Anyone getting one of the AIM shooter enfield 2a for $99
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marlin1888
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Greetings, just joined the board. Interesting discussions on the Enfield 2A rifle. I bought mine when they were first imported (I think it was 8-10 years ago). Although it is in very nice shape, and has nice crisp rifling, I still rate it as almost the worst military surplus firearm I own (and I own quite a few of them). I rate my rifles on not only how they look, but how they balance, how they recoil, and the frustrations in producing accurate reloads due to fluctuating bore and chamber size. For appearance, I place it in the category with the Japanese Type 99 "Last Ditch" rifles (the rough cut ones with the wooden but plates). For fit and handling, the fat "sight guard wings" on the front site drive me absolutely crazy since they are very side and distraction (much more than a regular Enfield). I shoot left handed (due to vision), and the sharp edges on the bottom of the magazine scratch me while shooting on the bench (also not a problem with the tradition Enfields). It's also very heavy, even more so than rifles longer than it. The bolt travel is OK, chamber is only slightly oversized (fixed by fire forming brass), and accuracy is pretty good (about 2" groups at 100-yards). Although it is fairly accurate, the sights are out of alignment, making me have to drift the front sight blade as far as I can to even approach target center. This problem is exaggerated when velocity is reduced (which I do anyways since it's a 7.62 Nato rated rifle). I don't think this problem is entirely the sights. I have noticed that the rifle drifts low pressure rounds more than my other Enfields (cast lead bullets being the worst). So, even though she is ugly, and drives me crazy, I'm not giving up on her yet (ha, ha).
PS: Just in case you are wondering what my worst surplus rifle experience has been. It's my Japanese Type 38 Carbine (GI Bring Back). It rates on the bottom because it took me 5-years of testing to get her to finally shoot. Initial testing with Norma 6.5 JAP ammo resulted in 12" groups with tumbling bullets at only 25-yards. Fixing the rifle accuracy came in steps. I had to heavily anneal the brass cases to not leak gas from the case neck in the significant oversized chamber (yes I know not to shoot rifles with this problem). Upon running a lead slug through the barrel I discovered it was .262 at the breach and .270 at the muzzle (now there's a challenge for you). There was rifling, but also pitting. I tried lots of listed loads and commercial bullet combinations with not much luck. I also swaged jacketed bullets of larger diameters to various sizes to look for a fix, with not much luck. I hand lapped the barrel, which did help a little. I then intentionally leaded the barrel heavily, then lapped it to force the lead into the pits in the grooves of the rifling (this helped a little more). I then started thinking about the oversized chamber, and original loads the rifle would be designed for. I purchased some original surplus WWII Japanese ammo, bulled the bullets, remixed the powder, and loaded it in new cases. Accuracy didn't improve much with the sharply pointed bullets. But, I did notice a difference in the way it felt during recoil. Already knowing that original 6.5 loads from various nations used round nosed bullets, I bought some collectible 1921 Italian Carcano ammo with Round Nosed Cooper Nickel Bullets. They were rusted in the case when I pulled them. I de-rusted the bullets, polished them, and ran them through a .264 sizer to make them uniform. I then washed the power to remove the rust, air dried it, and re-blended it. I reduced the original loading by 10% for safety, loaded it in my fire formed Norma cases, and surprise .... 2" groups at 25-yards. What the rifle needed was a smooth slow "push" on the bullet, where the long round nose bullet was able to get good rotation on the uneven diameter barrel. The Cooper Nickel jacket of the bullet even scraped the barrel a little smoother than I had been able to get it (due to my intentional leading of the pits in the grooves). The beer tasted especially good on that day!
Marlin1888
PS: Just in case you are wondering what my worst surplus rifle experience has been. It's my Japanese Type 38 Carbine (GI Bring Back). It rates on the bottom because it took me 5-years of testing to get her to finally shoot. Initial testing with Norma 6.5 JAP ammo resulted in 12" groups with tumbling bullets at only 25-yards. Fixing the rifle accuracy came in steps. I had to heavily anneal the brass cases to not leak gas from the case neck in the significant oversized chamber (yes I know not to shoot rifles with this problem). Upon running a lead slug through the barrel I discovered it was .262 at the breach and .270 at the muzzle (now there's a challenge for you). There was rifling, but also pitting. I tried lots of listed loads and commercial bullet combinations with not much luck. I also swaged jacketed bullets of larger diameters to various sizes to look for a fix, with not much luck. I hand lapped the barrel, which did help a little. I then intentionally leaded the barrel heavily, then lapped it to force the lead into the pits in the grooves of the rifling (this helped a little more). I then started thinking about the oversized chamber, and original loads the rifle would be designed for. I purchased some original surplus WWII Japanese ammo, bulled the bullets, remixed the powder, and loaded it in new cases. Accuracy didn't improve much with the sharply pointed bullets. But, I did notice a difference in the way it felt during recoil. Already knowing that original 6.5 loads from various nations used round nosed bullets, I bought some collectible 1921 Italian Carcano ammo with Round Nosed Cooper Nickel Bullets. They were rusted in the case when I pulled them. I de-rusted the bullets, polished them, and ran them through a .264 sizer to make them uniform. I then washed the power to remove the rust, air dried it, and re-blended it. I reduced the original loading by 10% for safety, loaded it in my fire formed Norma cases, and surprise .... 2" groups at 25-yards. What the rifle needed was a smooth slow "push" on the bullet, where the long round nose bullet was able to get good rotation on the uneven diameter barrel. The Cooper Nickel jacket of the bullet even scraped the barrel a little smoother than I had been able to get it (due to my intentional leading of the pits in the grooves). The beer tasted especially good on that day!
Marlin1888
jimbob1911
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