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Firearms >> Other Firearms >> American Machinist does Winchester-Lee
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Message started by butlersrangers on Apr 13th, 2019 at 6:53pm

Title: Re: American Machinist does Winchester-Lee
Post by waterman on Apr 26th, 2019 at 5:31pm
30 years ago, I played with one of the Winchester-Lee sporters and succeeded in reloading for it.  The Swift case worked well after the semi-rim was turned off.  The neck was short by 0.10" and didn't help accuracy, but the case was functional and as strong as a converted brass case can get.  Donnelly describes a way to add a longer neck to the Swift case.  Might work, but I quit before then.

I can't imagine why anyone would even think about using a Krag or .303 Brit case for the conversion.  The first thing, you would have to turn off the rim.  I was in hot pursuit of a military Lee-Navy when the guy was killed shooting one.  We're supposed to learn from the mistakes of others.

But I have found reference to a series of in-service modifications made to the bolt by the USMC.  They apparently had problems & maybe some injuries.  I'd like to know more about that.

Have you ever noticed the similarities between the Winchester-Lee and the Model 1918 Browning Automatic Rifle?  JMB turned the Lee Navy bolt upside down, operated it with a gas-driven piston and fed it from a removable box magazine.  Prototype to production in less than a year.

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