Advice for a first time Enfield buyer?

[CINDERS]

I concur with Jim about the strongest paste I would put down there would be Iosso and even then not work it to much, thing is they were fired with mercuric primers the salts were never really gotten rid of in any hurry by boiling the barrel straight afterwards besides there were plenty of others being produced and repaired so keeping the bore mirror like was not a big priority. I think the service life of a 303 rifle in WWII being in action up the front line was something like 2 weeks in WWI it was just a matter of days

[lyon13]

Ok so the one with the rack number is Canadian that I know for sure and the other one is English. From what I am told the desirability of enfeilds puts Canadians somewhere around the middle of the road and but what I am told the English ones are kinda low end, is that wrong or am I on the right track?

[30Three]

I think you need to get the best condition one. Especially if you want to shoot it regularly. That means good head space; good rifling and matching number's.
The Longbranch rifle looks good. The BSA looks like the bolt has been replaced and re-numbered. (traces of filing around the stamped area) That's not necessarily a problem if it's been done properly, but would affect value a bit.

[Peter Laidler]

Respectfully sorry to disagree to a small degree lads, if I might be so bold but if the bore you are talking about is thread 17, photo 1 (I might have missed something of course) then in my humble opinion don't waste more that 50pence buying brushes or paste or oil or anything else. It is what it is, a rusted out bore. And while grinding paste, bore scrubbers reverse cone machine gun scrubbers might make it shine a tad more, any further scrubbing is a waste of time. Worth remembering that abrasive cleaning is simply metal removal - it's a metallurgical fact. By definition, you will clean it but that corrosion is the same stuff that's eating away at your car body.

Accept that it is what we call in technical language, 'shagged'. There is a further stage to that, one we call 'totally shagged'. What I would do is take it for what it is and give it an accuracy test. If it gives a group that falls within the accepted accuracy criteria, then use it and clean it as you would do any rifle. If not, don't touch it with a barge pole. There's every chance that it WILL group well. I had a beaten up, corroded and almost shot out No4T with a barrel like a sewer and it shot well

[mike16]

I agree with peter.

my recomendation to use a brush/ steel wool/ valve grinding compound is part of a last ditch effort.

I should have reccommended pushing this combination through the bore maybe 5 times maximum. if that does not clean up the mess then forget about it and shoot it. have fun

suprisingly even a worn out barrel may shoot well, but only for a while. try and experiment.

[CINDERS]

My inclination in using Iosso/nylon brush was just to knock a fraction of the gunk out of there, other pastes out there that will wear the barrel out faster that you sliding down a gravel hill in your shorts stay clear of those like JB's most of mine have varying degrees of pits and bumps but shoot well the 1916 is a bit tired but it only gets shot once a year.

I use Iosso on my F class barrels occasionally to get rid of hard to remove carbon if the carbon remover will not move it and at $1000 a pop per barrel I am not going to put crud down there that's going to make a sewer pipe out of it in short order.

[lngstrt]

Should you have a condition such as a addictive personality my advice would be...don't start!

I bought a #4 in 2006 ...... Ended up with 24 mixed SMLE/No1/No4 ..... When Dad passed last year I found an SMLE, a No4 Long Branch and a No5 in his stuff.

Might have to thin the herd ...... but I don't wanna!!!

[lyon13]

So I just had this pointed out to me 303 is almost impossible to find in stores and is kinda pricey online. But while doing some poking around online I round the Ishapore 2A1 an enfield that was designed to fire 7.62x51. So what is the Ishapore 2A1 a in my case a more economic way to get an enfield?

[mike16]

yes, the Ishapore rifle is typically cheaper and the 308 ammo is cheaper, more plentiful and with enough variety that you can pretty much buy loaded ammo off the shelf and get your rifle up and shooting accurately almost emediatly.

and reloading opens up vast additional capabilities.

but some would argue that its not the .303

and you have discovered that the 303 ammo is expensive and availability is limited and the variety loaded or reloaded is also limited. Some would say a greater challenge.

[mac2017]

sporterized or not? if its ALL wood and matching numbers thats an ok price id take it. if its sporterized maybe 200