~Lee Enfield~

[06]

Just picked up a 1917 Winchester Enfield in guess what caliber---my favorite---30-06. Shoots like a charm. Rumor has it that Sgt. Alvin York used one instead of the 1903 Springfield--any knowledge of that??? wc

 

[MJ]

Groups are more consistently resistant to spreading after the whip effect settles out. I'll buy into that.

Most of the rifles I have shot settle into a box 10"X18" past 200 through 450. This little tidbit came from a fellow with more Bisley trophies with the #4 than most people have wall space.

At the end of the day will it matter to most surplus shooters? No. Will it mater to me in the future? Not much at this point.

.......Pura Vida.....
..........MJ...........
..eyes drifting back to the beach..

 

[GBExpat]

After thinking about it awhile, my Lee Enfield 1st choice would not be just for any Nº1, but for a nice Lithgow Nº1.

 

[Vic303]

Man, MJ you make me jealous of the Enfield collection! By chance do you have an L39A1 in there too? If so, please post a pic for me, as I had a chance, ouat, to buy one for 300-400$, but passed on it to get my Italian steel framed roadbike (Masi...).

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Maybe that's the problem with my shooting. I've been too close to the target all this time.

Limeyfellow, why don't you settle this argument for us, of whether a group can tighten up after 100 - I'm skeptical but hey......

 

[MJ]

They don't tighten up in .5" steps but they do groupe uniformly farther out. Then hold that pattern well.

No L39, I'm not greedy.


....Pura Vida....

 

[Srigs]

I have an Ishipore 2A (308/7.62x59) version and it is darn accurate. Fun to shoot and fills a nice need in my collection.

 

[GBExpat]

Quick Before & After shots of my two 2As that I acquired from AIM when they first made them available 2 (3?) years ago:



The metal parts required no refinishing once that nasty black paint was removed ... the wood only required a few apps of BLO:MS mixture.

The bores are LN.

 

[Limey46]

What is BLO:MS mixture?

 

[GBExpat]

Boiled Linseed Oil & Mineral Spirits

 

[MJ]

BLO + turpitine 50/50



147g pulled Bulgarian bullets at 200 yards. They are cr@p surplus bullets.

Cheers
...MJ...

 

[GBExpat]

BLO + turpitine 50/50

<nodding> I use a ~2-3:1 ratio of BLO:MS and find that I never need more than 4 hand-rubbed apps ... usually only 3 ... then I leave it "in a breeze" in my low RH basement for several weeks so that it can fully cure.

 

[SMLE]

Another formula that gives a great finish is BLO + turpentine + beeswax in equal parts.

 

[MJ]

<scratching bum> Try soaking the oils out of the wood first with terry towels and laquer thinner, warming the stock in the sun will help draw the oils out of the wood. This way there is a place for the BLO to go deep into the wood.



If it's not dry and oil free the BLO will just sit on top of the wood.



Cheers
...MJ...

 

[woodybrighton]

I actually got issued one of those telescopes back in the 1980s believe there still on issue.
the L42 was and is an awesome bit of kit but compared with an Accuracy international L96 well you can't really
somebody put a rumour round that L42s were going back into service wishful thinking really.
hitting the Huns head at 600 metres with an L42 good shooting
hitting the huns head at 600metres with an L96 when are we going to start doing some work

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Unlike others, I found that I *could* stop collecting them. Have had 4 (twos #4s, one #1, and one #2A); now down to one (#4 sporterized). Sure, I like them, but I didn't get the *bug* to the same extent as I did/do have with K31s for example. They will jam quite a bit, OR they will fail to strip a round if the feed lips on the mags aren't *just* exactly right. Really fast though. I love my sporterized one.

 

[MJ]

Why would you stop?

<heads back to beach>

 

[NC-Mike]

These rifles never really moved me but my son wanted one for his 17th birthday. I found a good guy on Gunbroker who sent me a war time Mk4 No1 that has a pristine bore but the rest of the rifle was a little worn. I paid 220 including shipping for it. I tried to do a restore that would bring it back to a service grade rifle.

In the course of refinishing and then shooting that rifle, I do kinda want one for myself.

 

[308sc]

nice looking rifle NC-Mike, lucky son

 

[NC-Mike]

nice looking rifle NC-Mike, lucky son

I hope he knows that. I told him to behave himself because when he turns 18, I may have a hard time turning that over to him. He also has a Mosin 91-30 I refinished for him that I will have trouble parting with.

 

[spiroxlii]

I have a strange relationship with Enfields. I'm not a guy with a lot of money, so collecting them en masse is out of the question, though I really would love to have a thousand. Ever since I got my carry permit, a lot of my money has gone into handguns and ammo so I can practice reguarly.

Lord... a C&R license and a carry permit. Ever since I got those two pieces of paper, it's like I can't save any money!

Right now, my arsenal includes two Lee-Enfield type rifles. One is a Lithgow (Australia) No1MkIII/SMLE. The other is an Ishapore 2A, which is basically a No1MkIII/SMLE chambered in .308Win/7.62NATO instead of .303British. The British had an armory at Ishapore when they ruled India. When they left, the Indians kept producing rifles there, but they modernized the SMLE to take a NATO standard round instead of .303British. It was probably cheaper and quicker for them to retool parts of the SMLE production line to make an SMLE in 7.62NATO than it was for them to buy a lot of newly designed rifles or to design a new rifle from scratch themselves.

My Lithgow SMLE shoots straight as an arrow. The smith at the gun shop says it has excessive headspace, but when I looked it up, it turns out that its headspace is just inside the outer limit of acceptable field headspace. These rifles were built a bit loose, it seems. The Ishapore 2A shoots pretty straight as well, and since it was built in 1965 instead of 1918 like my SMLE, I have a bit more confidence in its steel.

Now that I have a No1 and a 2A, I still need to find a decent No4. I'd also like a No5/"Jungle Carbine," but it's hard to find a real one in good shape. I might settle for one of the fake jungle carbines made from a cut down No4 or No1.

 

[308sc]

nice mosin too!

 

[MJ]

I must have slept through the 2a thing. My bad.



I was looking up the street.

Cheers
...MJ...

 

[308sc]

MJ one of these days (If you have not already you will have to take a picture of every single gun you own...all in one picture..if that is possible.

 

[MJ]

area 51 is booked