My Lee Enfield History

**JimR** · 03-20-2009 10:01 AM

I am new to this site and want to introduce myself. I am a retired attorney from SE Minnesota. Over the years I have owned many, many guns but I have always had one or more LE in my collection. I can't say that I am an expert, however. I developed a fascination with old military firearms as a young teenager...drooling over the Hunters Lodge ads in shooting magazines for long periods of time. Recently, I came across an old ad which included in part the following for sale (by mail order): "Royal Enfield Jungle Carbine"...$24.95, "Royal Enfield No. 4 Service Rifle"...$16.95, "Pattern 14T Enfield Sniper Rifle" (with original scope mounted!)....$79.95, "Enfield No. 1 MkIII"...$14.95, "Enfield No. 1 Mk 1"...$12.95. "Custom Royal Enfield Mag Sporter (a No.1, MkIII with a cut down stock)...$24.95. Back in those days, given my youthful poverty, all of these guns were way out of reach. ( Recently traveling through Nebraska I stopped at a Cabela's. They had two very hard used No. 1 Mk III's with price tags of $199.95! ) So, since then, Enfields have come and gone. As a young college student in the State of Washington, I had my Dad send me my sporterized No 4 with which I shot the largest mule deer ever...one shot at the running buck at about 30 yards. At the present I have in my meager collection an Ishy No. 1 Mk III, a Long Branch No. 4 and an Ishy 2A1. In addition, at local farm auctions I have collected a No. 4 well sporterized with the barrel cut to 20 inches and orginal stock reshaped to a Mannlicher configuration. At the same auction I purchased what had been an Ishy .410 which the previous owner had rebarreled as a 45 caliber muzzleloader....very accurate! I dearly wish I had hung on to my previous LE...like a great No 5 carbine, etc, etc. I now reload for my old Brits (or Indians) and greatly enjoy learning from the expertise of you who post on this site. My LE dream acquisition would be a Boer War vintage LE carbine....who knows, it could happen.

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