Lee Enfield No 4 mk 1

[darkgael]

great rifle

There is an old witticism about three great rifles, all used in WWI and after.
it goes something like:
The Germans made the best hunting rifle.
The Americans made the best target rifle.
The British made the best battle rifle.

Mauser, Springfield 1903, Enfield respectively.

About the Enfield - take a look at some videos of rapid fire with an Enfield.....absolutely amazing.

Pete

 

[wogpotter]

i know there not originals but sante fe didnt ruin them did they?

Yes & no.

To a collector it is ruined because it has been modified from it's original condition. Collectors want it all original, even the rust (Oops, sorry. "Patina").

To a shooter NO. Its been lightened, shortened & made "handier".

There were a couple of firms making sporter, or "#5 Carbines out of #4 Mk1 rifles, why? Because the rarer #5 "Jungle Carbine" was "Cooler"
Later there came "Bubba"!

Bubba hacked on things with Sawsalls & did other horrible things, & so all conversions got to be called "Bubb'ed" whether they were or not. Now some of the real conversions are beginning to become collectable in their own right.

 

[Fishing Taco]

thanks for the info everyone
and those videos were pretty good also

 

[tlagerman]

Problems with the bolt on my no4 mk1 Lee Enfield

I was wondering if someone could maybe help me out. Today I bought my first no 4 mk 1 it seems to be manufactured by savage in 1942, it also has no visible import stamp. My problem is, after disassembling the stock and a thorough cleaning and full reassembly I had been working the bolt to get used to the cock on closing and noticed the part of the bolt that stops It from being removed was no on its track, once I noticed that I placed it back on its track and worked the bolt a little more and noticed it was off of its track again preventing me from closing the bolt (it comes off when I cycle the bolt fast as I would in the Mad Minute) Is there something that I could be doing wrong or is it mechanical? also I was Cycling dry. I apologize for not knowing the correct terminology I am new to bolt guns.

 

[madcratebuilder]

Welcome to the forum. First it's better to start a new thread than to revive a old one, it well get more views.

Both the North American made No4's, the Long Branch and Savage use what is called a "war time expedient" bolt release. Instead of a spring loaded release near the rear of the bolt travel, a slot was cut in the "boltway" near the front of the receiver. This slot is just wide enough to lift the bolt head out.

Some times this slot can become chipped causing the bolt head to lift out of the boltway. The bolt heads used on the MkI* models have a slight bevel in the boltway slot to reduce the chance of chipping. It's very common to see a standard bolt head in a MkI* receiver.

The bolt head lifting during fast bolt closing with a unloaded rifle is not terribly unusual. If you have some dummy rounds made up see if it cycles with those. The bolt head is not likely to lift while it's pushing a round in to the chamber.

 

[Joe Chicago]

You will love your Lee Enfield. They have a very smooth action that is easy to cycle quickly. They also have great aperture sights. It is a good rifle for hunting as long as your eyes are up to the task.

 

[MJ1]

lots of fun

Santa Fe magazines.

......

 

[tahunua001]

alright I haven't read the whole thread so forgive me if I repost old information.

the no4 MK1 is a combat rifle from before the age of optics so none of them have scope rails except for the very expensive and hard to find sniper models. therefore you will either have to use Iron sights or take it to a gun smith to have a rail mounted. the open sights were set to hit point of aim at 300 yards so you will actually be hitting several inches high at 100 yards.

most will hold hunting accuracy but some may have been shot too much and the barrels may be shot.

303 brit is comparable to 308 Win for hunting and due to a heavy number of enfields that were imported following WWII there is a great deal of quality hunting ammo available for 303 brit.

short and simple answer, your new enfield is more than capable of killing a deer at 200 yards but you may not have the skills to make that shot with open sights. if you keep within 100 yards and understand that you have to hold low on your shots then the enfield NO4 MK1 will be a fantastic hunting companion.

AH DAGUMMIT!!!!!!! I FELL FOR ANOTHER ZOMBIE THREAD!!!!!!