Lee Enfield Sniper Rifles - Competitions "In the spirit of the original"

Given the unlikely chance of finding an L42A1 Sniper rifle for first generation 7.62 sniper classification competition, what is considered "In the spirit the original" with respect to scopes and mounts for an imitation L42A1. i.e. What would you need to do to an L39A1 or 7.62 Conv. to create an "In the spirit of the original" L42A1?. (i.e. drilled and tapped action and sweated pads etc. or just a "no gunsmithing" mount....)
Similarly, is there a poor mans substitute for the Aldis/PPCO type No1's as far as brackets and scopes are concerned?.

Would hate to see an L-39 irreversibly modified to make a clone of an L-42.

A no drill mount would be the way to go, IMHO.

"Spirit of the Original" usually means a contemporary scope in any bracket set-up. I guess that an L42 could be replicated by a WW2 scope in modern rings on a Fultons/Armalon mount. No1 faux snipers are usually provided by SMLEs that have already been tapped for a Parker Hale mount - very common - fitted with a WW1 British or even German scope, including things like civilian Aldis models and inter-war hunting scopes.

I swore never to shoot vintage sniper again when at the nationals the scrutineers allowed several sporters with glass bedded actions and 3-9 X 40 scopes. Admittedly the scopes were "taped" at 4 power, but having modern glass and 40+mm objective was a hell of an advantage over the 3.5 power 19mm objective. I certainly hope "spirit of the original" spec is a bit tighter- at least insisting on a "period" scope as Thunderbox has mentioned above. As he intimated, it should be less about the mounts- all about the scope and rifle.

Jss,

PM me and I will point you in the right direction for a L42 all complete, an alternative as you mentioned would be to make repro in the "spirit" of the original, there are still a few No4 heavy barreled target rifles knocking about, or plenty of sporterized No4s which would be a good starting point the heavy barreled ones not as cheap as they used to be but a sporter can be picked up for peanuts.

Peter Laidler has an article on the forum about making a repro No4T, just follow this regarding fitting the pads and bobs your uncle.

If you do go down the make a repro road, then Please dont go and start messing with a standard no4 rifle etc, there are plenty out there as Thunderbox stated that have been drilled and tapped for the PH mounts etc.

One thing to remember in building a repro is that is exactly what it is, so if your looking for a return in the future, I would be on the lookout for the real deal.