function and fetching in
appearance. |
|
The Century carbine comes with
a single 1911 Government Model, 7 cartridge capacity pistol magazine. I tried
loading from the top of the receiver like a
.303 British
caliber Enfield and it was very cumbersome and
difficult at best. I found the following loading
method worked:
- Load the magazine with seven cartridges.
- Pull the bolt back.
- Insert the magazine in all of
the way.
- Pull the magazine back (out) until it stops.
- Slowly close the bolt.
|
 |
|
Magazine loaded. |
|
|
 |
|
Installed Forward Swivel. |
|
One improvement I
made to the carbine is I added a forward
swivel band. Prior to this modification the only
thing holding the forestock to the action and
barrel was the forward guard screw. This was not
a very secure method of attachment. Even with the screw fully
tightened there was considerable play or give
and the front of the forestock could be moved easily. I took an
Enfield No.
4 forward swivel band and placed it against
the front of the forestock about an inch back.
Using a utility knife, I used the outside edges
of the band as a guide to make lines cut
into the wood. |
|
Then I took the utility knife and inlet a track
the width of the band between the guide lines I had
cut prior. I made the track about a sixteenth of
an inch deep. I did this completely around the
outside of the forestock where the band would
rest. The inletting was necessary so the band would fit
properly and also stay in place once tightened.
It fit perfectly and served its purpose by
providing a forward swivel for a sling to be
installed as well as properly securing the front
of the forestock (figure 4).
|
|
| I have to admit that the range
portion of this write-up spans several weeks and
involves me risking my life because like most
adult humans...I can be stupid!
My first trip to
the range I took a myriad of .45 ACP ammo with
me. Some of the ammo I had loaded myself a couple of
years prior on my progressive press. The rest of
the ammo
was commercial fare purchased at a local store.
I loaded up the first magazine with seven of my handloads and
proceeded to shoot. The first three rounds were
fine. There was negligible recoil and sound. It
was a joy to shoot. |
 |
|
Broken or Blown-up Bolt Head! |
|
|
 |
|
What
should be one .45 ACP piece of brass is
now many! |
|
When I pulled the trigger
for the fourth round things went very badly.
There was a very loud bang and the carbine jolted
me. I was stunned and dazed. I
looked down and tried to open the bolt and found
I could
not. Finally I was able to work the bolt open and at first
glance I could see
right away that something was not right. Pieces of the brass
case fell away and the remaining case was stuck in the
breech. There was a piece of brass
sticking out of the left hand gas vent hole on
the receiver and then I noticed that the side of
the bolt head had blown off. |
|
The extractor
spring was gone and the extractor stuck out
ninety degrees to the right from the angle it should
be. I peered down the bore to make certain the
bullet had exited and it had. The brass case had
blown up completely and had blown out parts of
the bolt. To say the very least this ruined my day of shooting.
The only upside is that I walked away unscathed
physically although my dignity and pride were
injured. A friend of mine later said to me, and I
agree, that I was one damn lucky guy that I had
shot the cartridge in an Enfield and not while
holding a 1911 pistol in my hands. Imagine if I
had been even more stupid and not had been
wearing safety glasses? After a few days had past I
was feeling better but I was
worried that I had permanently damaged a brand new
firearm. The question still lingered as to what caused the problem to begin
with? My best guess is that I had somehow managed to double charge the
case with powder. Using a bullet puller I pulled the bullets out of all
the remaining handmade rounds and emptied the powder.
I did not find any other suspect loads, but it
was better to be safe than sorry later. I wrote
about this to show you what can happen when you
are not careful. My hope is that by me
displaying my stupidity for all to read about I
can make a statement about a very important
safety issue while reloading. Don't load so fast
that you miss obvious mistakes like double
charging a case. I was very lucky this time.
Next time (and I will do everything in my power
to make certain there is not a next time) I could lose
my sight or a limb or possibly my life.
After I removed the case and examined the
carbine closely I found that the only
damaged parts were the bolt head and extractor.
