Lee Enfields......

USMC6094

USMC6094

Schnitzengruben
2A Bourbon Hound OG
Supporting Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2016
Messages
22,628
Location
Eastern NC
Rating - 100%
9   0   0
Gotta love these old Ladies, my first rifle I ever bought was a Lithgow No 1 MkIII* I got for seventy five dollars when I was a teenager, they are the only bolt gun I have ever been able to get trigger happy with.
Over the years I've had the good fortune to expand my collection of them, and I still have the first one.
Currently I watch over two Fazakerly No4 MkII's, ones been issued, the replacement hand guard and the remnants of the stencils on the stock give it away, the other is an un-issued and as yet un-fired by me Irish Contract rifle. My other No 4 is a Century No 4 MkI(T) clone I picked up in trade a long time ago, she isnt too pretty, but she shoots like a house on fire, and last was is a 1917 BSA No I MkIII I got from a local store that had been butchered into a sporter...........
Back to front:
BSA
No 4 MkI(T)
Un-issued MkII
Shooter MkII
100_3018_zps23a9c7bb.jpg

All four got to be used as props in a play in Raleigh about a year or so ago, under stage lights no one noticed the incorrect three lol
 
Last edited:
One that got away,
1950s sportered No4
100_2476_zpse17b03df.jpg

Polymer replacement stocks are awful, Advanced Technologies made this one, all it did was accentuate the recoil
 
Last edited:
Another one that sadly got away, 1947 (cant remember exactly though) Fazakerly No 5, all matching except the magazine, which was a common issue when they were imported
100_2474_zpsfdf6a452.jpg
 
Last edited:
Glad to see some interest in these here. Here's my Longbranch No. 4 Mk 1/3, and one you may not have seen, a BSA No. 1 Mk III .22 trainer conversion :) They are shooters. There's just something about these old guns. My current project is a Norwegian Krag.

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"http:\/\/home.pipeline.com\/~twotyred\/No%204%20Mk%201%20sm.jpg"}[/IMG2]

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"http:\/\/home.pipeline.com\/~twotyred\/IMG_3203.jpg"}[/IMG2]
 
I have 2 of the No.4 Mk1's that I bought at Rose's for $49.99 each that are both from Savage. Well, had them before the boat accident.
 
Lee Enfield is my favorite milsurp bolt gun. I can get accurate fire through one of them faster than I can a Swiss K31.
 
I loved the action on my SMLE, but the ammo was killing my wallet, so off it went.

If I could ever get my hands on an abbreviated carbine in 7.62x39 I'd be a happy man.
 
There was someone who was making a modern version in 7.62x39 that took wasr 10 mags. I'm not sure if any were ever imported though. I've also heard of some custom rifles done by cutting the rearmost inch or so off of the chamber end of the barrel, rethreading and cut the x39 chamber. This intrigues me as well.
There have also been some x54r conversions.
 
jcornSS;n49664 said:
There was someone who was making a modern version in 7.62x39 that took wasr 10 mags. I'm not sure if any were ever imported though. I've also heard of some custom rifles done by cutting the rearmost inch or so off of the chamber end of the barrel, rethreading and cut the x39 chamber. This intrigues me as well.
There have also been some x54r conversions.
Click to expand...

I really don't need the full rifle calibres, especially with iron sights, but a nice compact intermediate cartridge bolt would be a thing of beauty and an Enfield action would be pure gravy.
 
MK1 No 3 With P07 bayonet. It has been rearsenaled at least a few times, but the last time it was done, then packed in cosmo, then thrown into a box for the next several decades. The thing is basically unfired since that last rebuild.
 
There is a guy at weaponsguild who had a No4 receiver and is building a 7.62x39 around it. He made his own magazine and put a new barrel.
 
Changing it up a bit. An unadulterated, original, Eddystone "American Enfield" or "P17" World War one issue, with a proper original m1917 bayonet. These things were the defacto service rifle of WW1 for US troops. Due to supply problems with the 1903s Brits had a p14 which was exactly the same except it shot 303.

 
Besides the M1 I ordered from the CMP (and had not yet received), the Lee Enfield was my first foray into military surplus. Some of you recall the early 90's when Rose's carried milsurps. I picked up a No4 that had a variety of replacement wood (and oil-soaked wood, at that), but it was a refurbished rifle and the metal is pristine, along with the bore. After an overseas deployment, a Mosin Nagant from Rose's followed a couple years later.

