Advice for a first time Enfield buyer?

[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.

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[mac2017]

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

[lyon13]

sporterized or not?

Not I hate when people do that to rifles and I would only buy one if I was certain that I could get it back to mill spec

[capt14k]

While a 2A1 is an Enfield you can't invoke Rule .303 with one. Rule 7.62x51 just doesn't sound the same. Get a No4. There is still plenty of HXP .303 from the CTD deal that pops up for sale occasionally.

[Stanforth]

I shoot 3 Enfields. One is an Ishapore SMLE MKIII. Apart from a new barrel and new wood it is original The next is a Savage No.4 Mark 1* in near perfect condition and the last is an Envoy in like new condition.
As you will see I use both 7.62x51 in the Envoy and .303 in the others. Here in the UK I find that .303 can be purchased cheaper than the 7.62 (.308) It doesn't affect me as in the last 30+ years I have never bought factory ammo (except .22 LR) and the two rounds in question cost the same to reload. I use the same powder type (Hogdon 4895) and weight (43 gns.) in both.
The funny side is when I renew my Firearm Certificate the enquiry office doesn't understand why there are no entries in the Ammunition Purchased section. Peter Laidler will know about this. The quality of firearms officers has taken a dive since Peters day.