Please help me learn about my new toy.

[WarLord69th]

I now have what looks like to be a 1917 S.HT L.E Enfield III. The barrel has a HV (High Volocity) stamped on it. The rifle has not or does not appear to be sporterised for there is no blewed finish on metal. I was told from the last owner the weapon was handed down to family from a service man who used it in some military conflict. could be BS. Can anyone tell me some history on this weapon please.

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[Rumpelhardt]

If you hunt and like the rifle have it checked out by a good gunsmith, if it checks out safe to shoot see if it shoots reasonably well and if so enjoy it.
It is not collectible or restorable but it still is a Lee-Enfield and still is one of the smoothest and quickest cycling bolt action rifles out there.

[Peter Laidler]

Come on Ridolpho....... the hardy No5 was hardly a sporterised No4 except in the eyes of those newspaper and magazine reporters of the era. It was accurate up to a point but you'd soon find that during a fierce bout of 'hot' shooting, say during a gun battle or even on a rapid and snap shoot, that the zero would just start to go, well....., anywhere. The mystery was always that the following day when things had cooled down, the thing was accurate - but the MPI had changed!

The No5's re-bodied were just a means of...... anyway, I won't repeat myself as it's been told several times and will be in the archives but it meant that a foreign nations (usually the Pacific Rim armies with an allegiance to the UK) got back, repaired, the same quantity of weapons that they put in.

I also dispute the 'accuracy' as defined (as opposed to zeroing ability here.....) of such a rifle, at the 300-400 plus ranges you'd certainly hit things, but not necessarily things that you were aiming at!

[Frederick303]

The only point I would make about these sported conversions, which were common when I was a young lad in the US, is that they will often shoot very well with reduced velocity loads. The MK VII ammunition tht these rifles were loaded for had a 175 grain bullet @ 2440 FPS at the muzzle of a 25.2 inch barrel (assuming a like new barrel). Many folks found that with the common No 1 MK III conversions that once the fore wood was removed the rifles did not group well at all, the same was true of the No 4 conversions. If the velocity was reduced on the 180 grain bullet to around 2,050 fps or 2,250 with the 150 grain bullet, the accuracy become consistent enough that the rifle was a fine 150 yard deer rifle, which is about all you need in Pennsylvania. The resultant load is pretty much a duplicate of the 30-30, which was considered a prime deer cartridge in my youth.

The lee loading company used to make a simple hand loader kit that allowed the home re-loader to assemble neck resized only cases, so it was possible for the hunter to assemble 20 or 30 rounds in an evening, which would last the prudent hunter two or more years including zero rounds. The hunters did not shoot their rifles that much.

These conversions fall in the same range as the numerous 30-40 Krag, Marlin 336 and 36 rifles as far as general utility. When the cartridge was down loaded to these lower velocities, not only did the accuracy improve but he recoil was much reduced as well and the Lee Enfield sporter, along with the Krag was said to be an ideal rifle for that quick a second shot. The slick bolt and reasonable iron sights made it not at all a bad choice for PA hunting conditions.

In a time when spare dollars were not that common, these rifles (which could be bought for as little as 9.95 cents in the early 1960s) were the path to having a very capable deer rifle for those on a limited budget. The prime time of these conversions use was, at least in local lore, in the late 1950s to early 1970s. After that the low cost scopes and new /second hand reasonable cost hunting rifles seemed to have supplanted these arms for sporting use. This also corresponds with a trend in hunters using higher velocity cartridge such as the 30-06. The medium calibers (30-30, 32 special, 257 Roberts, 303, 30-40 Krag) fell into disrepute at this time for some reason.

You often see these discarded hunting tools of two generations ago for very little money in the gunshops and gun shows of PA. Very often some of the home built sporters are very finely finished by men who might spend an entire winter carefully going over the rifle in order to make it a thing of pride. Some of these men were very skilled and some conversions are very nice. I am sort of fond of these rifles for what they represent. True they are not collectable to a military rifle collector, but whenever I see one in a friend’s collection, most often there is a story regarding it having come from a Grandfather or Uncle who owned it and used it.

So enjoy your rifle for what it is. If you play around with it you may find that it will shoot very well, I think the common expectation of hunters was 5 shots in 3 inches @ 100 yards, something under 5 inches at 150 yards with glass or iron sights.