The Lee-Enfield rifles are a superb design. Besides the 10-round magazine and short action, I always found the No1 MkIII sights to be very efficient. The thin, crisp sight blade works well with the sharp U-notch rear sight, making for good sight alignment.
 
for me While I like the Enfields quite a bit, from a looks standpoint anyway. the biggest thing for me outside of possibly the history is that they cock on closing. And that makes so much more sense to me . While I like mauser actions, I much prefer how the Brits did their rifles.
 
gc70 said:
jcornSS;n49664 said:
There was someone who was making a modern version in 7.62x39 that took wasr 10 mags. I'm not sure if any were ever imported though.
Click to expand...

An Australian firm reworked some SMLEs in 7.62x39 several years ago.


Click to expand...
I remember those well, they also did a .308/7.62 NATO conversion as well. Always hoped they would/could import them, but it never happened
 
AIA rifles were new made not conversions. There is a long sorry saga of why they failed that I don't really understand.
 
shadowsbane said:
Changing it up a bit. An unadulterated, original, Eddystone "American Enfield" or "P17" World War one issue, with a proper original m1917 bayonet. These things were the defacto service rifle of WW1 for US troops. Due to supply problems with the 1903s Brits had a p14 which was exactly the same except it shot 303.

Click to expand...
I saw them in an old episode of "tale of the gun" the other dsy and thougth about this post. Very cool.
 
gsimmons;n55192 said:
AIA rifles were new made not conversions. There is a long sorry saga of why they failed that I don't really understand.
Click to expand...

Wood was Vietnamese. Which we had a trade issue with. Few other similar things. There are a few in the country. Tune of maybe 5:00-1000 Turned one or two down over the years that I regret. Last one I saw was 900
 
gc70 said:
jcornSS;n49664 said:
There was someone who was making a modern version in 7.62x39 that took wasr 10 mags. I'm not sure if any were ever imported though.
Click to expand...

An Australian firm reworked some SMLEs in 7.62x39 several years ago.


Click to expand...
Yep, thought about it, Ishapores are great rifles, actually have a line on one if I wanted it, but honestly have higher priorities, riflewise that is
 
shadowsbane said:
MK1 No 3 With P07 bayonet. It has been rearsenaled at least a few times, but the last time it was done, then packed in cosmo, then thrown into a box for the next several decades. The thing is basically unfired since that last rebuild.
Click to expand...
You know that would go well with my collecection if you ever decide to part with it.
 
I once found a No.1 MkIII SMLE, circa 1918, in a cheap guns rack that I thought would make a good truck gun. It had rust and the wood was kinda beat up. It had been sporterized and I figured it was a bubba'd gun. But the bones were good. After getting it home and cleaning it up a little I came to realize it was a Parker Hale conversion with Parker Hale proof marks. It quickly moved out of the truck gun category.

It looked a lot like this one...
[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"http:\/\/www.enfield-rifles.com\/uploads\/1544\/5213986-0-orig.jpg"}[/IMG2]
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This is an interesting one. A Long Branch rifle reworked for a target rifle, likely a club rifle in Canada.




 

Attachments

  • IMG_0825_zps15175948.jpg
    IMG_0825_zps15175948.jpg
    57 KB · Views: 4
  • IMG_0825_zps15175948.jpg
    IMG_0825_zps15175948.jpg
    57 KB · Views: 4
  • IMG_0818_zps17136bf5.jpg
    IMG_0818_zps17136bf5.jpg
    44.9 KB · Views: 5
  • IMG_0754_zpsd08d79ef.jpg
    IMG_0754_zpsd08d79ef.jpg
    69.7 KB · Views: 4
  • IMG_0754_zpsd08d79ef.jpg
    IMG_0754_zpsd08d79ef.jpg
    69.7 KB · Views: 4
  • IMG_0754_zpsd08d79ef.jpg
    IMG_0754_zpsd08d79ef.jpg
    69.7 KB · Views: 4
  • IMG_0817_zps4ab37115.jpg
    IMG_0817_zps4ab37115.jpg
    50.1 KB · Views: 4
I have one of Ishapore model that I put peep sights on and a sporter stock. Still have the original stock though.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom