The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

Been a busy summer at work - hardly time to think about shooting or visiting the forum. But this weekend I was able to make it to a local gun show, found a bunch of 30-40 Krag at a good price, and also came across this find. I'd always had a thing for Lee Enfields so now I guess I have another caliber to build up.

1916 Ishapore, in .303 British. Mag cutoff is still present, numbers are arsenal matched. Bore is mirror bright and sharp, with slight pitting. I don't want to test the trigger until I have some snap caps, but its very crisp and light. All in all, a good day!

Wow that is really nice. Like it

Nice find. Graf & Sons has a pretty good deal on .303 amo. OKIE makes a gauge for the .303 caliber. Sounds like yo have a Krag so a bonus is that the .303 OKIE gauge will measure the 30-40 Krag also.

I like it. You got yourself a gem for sure and since it sounds like you like shooting your rifles I can safely predict that you are going to like this one

ffeng31 wrote:Beautiful rifle !! I was not aware that Enfield production had started that early at Ishapore in India. Now that I have done some reading it seems they started making the No.1 in India in 1909. Ya learn something every day .. The mag cut off is a plus. Sweet find , congrats.

Not only the nicest Ishapore Enfield I have seen but also the oldest, was not aware that Ishapore had started rifle product ion that early either

Thanks guys, I am excited to give it a good inspection and hopefully get out to the range soon. Headspace passes but just barely on the Okie field gauge. Thoughts there? I havent gotten into reloading yet and plan to use light factory loads so I shouldnt have to worry about brass fatigue? I haven't had it apart yet to inspect under the wood.

breckenridge wrote:Thanks guys, I am excited to give it a good inspection and hopefully get out to the range soon. Headspace passes but just barely on the Okie field gauge. Thoughts there? I havent gotten into reloading yet and plan to use light factory loads so I shouldnt have to worry about brass fatigue? I haven't had it apart yet to inspect under the wood.

When you take it apart. Make sure you take the butt stock off first. Damage can result otherwise. You will need a LARGE flat screwdriver to do it. I had to make a trip to the Home Depot and bought the largest one they had.

Don't run out and buy a big screwdriver. Go to your Mosin room and get a 91/30 bayonet. The pointy end is a screwdriver, use that.

Nice one!

millman wrote:

breckenridge wrote:Thanks guys, I am excited to give it a good inspection and hopefully get out to the range soon. Headspace passes but just barely on the Okie field gauge. Thoughts there? I havent gotten into reloading yet and plan to use light factory loads so I shouldnt have to worry about brass fatigue? I haven't had it apart yet to inspect under the wood.

When you take it apart. Make sure you take the butt stock off first. Damage can result otherwise. You will need a LARGE flat screwdriver to do it. I had to make a trip to the Home Depot and bought the largest one they had.

I was under the impression that you needed to remove the forestock first, as the buttstock screw had a square protruding end through the receiver bottom that could split the forestock if turned?

In other news the bolt has a lot of hairline cracks throughout it. A new one is on its way from liberty tree. Hopefully the British ones interchange with the Ishapore, it should as the early ones were on British tooling...

breckenridge wrote:

millman wrote:

breckenridge wrote:Thanks guys, I am excited to give it a good inspection and hopefully get out to the range soon. Headspace passes but just barely on the Okie field gauge. Thoughts there? I havent gotten into reloading yet and plan to use light factory loads so I shouldnt have to worry about brass fatigue? I haven't had it apart yet to inspect under the wood.

When you take it apart. Make sure you take the butt stock off first. Damage can result otherwise. You will need a LARGE flat screwdriver to do it. I had to make a trip to the Home Depot and bought the largest one they had.

I was under the impression that you needed to remove the forestock first, as the buttstock screw had a square protruding end through the receiver bottom that could split the forestock if turned?

In other news the bolt has a lot of hairline cracks throughout it. A new one is on its way from liberty tree. Hopefully the British ones interchange with the Ishapore, it should as the early ones were on British tooling...

Crap you might just be right. It is one or the other. That is what I get for relying on my faulty brain. Sorry.

For what it is worth, I always take the forestock off first.

Yeh, the forstock first, as the butt stock bolt is squared and needs to be tightened till it aligns such that the forstock can slide into place. A video makes it easier to understand unless you do it a few times.

The new bolt came in from Liberty Tree Collectors. As I mentioned the old one was full of hairline cracks, and the number didn't match anyway. Bolt from Liberty Tree was a late manufacture, looked like new old stock. Its fascinating to me that a ~60 year old bolt from the UK swapped directly into a 100 year old rifle from the Indian British Empire. Headspace was improved with the new bolt, being a little tighter on the field gauge than the barely passing old one. I swapped over the old-style cocking piece to the new bolt.
Cracks visible in old bolt here - after cocking piece had been swapped: Back together

Will the cracks in the bolt show up clearly in a picture? 100's or rifles and not once have I ever seen so much as one crack in a bolt or receiver except one "Zulu" shotgun, and it's expected with them. This rifle would make me very nervous on the range, I would pull the barreled receiver out and take it to a machine shop that can Magnaflux it to discover if the cracks stop at the bolt, or extend into the receiver.

I will take a better picture of the bolt. I had disassembled the rifle and all of the metalwork on the receiver looked very sound with a magnifying glass - very much different metal than the old, mismatched bolt. Do you think I should still be concerned? Thank you!

The areas in question - It is possible this is just surface pitting, but it seems too linear to me. Thoughts much appreciated - I thought I was being proactive with the new bolt and an inspection of the receiver, but I don't want to shoot this rifle if I am not confident in its safety.