Enfield 303 info $140?

F

fortkevin2

New member
I just purchase an Enfield 303 Brit rifle on GB. I can pick the rifle up locally so there is no shipping/transfer just tax.

Here is the link.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=258104307


Description:

This Lee Enfield .303 Bolt Action has a 25” barrel. On the receiver is stamped “C No. 4 Mk 1*” Long Branch 1950. The numbers on the clip, trigger guard ring and bolt don’t match. The rifling is strong and the bolt action is smooth. The bluing is strong on the barrel and the receiver. There is normal wear marks on the barrel and receiver. The stock shows some nicks and light scratches which you can see in the pictures. Thank you for looking and checkout our feedback!

I know I screwed myself by paying $140 but did I do THAT bad? It obviously has been "sporterized" and to me it looks ugly. I figured for $140, why not. I have a bunch of Mosins and was looking for something different.

Can anyone tell me how well these things shoot?
 
Sporterized No 4 Enfield.

If it were me, I'd get hold of the right stock. The buttstock looks unaltered.

If it were me, I'd remove the scope mount, and replace it with the correct peep sight. It's a two position sight, either two fixed battle sight peeps, or one fixed, one adjustable ladder.

On the left hand side of the receiver, there's a screw hole about half way down the receiver. There' supposed to be a screw in there. That's the ejector.

$140? You did OK. (Mine was $75, in the late 90s. Can't touch them for that now.)
 
Not a terribly bad price. You need a fore end, hand guards, front sight protector and screw, front and rear bands with screws and swivel. The ejector screw is missing and I would get a rear sight for it. You can probably get $40+ for the scope mount.

The barrel has not been cut so this is a easy restore to correct condition. The fore end is the hard part to find at a reasonable price. I just bought one off GB for $35 and it needed a lot of clean up but it came out pretty good.

You should be able to get all the needed parts for under $150 so you well end up with a correct 1950 long Branch for under $300, that's not bad at today's prices.

First thing to do is check the head space then fire it and see if it's a good shooter. Then make the decision if you want to restore it.
 
You didn't do too bad, the .303 shoots very well. I know a couple guys who use them for deer hunting and easily knock deer down at at 125 yards. I've heard the ballistics are fairly close to the .308 and close , but I'm almost positive it exceeds it, to the 7.65 Arg (my baby is an 1891 Argentine Mauser). If you're going to use it for hunting, then yes I say you made out quite well.

The recoil isn't awful but it might not hurt to get rid of the skull crusher.
 
I have a couple of SMLEs, they shoot pretty decently. I would rate the recoil as more than the 7mm Mauser but not as stiff as the .30-06 out of a M-17 Enfield. Mine have the full military stocks so they weigh a tad more that a sporterized one, which does take recoil down a little. I think I paid $60-75 for them but that was maybe 20 years ago and my recall gets a bit fuzzy on the details.....
 
I've had several enfields over the years. They are good enough rifles, but not exceptionally accurate, usually due to bedding problems with the stock.

The one thing you will probably notice on this sporterized rifle is that the recoil will be heavier than on an unmodified rifle. The parts that have been removed have lightened the rifle which will result in more felt recoil. What you have is probably similar in weight to an Enfield no. 5 carbine. I had one of those, and the recoil would definitely make you notice.

If you restore the missing parts, the recoil will be much reduced. Or you could add a recoil pad to the buttstock, which is what they did on the no. 5 carbine.

Chaz
 
Thanks for the replies so far. After taking a closer look it's got an SK scope mount which aren't cheap. I didn't realize this and just thought it was a cheap mount. Lucky me I guess :)

I am undecided on what do to with it. The rifle is not matching so restoring it back to original condition to me doesn't make much sense. I have seen all matching ones locally for $220-$250 in the past year or so.
 
When you check out headspacing be aware there is a HUGE amount of plain old wrong information on the web about headspacing the Lee-Enfields.

FYI headspace on rimmed cases, like the .303 British, is exclusively measured by the rim thickness & the space between the closed & locked bolt face & the breech rear, nothing else!

Unfortunately some have applied terminology for rimless cases to the .303 Brit & the Enfield rifles & written huge amounts of utter garbage about various kitchen sink methods for reforming case shoulders to "correct headspace problems". Do read & check, but be wary of techniques that refer to things like banana shaped cases, fishing line & "O" rings those are gibberish. Enfield chambers can absolutely be cut over sized, but this is an oversize chamber, nothing else & is utterly separate from any headspace measurements, they've just been lumped in together by the ignorant.
 
Several years ago, a buddy and I restored his bubba'd SMLE back to original condition. He found a complete stock kit online and we stripped and re-finished, then installed it. Turned out great. I think he has pics of the project, I'll see if he can send tham to me, and I'll post them.

Heck even if you keep it as is, 140 greens is pretty good for a hunting rifle
 
Regarding accuracy of the Lee-Enfield, I restored a 1941 Long Branch No.4 Mk.1 last year and, using a cheap scope and a "no gunsmithing" scope mount from Fulton's, I am getting 1/2" 5-round groups at 100 yards (sand bag front rest), and my best group size at 300 yards has been 2" - accurate enough for me.
 
The first thing that should be done is to have the headspace checked. If it is good, then you can proceed. Since the numbers do not match, restoring it to original is rather moot. Continue with the sporterizing. You can get some awfully nice aftermarket stocks. You should be able to build a real nice hunter out of it.
 
Is it For Sale or trade ?

Hey spinecracker , would you take $1,000 for that rifle ? I've always wanted an Enfield that I could shoot service rifle matches with . Sounds like yours is the one I've been looking for !
 
oneoldsap said:
Is it For Sale or trade ?
Hey spinecracker , would you take $1,000 for that rifle ? I've always wanted an Enfield that I could shoot service rifle matches with . Sounds like yours is the one I've been looking for !
Click to expand...

:D

Me too. I'd be tickled pink if my brand new MkII's shot half that good.

I need to shoot my new to me LB Mk1/3, maybe it's the one.;)

1-303.jpg

lbs01.jpg
 
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