British 303

[berettaman200]

While i was at work today one of my fellow managers comes up to me and says that he was going through his gun room yesterday and knows I love guns so he is going to give me a british 303. Sweet deal....free! What do you guys think about the rifle? I have no other details on it. I will post more info when i get it.

 

[SundownRider]

They're great guns and with good ammo, amazingly accurate. I managed a 600 meter shot offhand once on a steel ram with a .303

 

[Don357]

A Birtish Enfield is indeed a fine rifle and some even hold a place in true collector status. However most are not, but are fine rifles nonetheless. I would almost consider giving him a kiss.LOL Congrats on the gift!

 

[berettaman200]

sweet. He said he had 3 of them and decided to give 1 to me. I will prob get it tomorrow.

 

[armoredman]

Please post pics. A standard No4Mk1 is a good solid rifle, maybe you'll get lucky and get a pristine MkIII.

 

[Mals9]

Are you kidding me? He is giving you a .303? I couldn't get that lucky in 2 lifetimes.

Mals

 

[9mmepiphany]

The Enfield #4 is one of the finest bolt action Battle rifles ever fielded...it was also the fastest to operate

 

[DougW]

Great news! Even greater rifle. Will be interesting to see which rifle and manufacturer you end up with. This and other forums are a great source for info. Congrats!

 

[dogngun]

I have owned at least 8 different Lee Enfield .303's

in various states of condition, from well used to awful. EVERY one was a good shooter, even the one with the ringed bore and the really bad rifling. They can be handloaded to be very versatile, and at several times in my life the only center fire rifle I owned was a Lee Enfield .303.

Rugged, dependable, accurate, 10 shot magazine, very fast and smooth bolt action.

mark

 

[Al LaVodka]

Not usually valuable, I have paid anywhere from "I really can't say 'cause it was in with a buch of other stuff" to $99 to, well, maybe a little more. The last stock set I bought was a lot more...
Al

 

[MCMXI]

Good grief!! I just spent $800 on a No4 Mk2 unissued and unfired that is in MINT condition (as it should be). You may end up with an $800 gift if you're really lucky. Either way, how bad could it be ... unless your "fellow manager" has ulterior motives .... you're not a ridiculously attractive woman are you?! Or even worse, perhaps you're a ridiculously attractive man!!

Seriously though, that's a very cool gift.

 

[Robert]

Maybe you'll get real lucky and get a No1 MkI with no charger conversion...

 

[MCMXI]

Gus, I'd be interested to see a list of your most desirable to least desirable Lee-Enfields ... if you have time. My interest lies solely with the No4 Mk2 line at present so it'd be educational for me.

 

[Hardtarget]

You are a lucky duck! Please do post a photo! I have a .303 Enfield and, even though I'm a lefty, I like shooting the old mil-surp guns.
I've been given three guns...a k98 Mauser, a bolt action 12 ga. and a rusted out, broken, .44 DA pistol from about 1900. The first I'm glad to have, the second I wish wasn't in my safe, the third makes a cool wall hanger. When you can, show us the pics of your new rifle...we'd like to see the gun!

Mark

 

[madcratebuilder]

With the dozens of LE variations we''l have to wait to see if you get a Holy Grail rifle. Good luck.

My interest lies solely with the No4 Mk2 line at present so it'd be educational for me.

Pick up a copy of Charles Stratton's book "British Enfield Rifles Vol 2 Lee Enfields No4 and No5 rifles" This well tell you what you what you need to know.

The No4 Mki and Mk2 are almost identical, the difference is the way the trigger is hung. On the MkI it is hung from the trigger guard and the Mk2 is hung from the receiver. Many MkI's were upgraded to the receiver hung style, these are the Mk1/2 and Mk1/3, depending if they were a MkI or MkI* to start with.

I have a few of these around here.

 

[Robert]

If it turns out to be a P14 I will be jealous.

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

If it's a number1mk1 without the charger conversion those are the best for turning into a sporter.

 

[MCMXI]

madcratebuilder, that is a very, very impressive collection that you have there. I'll be ordering the book that you mentioned.

Thanks

 

[9mmepiphany]

I really like that (T) model

 

[paintballdude902]

theres a saying

dureing wwI the germans made the best hunting rifle, the americans the best target rifle, and the british the best battle rifle.

i love the lee enfield and own 2 plan on getting a few more over the years too

 

[HexHead]

I've got a '42 No.4 Mk1 built by Savage and marked US Property and with the US Ordinance bomb along with the British Broad Arrow. It's an early one as it's not a Mk1*. They're nice rifles.

 

[Snowdog]

I also own two and love them. I have a tremendous amount of respect for both the design and cartridge.

Madcratebuilder, I really like the blonde furniture! When I was a kid, I'd drool over K98s being advertised in various gun rags that had the same light furniture/dark bluing.

 

[gunnutery]

Enjoy!

 

[Ignition Override]

berettaman200:

If the rifle is in the original condition and you then sporterize it (ruin it), you will lose much of its value and can't reverse the process, unless it is only put into some sort of plastic stock.

These guns usually sit at our gun shows, and none of my buddies give them a second glance.
What a waste of a (formerly) military rifle.

If you are extremely lucky it will resemble one of madcratebuilder's guns, and could be a "Jungle Carbine".
My first Garand arrived from the CMP in a friend's truck last weekend, and my LE #4 and #5 "JC" are still equal favorites.