Dominion of Canada Rifle Association (DCRA)
Rifle
History
A Canadian Arsenals (Long Branch) DCRA Conversion Rifle
The DCRA rifle was the
Canadian answer to the trend within Great Britain and the Commonwealth during
the 1960's to table a bolt action target rifle chambered in the new 7.62 x 51mm
NATO standard service round. This new cartridge, after much contention, was
adopted as the standard service ammunition of all members of the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization. For the UK
and the Commonwealth (Canada
included), this meant the 7.62mm round would replaced the .303 British as the
standard chambering for military rifles. Coupled with the new round was the
adoption of Self Loading Rifles (SLR’s), in the case of Britain and Canada this was in the form of the
FN FAL.
Any military and thus service rifle target shooters, by nature are conservative
in its thinking and this holds true when applied to the new SLR’s. Many
long-time military and civilian competitive service rifle shooters believed
that a SLR was inferior in accuracy to the bolt rifle. This was especially true
in England and Canada
where efforts were made on a number of fronts to provide a target/competition
grade, bolt action rifle firing the new standard military cartridge. Obviously
preference was given to finding a suitable conversion of a Lee-Enfield for both
economical and familiarity reasons. As had always been the case, military
competition target match were conducted using the standard service rifle of the
time firing current issue service ammunition. Accuracy improvements to these
rifles were strictly regulated, usually allowing nothing more than approved
bedding adjustments and the addition of target grade sights, provided that
these sights did not alter the original integrity of the rifle (no drilling
allowed) and that the rifle could be instantly restored to standard military
configuration. As civilians were always encouraged to participate in these
competitions, the move to self-loading rifles posed another problem.
Self-loading rifles were cutting edge technology at the time, privately they
would have been expensive and near impossible to purchase. The converted
competition grade bolt action rifle would allow civilians to continue
participating in this sport with little additional expense. Proof testing in
both England and Canada
showed that the No4 rifle could easily handle the increased pressures of the
7.62mm round and so the Lee-Enfield lived on.
Canada's
contribution to the 7.62mm competition Lee-Enfield was the DCRA rifle. So named
because it was the Dominion of Canada Rifle Association in the early
1960’s that sold the idea to the Canadian government that a bolt actioned
rifle chambered in the new round was needed for competition shooting. With the
Canadian government’s endorsement, Canadian Arsenals Limited (Long Branch) developed a
new barrel chambered in 7.62 x 51mm that could be fitted to the No4 receiver.
This rifle retained its original .303 magazine and extractor (the rifle was set
up as a single loader, which was all that was required for Service Rifle
competitions of the time) and was stocked in standard No4 furniture. This first
type of DCRA rifle that Canadian Arsenals produced was called the Rifle, 7.62mm
No4 Mod (Competition Shooting). Only several hundred of these were built. With
the Canadian Arsenals conversion design in place, beginning in or around
1965-66 it was the DCRA that instigated the true conversion program.
As commissioned by the DCRA,
these rifles were converted by Canadian Arsenals (CA) formerly Canadian Small
Arms Factory Ltd. Long Branch, Ontario. This conversion consisted of first
ensuring any of the bolts and receivers used were in good serviceable condition
before commencing. It followed with replacing the .303 British barrel with a
new 7.62mm x 51 chambered barrel, replacing the bolthead with a stronger one,
headspace was checked and the barreled action was proof tested. Each conversion
was assigned a progressive conversion number and was stamped onto the barrel,
receiver and bolt along with the new proof stamp. This in a nutshell was the
conversion, further individual tweaking could be done by the rifles owner after
initial CA conversion by replacing the 303 extractor with a 7.62mm extractor
(which had a longer claw to facilitate the rimless cartridge) and adding a Sterling magazine and ejector. The Sterling
magazine allowed feeding of the new cartridge and was a drop-in replacement for
the 303 magazine, but required a hole be drilled in the left side receiver wall
to accommodate the ejector. Another magazine option was to fit an Enfield magazine (the same
as used on the Envoy or L42A1) to the rifle, but this required a small
(milling) adjustment to the magazine well on the rifle, otherwise the mag did
not sit deep enough in the well to allow the bolt to pick up rounds. Anecdotal
evidence suggests that only British made receivers required this milling
operation and that Long Branch receivers had
sufficient tolerance in the magazine well to accommodate the Enfield magazine without modification. The
most universal tweak to these rifle was the fitting of a Parker-Hale PH5C (303
British) or A.J. Parker TZ 4/47 (7.62mm) fully adjustable competition rear
sight.
