Enfield .303

Anybody have an Enfield?  I was able to get an Enfield IV on a trade a while back.  Unfortunately, I have not taken the time to sight it in and buy all the equipment to load up some ammo for.  I have just fired some of my old surplus ammo.

Is that the rifle you're shooting in your avatar?

The rifle in my avatar pic is my garand.

Great free pdf download here of the 1945 Canadian book Shoot to Live:
http://www.milsurps.com/content.php?r=310-Shoot-to-Live-1945-%28Practical-Shooting-with-the-Enfield-Rifle-%29

About shooting the Mark 4 with the 300/600 aperture sights.

The Germans built a hunting rifle (K98)
The Americans built a target rifle (Garand)
But the Brits built a military rifle (Enfield)

Enfields have a long history with the Brits. They have been reliable before they were bolts, and the WWII versions are also reliable. But with the rear lugs they aren't exactly your "accuracy" guns. What they were was cheap to build.

But the British Empire being what it was, there are probably more animals taken with the .303 than any other cartridge. And more animals wounded. Very much like the deer experience in NA with the .30-30.

Well...I guess as of an hour or so ago I own an Enfield. It's a cleanly sporterized Mk3 from Lithgow. Looks reasonably clean. I'm paying $150 for it. I think that's a safe price? It looks like it might have the original barrel and sights, so..hopefully I can put a mil-spec stock back on it? I know very little of Enfields, except that they have a good reputation, and the British troops were hell with them.

I'll be home in about three weeks to take a look see at it, I suppose. Figger out if I wanna find a use for it, or send it on down the road.

My wife just texted me to say she'd picked it up "Old, dusty, and rusty, just like you prefer them..." Damn I love that woman....

I forgot to say, it's a SMLE, dated 1942....

Have to look it over and then take it out and see what it can do!

NotThe10thMan wrote:My wife just texted me to say she'd picked it up "Old, dusty, and rusty, just like you prefer them..."  Damn I love that woman....

I forgot to say, it's a SMLE, dated 1942....

Hope you enjoy it and have good luck with it. Another calibre to reload...

I'll have to figger this one out. It's sporterized beyond undoing. front sight replaced, rear sights marked for 2K meters or some craziness. Go ahead and make it much nicer with a Boyds sporter stock? re-finish this stock, and put a nice trigger in it? It seems the other guys camera was much nicer than mine. The gun had sat around and gathered so much dust, my son could not operate the bolt until he hosed it with some lubricant. (Now it works flawlessly)

Make it nice and it could be...well...just a generally nice knock around rifle and a fun user. Leave it at the cabin, in the truck, canoe gun, etc... Could clean it up a little bit, and in a way...the cheaply sporterized rifles like that kinda have their own neat history and nostalgia.

I'll figger it out and let y'all know how things go.

got some pics?

I've got a few not so good pics, but...it's been years since I've used a photo hosting site, or a forum such as this, so posting is a bit of a challenge for me, at the moment. I would love to though, and get your thoughts on it.

How's the sporterized 303? Had a chance to shoot it yet?

I got to fondle it for a day or so before selling it off to fund other firearm endeavors. exterior was a little coarse, but barrel was pristine. I wound up selling it off to a kid who needed more range than he was getting out of his 30-30 for $225. I really, really wanted to keep it, but...I had to choose a Contender pistol over this one for keeping.

Oh cool, what barrels/calibers are you running in your contender frame?

It came with an octogonal 10" .22 LR bbl. I'm really lusting after a .357 Maximum Carbine barrel, stock and forearm.

I've also been flirting with the idea of a .45 Colt BBL bored out to .454 Casull. clearly, the G-1 frame was intended for closer to 50,000 CUP, and the .454 hits closer to 60,000 CUP, but I was thinking there was quite a bit of middle ground between warm .45 Colts and 60K CUP that could be exploited. The Hodgdon loading manual stops at around 52K for the .454. Unfortunately, I had to round file that idea though after thinking about it some more. Seems to me frame twist could easily be more a matter of projectile weight and velocity more so than just pure CUP.

Also would like a decent shotgun barrel for it too, and maybe a .375 JDJ barrel. But....one thing at a time. If I can make the .357 maximum happen, that'll be a thousand dollar endeavor by the time the dust clears.

Ha ha, sounds fun! The only time I shot a contender was shooting a .410 pistol length barrel with a choke installed. It was difficult but possible to bust clays. Shooting against people with real shotguns, I was able to beat them to a few. A good deal of fun it was.

I must have missed this Enfield thread~mine is a 1918 No. 1 Mk 3*....somewhat sporterized. Took to range last week shot 1' to the left at 100 yds....no rear sight windage adjustment since that was removed with the "*" and was somewhat dismayed....just discovered the front sight was dovetailed and it sure it tight...but now I have some hope...at the 25yd line I had holes touching so...

If you're thinking of a .303 Enfield, BUY IT NOW! Prices will only go up.

Remember the dirt-cheap SKS carbines or the Swedish Mausers for $79? Gone. How about the $99 US M1917 "Enfields"? All gone, years ago. Enfield .303s can still be found pretty cheap, but they aren't making any more of them.

I grabbed a No.4 Mk1* (US Gov't stamp, made here for our firends in the UK during WWII) a few years ago. It had been sporterized and couldn't be restored to mil-spec, so it was cheap. It shoots well, and I removed the silly plate and cut-down mag and replaced them with a 10-round surplus mag and haven't looked back. It's my "assault rifle".

I wish I had a full-on mil-spec .303, but my little carbine shoots well, and I've grown very fond of it. It looks a bit like Val Kilmer's Enfield in "The Ghost and the Darkness."

Enfields are great rifles! I think I'll go watch "Breaker Morant" again. Rule .303!

Dirty Bob