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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.
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Built on the Enfield platform and uses a standard 1911 pistol magazine. Overall Length: 35¼" Weight: 7.70 lbs.
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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.
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| 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. |
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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.
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Magazine loaded.
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Installed Forward Swivel.
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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). |
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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.
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Broken or Blown-up Bolt Head!
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What should be one .45 ACP piece of brass is now many!
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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. |
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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.
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First Clip at 25 yards!
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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.
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First Clip at 50 yards!
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| 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. |
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First Clip at 100 yards!
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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.
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Random Observations
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- 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.
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