The DCRA rifle in the hands
of competition shooters was greatly experimented with in the form of barrel
packing and bedding. The most common types of bedding found would be fiberglass
and hardwood doweling, some may be encountered with a center bedded barrel and
this can be in the form of either fiberglass or a hardwood block. Location of
the barrel bedding may vary as each position and weight of barrel lift produced
its own particular results, be it short, intermediate or long range.
It should be noted that
Canadian Arsenals had many leftover barrels that were sold after they stopped
doing conversions. So not all CA marked 7.62mm barrels found on No4 rifles will
actually be DCRA conversions done by Canadian Arsenals, many military armourers
and civilian gunsmiths used these barrels and created their own target rifles.
To be sure if a rifle was converted by CA, look for the conversion numbers.
As the DCRA rifle was not a
military specific conversion, there is little solid information regarding the
entire scheme. However, to the best of my knowledge, here is basically how the
DCRA rifle found its way into the Lee-Enfield history of things.
The Canadian Army Rifle Team DCRA Rifle
These rifles were selected
from Army Weapons Stores and will most always be converted on a Long Branch receiver and will
display the C Broad Arrow government ownership mark on the wood and metal. The
conversions were done at Canadian Arsenals Ltd as the others were however,
again most if not all were further modified with an Enfield magazine and 7.62mm
extractor. Combined with the basic conversion, these rifles were stocked with
new furniture and accurized by CA. All of these rifles were fitted with AJ
Parker TZ4/47 rear sights and hardwood dowel bedded. Rifles of this type were
stamped with a C inside an Oval.
DCRA “Club Gun” Conversion
The DCRA "Club Gun"
will generally consist of the same features as the shooters conversion and may
be converted on any make of No4 action. It is difficult to say with any
certainty but it is believed that these rifles will have a 5G inside a box
electro-penciled onto the receiver left side buttsocket above the serial
number. These rifles will more than likely be complete with the target sights
and a target swivel, or should be. Some “club guns” may have also
been accurized by CA as examples show both the 5G and C inside an Oval
markings.
Shooters Conversion
Anyone interested in having a
conversion done by Canadian Arsenals (CA) could submit there No4 barreled
action complete with bolt, no stock, to their DCRA club and the rifle would be
forwarded to CA where the conversion would be done and the piece was sent back
in reverse order complete with removed 303 British barrel, the cost was under
$50.00. Re-stocking and/or bedding were the individuals concern. It should be
noted that CA would convert any No4 receiver, it did not have to be a Long Branch made one so
any No4 rifle can be found converted. What distinguishes the CA conversion as
authentic is the conversion number. Another type of “shooters
conversion” will be those done up by armourers and gunsmiths using
purchased barrels from CA. These particular rifles will not have CA conversion
numbers and can be built on any type of receiver and be stocked in any type of
No4 lumber.
General Notes
I have tried to lay out a
reasonable chronologic order of this rifle’s development and conversion
characteristics however, because of its nature as a more or less independent
project it is difficult to pin point any specific guidelines. As these rifles
were converted for the government, the DCRA and private individuals using any
number of different receivers and being stocked, bedded and sighted by a
variety of individuals there is no hard and fast rule, other than the
conversion numbering used by CA converting a rifle, to say it is indeed a DCRA
conversion. The examples found in the surplus market will be as varied as the
individuals who originally owned them.
DCRA and
Lee-Enfield No4 Rifle competition stock bedding.
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