I just happened to have a bolt head with the same
number as the one destroyed so it would be a
direct swap. I also had an
extractor. I had to file the extractor a little
to make the necessary alterations to handle the
.45 ACP case. I used Ted's
instructions in his article as a guide. Once I reassembled
everything I
headspaced the carbine and found it
was perfectly within normal parameters.
In life I really
believe in getting back up on the horse that
bucked me off.
I headed out to the range the following Sunday.
This time I only took commercial
ammunition. When I got to the range my exploits had made
their way around and I received some ribbing. The range officer
Tony told me
this is much more common of an occurrence than I imagined and had
happened with him once as well. He said that he had a Swedish
Mauser sniper rifle that had been blown up
completely. To be honest I thought it was next to
impossible to blow up a Swedish Mauser. Imagine blowing up a beautiful and almost
irreplaceable sniper rifle. I could not fathom
the loss. Tony then set about helping me set up a
safe environment for my first shot with the
repaired carbine. To say the least I was a
little nervous. We set the
loaded carbine with the safety on in my shooting rest.
Then we placed several pieces of
thick carpet over the top of the receiver and then
also placed sand bags on top of the carpet. I
reached in and moved the safety forward and pulled the trigger. The round
fired and everything was intact and had worked
the way it was supposed to. I was a very happy man!
When I first shot the carbine I found that about nine times out of
ten the bolt stripped the cartridge off of the
magazine and it was properly chambered. Every once and a
while a round would become askew and not load
properly. Once I realized you had to cycle the
bolt slowly to load the next round I was able to
reduce the number of loading problems greatly. |
|
 |
|
First
Clip at 25 yards! |
|
|
I was the only shooter at the range that morning so I did not have to
wait for others to set up or wait for the timed shooting
periods to end. I would shoot seven and then run down
range to check my target out. Now I know what it is like to have my very own
range!
I first set up a target at twenty-five yards and fired off
seven rounds. Figure 7 shows my very tight
grouping.
|
 |
|
First
Clip at 50 yards! |
|
|
Next I moved the target out to fifty yards and
fired off another seven rounds. Figure 8 shows the
grouping has spread out a little and my point of impact
has moved up several inches.
|
 |
|
First
Clip at 100 yards! |
|
|
Finally I moved the target
out to one hundred yards. When you pull the trigger on a firearm
shooting a .45 ACP cartridge and you are shooting at a
distance of a hundred yards there is a very noticeable delay
between the initial bang to when you hear sound of
the bullet striking the target. Yes, with the .45
caliber bullet you can hear the bullet striking the
target. The time period in between
the two sounds seemed like at least a second in
duration, but I am sure this is just my imagination. I
laughed out loud and commented that it reminded me of
tossing a rock down range. Figure 9 shows my
target. I put four holes on the paper and then three
were off to the left. Nothing to be excited about, but I
am quite certain it is far better than I could ever do
with my 1911 pistol at the same distance. |
|
|
|
Random Observations |
|
|
- What makes me want to own something like this? I would say
it is because it is an extreme novelty. Remember I am the one who also owns
things like an
Enfield .45-70 and so on.
- Anyone that does not feel
inclined or does not possess the required skills to
build a carbine like Ted Jeo did, then purchasing a pre-built
model would be just the ticket.
- I don't think I would
feel comfortable using this carbine in any type of self
defense role as I would be worried there is a potential
for mis-feeds or at least a higher potential than a
traditional commercial firearm.
- It really draws attention
at the range.
- I have seen these carbines in gun stores ranging in
price from $300 to $379. You will save money on the back
end when you are only paying $5 to $7 per box of fifty
rounds for commercial ammo.
- It would be a great way for a youngster or small framed
adult to shoot an Enfield because of the diminutive
recoil and retort.
- Then, you always have the fact that
it just looks cool.
|
|
Adobe PDF
Downloadable Version of Article |
|
|
|
Site Disclaimer |
| |
| Article by
Jamie Mangrum |
