Enfield Scout Rifle

J

Jaeger

New member
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.
 
I went to the range today and did some short range speed work with the scout. Shooting offhand at bowling pins from the 45yd mark was a joy! I could send them flying as fast as I could work the bolt and reaquire a target which was pretty fast. Speed reloads with the stripper clips was a breeze and pretty quick.

I also went over to the 200yd range and did some shooting at a 12" steel gong from a semi-braced kneeling position. 10 shots, 10 hits. It was dusk but picking up the crosshairs was no problem.

The more I shoot this thing the more I love it! Styer, eat your heart out!

One last thing. I weighed it yesterday (a bathroom scale is all I have) My scout is a little porkey at 8lbs. unloaded. Still, it handles great and points like greased lightning!
 
Cool! I have two Scouts, one my good old Ruger .308, and an Enfield that I'm converting now. The SMLE is a great old rifle!

Have fun.
 
Hello. A few years ago, I had my 'smith convert a new Enfield No.4 Mk2 into a "scout". It proved amazingly quick and accurate from field positions. While these guns will likely never make the "weight" requirements set forth by Col. Cooper, they do make rather nice guns. I've been very pleasantly surprised by this rifle. Best to all.
 
How much did you guys have to spend to have this done? I might be interested in doing this myself.

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Beware the three D's: The dumb, drunk, and deranged. Chadintex@hotmail.com
 
Mine was about $700 total. (scope included) I'm sure you could do the project cheaper than that. I probably spent too much on the initial rifle, but when I saw it, I just had to have it. It spoke to me and I paid the price.

You could get a Gibbs rifle (the Quest Extreme comes to mind) and with a minimum of modifications have a scout up and running in no time. Like I said, Ashley Outdoors is going to be offering a scout kit for Enfields in the near future. Bo mentioned a colaboration with Gibbs so maybe a "factory" scout will be offered.
 
Well, I've already got a #7 Jungle Carbine from Gibbs, just don't know what kind of scope and mounts to get yet. I figure this is a pretty good, cheap alternative. but I did think about buying one of those $70 rifles from SGN and seeing what I could do to that. Where did you get stripper clips, and do you know if they will work on the .308?

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Beware the three D's: The dumb, drunk, and deranged. Chadintex@hotmail.com
 
Hello. I spent $350 on the rifle new in the box and still in cosmoline. I paid whatever the going rate is for the Leupold 2X pistol scope. The gunsmith used the original stock, but reshaped it to the "sporter" look, which reduced some weight. A trigger job with a trigger stop was performed. The bbl was cut to 20" and a ramp front sight compatable to the large "ghost ring" battle sight, added.
A Pachmayer decelerator pad was added and the gun was black parkerized. The scope was attached via Weaver mounts on the rear of the bbl, which is quite thick. I think I spent around 7 or 8 hundred bucks, but have been well satisfied. With pet handloads, the gun shoots into about 1 1/2" at 100 yards. It's quick handling as well. Best to all.
 
chadintex:
The .303 stripper clips are a different design. I use M14 stripper clips with my .308 #7 and they work fine.
Dave
 
Interesting. I have one of the #4 Mk1 utility rifles from Navy Arms, with Advanced Technologies 'zytel' synthetic stock. I had already made up the equivalent rifle from a military stocked piece which is an excellent practical rifle. This second one turned out to have a pretty bad barrel and I am wondering which way to turn on it. Perhaps if and when Ashley comes up with the kit it may have a future.

Jaeger, when did you order the $20 barrel from Springfield Sporters and what condition was the bore in?

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I ordered the barrel directly from Springfield Sporters. $20 + s&h. It looked new. It had some marks left in it from the tool that had been used to unscrew the barrel but those were very minor and are now covered up by the scope mount. The bore is bright and when I cleaned it there was VERY little fouling in it. The exterior is parkerized. Like I said it is a 2 groove and I was a bit worried about this. I did some research and it seems that the 2 groove barrels are every bit as accurate as the 4, 5, and 6 groove barrels and are reputed to be more accurate when using .308 bullets. They don't have quite as long of a service life but you'll still have to do a lot of shooting to wear it out and at $20 a pop you could buy 3 or 4 and have some extras. Actually, I think I will order a few extras!
So far accuracy with mine has been pretty darn good!

I bought the barrel about 1.5 years ago. They should still have plenty left. I used to go to college near Springfield Sporters and was a regular visitor. What a place! Warehouses full of guns, parts and accessories. Most of 'em cheap! If you are ever near Penn Run, PA check the place out. It's worth it.

[This message has been edited by Jaeger (edited April 12, 2000).]
 
Thanks Dave, now if I can just find some of those M14 stripper clips I'll be a happy man. :)

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Beware the three D's: The dumb, drunk, and deranged. Chadintex@hotmail.com
 
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