It's been a while since I've been here. My link to the site must be screwed up. Here I thought that TFL was DOA! What a relief!
Anyway, as some of you may remember I had a scout rifle buil off of a (sporterized before I bought it!) Lee Enfield #5 Mk1 Jungle Carbine. The project took forever but it is finally done.
I bought a sporterized Jungle Carbine. It had been beautifully polished and blued. It wore a Ram Line synthetic stock, had the barrel cut to 19" and all of the unneccessary metal removed from the front sight/flash hider assembly. It aso had a Bsquare scope mount and a cheap Chinese scope. The barrel had been ruined by corrosive ammo.
The scope and the mount went directly into the junk box. A proper, adjustable rear sight was installed. The only barrels I could find at the time were surplus 2 groove barrels from Springfield Sporters. ($20 apiece) I sent the barrel and the rifle to Ashley Outdoors and had the gunsmith, Bo Wallace, work his magic. He installed the barrel, cut it to the proper size and crowned it. Then he installed an Ashley Scout Scope mount on the barrel. He also installed a new Ashley front sight. His work is top notch and Ashley's products seem to be of very high quality. I am very pleased!
I installed a Leupold scout scope using Millet rings (Warn QD rings will come next paycheck!). I attatched a Galco 3 point Ching sling and a Galco 5 round butt cuff.
The rifle comes to shoulder very quickly and target aquisition is very rapid. I'm still getting used to the set up and must remind myself to keep both eyes open. Preliminary range results are very promising! Remington 180 RNSP and Winchester 180gr spire points were giving between 1.5 to 2 moa. Not too bad. When I switched to Greek surplus HXP85 ball ammo (174gr Mk7 ball) I was getting 1" to 1.25" groups at 100 yds. Not bad for a $20 surplus 2 groove barrel! I'm itching to try some match ammo and some handloads.
All in all I am very pleased. The trigger still needs some work but as it is I'm getting 1moa with surplus ball ammo so I guess it's not that bad. I wanted a scout that was built on the finest bolt action battle rifle ever built and that's exactly what I got. The bolt throw is short, smooth and fast. The iron sights are some of the best ever designed (IMHO). I have a 10 rnd detatchable box magazine that can be quickly replaced, topped off singely or quickly reloaded with stripper clips. It's certainly accurate enough!
While I would prefer to have it in 308 I don't feel handicapped using the 303. Ammo is plentiful. (plus I reload my owm) The scout really isn't for shooting much past 300-400 yds and the 303 has proven itself well beyond those ranges. I have a lot of shooting and testing to do so if anyone is interested in hearing more about this let me know.
Bo used my rifle to help develope replacement rear sights for Enfields and also to help develop a scout kit for Enfields similar to their mauser kits. He also hinted to a colaboration with Gibbs so maybe a ready made Enfield scout will be available in the future.
Anyway, as some of you may remember I had a scout rifle buil off of a (sporterized before I bought it!) Lee Enfield #5 Mk1 Jungle Carbine. The project took forever but it is finally done.
I bought a sporterized Jungle Carbine. It had been beautifully polished and blued. It wore a Ram Line synthetic stock, had the barrel cut to 19" and all of the unneccessary metal removed from the front sight/flash hider assembly. It aso had a Bsquare scope mount and a cheap Chinese scope. The barrel had been ruined by corrosive ammo.
The scope and the mount went directly into the junk box. A proper, adjustable rear sight was installed. The only barrels I could find at the time were surplus 2 groove barrels from Springfield Sporters. ($20 apiece) I sent the barrel and the rifle to Ashley Outdoors and had the gunsmith, Bo Wallace, work his magic. He installed the barrel, cut it to the proper size and crowned it. Then he installed an Ashley Scout Scope mount on the barrel. He also installed a new Ashley front sight. His work is top notch and Ashley's products seem to be of very high quality. I am very pleased!
I installed a Leupold scout scope using Millet rings (Warn QD rings will come next paycheck!). I attatched a Galco 3 point Ching sling and a Galco 5 round butt cuff.
The rifle comes to shoulder very quickly and target aquisition is very rapid. I'm still getting used to the set up and must remind myself to keep both eyes open. Preliminary range results are very promising! Remington 180 RNSP and Winchester 180gr spire points were giving between 1.5 to 2 moa. Not too bad. When I switched to Greek surplus HXP85 ball ammo (174gr Mk7 ball) I was getting 1" to 1.25" groups at 100 yds. Not bad for a $20 surplus 2 groove barrel! I'm itching to try some match ammo and some handloads.
All in all I am very pleased. The trigger still needs some work but as it is I'm getting 1moa with surplus ball ammo so I guess it's not that bad. I wanted a scout that was built on the finest bolt action battle rifle ever built and that's exactly what I got. The bolt throw is short, smooth and fast. The iron sights are some of the best ever designed (IMHO). I have a 10 rnd detatchable box magazine that can be quickly replaced, topped off singely or quickly reloaded with stripper clips. It's certainly accurate enough!
While I would prefer to have it in 308 I don't feel handicapped using the 303. Ammo is plentiful. (plus I reload my owm) The scout really isn't for shooting much past 300-400 yds and the 303 has proven itself well beyond those ranges. I have a lot of shooting and testing to do so if anyone is interested in hearing more about this let me know.
Bo used my rifle to help develope replacement rear sights for Enfields and also to help develop a scout kit for Enfields similar to their mauser kits. He also hinted to a colaboration with Gibbs so maybe a ready made Enfield scout will be available in the future.