British Enfield 303

[fishblade2]

My Uncle is selling his British Enfield to me for a very reasonable price but before I buy it I wanted to know any extra detail about the gun as possible from people who own or have owned one. I would like to know is there anything on the gun to look for since something could of happened to damage it (like being in a war...), any malfunction, etc. Just some ideas about it. Thanks!a

 

[nathan]

Lee Enfield is a world of its own. Visit surplusrifles.com and gunboards.com. Lots of info in those forums.

 

[nathan]

Take a pic and post it here. Theres so many variants of the Lee Enfield, most common is the NO 1 Mk 3 (WW 1) and No 4 Mk 1 (WW2).

Heres a sample of the No 4 made by Long Branch of Canada.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=251004566

 

[madcratebuilder]

If it's a No4 LE it could come from one of three factories in Britain, one in Canada and one in the USA. Fazakerley, BSA, Maltby, Long Branch and Savage-Stevens all produced No4's during WWII. Would need photos to tell you what you have.

Check the headspace using British .303 gauges.

 

[HexHead]

Check the headspace using British .303 gauges.

Important distinction here. Enfields use mil-spec headspace gauges, not SAMMI ones. The SAMMI ones will show it to be unsafe. The SAMMI no-go is the equivalent of the middle mil-spec one. I had to special order getting a no-go made to mil-spec thickness.

I have a 1942 very early Savage built No. 4 Mk. 1. (Not Mk. 1*).

 

[Slamfire]

Here is a good post with pictures. Avoid this!

http://www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=7530062&postcount=7

 

[Gunnerboy]

I brought a no1 mk3 back from the dead. Like bolt was rusted shut everything was rust ive since then owned 2 others and they are a tough rifle so only worry you might have is head space but you will know if you take your bolt head off and it says 1 then its original if it says 2 then the head space has been corrected and if it says 3 then that rifle has seen some serious action.

 

[nathan]

Once you get it, get the Priv Partizan ammo in 180 gr. SP. They are great for hunting all games in North America except bear .

[/IMG]

 

[ball3006]

Yep, Privi ammo is good ammo. Great brass for reloading too. Much better than S&B....chris3

 

[dprice3844444]

federal ammo is more accurate

 

[bigedp51]

1. Matching numbers on the receiver and bolt, if the British or Commonwealth countries worked on the rifle the bolt and receiver numbers will match. If the importer just slapped another bolt in the rifle for sales the bolt number will not match and headspace could be a problem.

2. If the barrel or receiver is stamped 18.5 tons the British re-proofed the rifle before it was sold out of service which means the rifle was inspected before it was sold out of service. (good to see and means the rifle was serviceable)

3. Photos of rifle would help, as our psychic abilities are limited to a range of 25 miles.

 

[fishblade2]

Thanks for the most help you guys could provide. I will check out other websites that have been given to me as well but I can't send pictures for now because I have to actually go and see the gun. I just figured out today that the person selling is someone my uncle knows, not him and that this guys owns 3 different ones. What model should I go with if there is a better one out there? I will check for matching number on the gun and also for that 18.5 tons inspection.

 

[BruceB]

Nice photo of the Privi ammo in the chargers ("strippers").

However, those chargers are loaded wrongly.

There is a very specific way to load the chargers so that the rounds stack correctly into the magazine, and the illustration shows the WRONG way.

_-_-_

This illustrates the proper positioning of the cartridge bases in the the charger. Rounds 1, 3, and 5 have their bases against the bottom of the stripper, while #2 and #4 have their rims resting ON TOP of the rims of numbers 1, 3, and 5.

I know it looks unlikely, but this is the correct way. Note that either end of the charger, when loaded correctly, can be inserted into the rifle's charger guide and feed its rounds properly into the magazine....they are symmetrical when loaded this way.

The rimmed cartridge necessitates great care to ensure that rims do not get behind rims in the magazine, which causes severe "jams". Not a good thing!

 

[303tom]

Check these out.

 

[303tom]

Here is a few more.