Lee Enfield bug

[Amsdorf]

Awesome, bro.

[bearhunter]

Brian is very good to deal with. I vouch for him as well.

One thing to keep in mind.

One Lee Enfield is never enough. One is just enough to get you hooked.

To many, they are ugly ducklings. Most start their love affair on their first shoot. It never ends either. Mine has bee going on for close to sixty years now.

If I may give just a bit of advice, choose the model and mark you like the appearances of best. If you decide to tramp around with all the girls, it will start to get very expensive. Satisfying but still expensive.

Another thing, if you're looking for a shooter, learn how to accurize it. If you're especially lucky, you might find one that the stock hasn't shrunk or warped off the ways ( seats ). If you're having accuracy problems, that will more than likely be the reason. There are several threads here with very easily followed instructions on how to alleviate this situation.


You may also want to consider whether or not you want to buy a rifle that is slathered in cosmolene and whether or not you want to clean it up. Your call on that one. One thing I like about cleaning up the rifles after LT storage is that I get to inspect everything in detail, inside and out.

Even Lee Enfields with worn bores will shoot well. Sometimes surprisingly well.

I came across a wonderful surprise a few years ago with the aquisition of a POF No4 MkII rifle. It was a beautifully made rifle. It was also in as close to mint condition as any Lee Enfield I've seen and I have one still in the wrap and one that was fresh out of the wrap, just before I bought it. The POF rifle was full of cosomolene when I got it and was unusually pristine.

I wish I had the chance to measure the bores on a couple of more POF rifles. Mine measures .310, rather than .311-.313 diameter. The chamber is also tighter than any wartime built No4 I have run across. The only chamber that is as tight, is the chamber in a 1950 LongBranch. Both of these rifles, will shoot .308 to .311 bullets very well. The LB, prefers the .311 and the POF prefers the Russian .310 offerings.

Funny thing though, I found some POF milsurp ammunition and pulled the bullets because they wouldn't shoot well. They were .312 diameter. I replaced the powder and installed some pulled Russian 174 grain bullets. The POF became one of my most accurate Lee Enfields.

One other thing about the POF rifles, they have beautiful, straight grained, almost black, Circassian Walnut stocks. Mine doesn't have the reinforcing screw or pin but most do.

[Amsdorf]

Thanks for the info, bearhunter. I've got a lot of learning to do about Enfields, I can tell.

[Laufer]

Amsdorf:

Can you visit a decent gun show in your area? Springfield etc, KC or STL?

My first LE is a #5 from "Joesalter.com", back in early '09.
His business is in NH, although he came from Canada, as do many of his items.
If you don't mind shipping and possibly FFL costs, his descriptions are accurate and several clear photos are always provided.

A guy who lives in NH received this advice and apparently he found something he really liked.
His only comment later was "My wife hates you". It was rewarding to read that.
I'm always curious whether wives can resell their redundant shoes or purses for anywhere near the original price..... My wife had no response.

This is only advice-not a promotion, and it would be difficult for me to trust some people on "GB". Many don't even bother to state whether an Enfield is "ROF (F)", "US", "Longbranch", or whether their rifle's reportedly dirty bore has two groove rifling, or more.

One of my guns with 2-grooves made nasty wide key hole gashes from 100 yards with boat tail bullets.
It was traded for a #4 built in England, most of which have 4 or 5-groove rifling.
Have you noticed how much commercial Prvi etc ammo has Boat Tail bullets? It seems ironic, as all LBs and Savages have two grooves.

If you have a question about a #4 or #5, feel free to send a pm, and I might be able to find my book by Charles Stratton.

[Brian Dick]

All Long Branch and Savage rifles have 2 groove rifling? That's news to me and I've had a few hundred over the years. Don't discount rifles with 2 groove barrels in good condition. They shoot every bit as well as rifles with 5 and 6 groove barrels. Some of my favorite No.4's to this day have 2 groove barrels. The 2 groove rifling would have never been adopted if the accuracy specification/performance wasn't the same. Barrels that have had a steady diet of cordite Mk.7 ammo with any number of grooves will keyhole with boat tail bullets. It's because of the hot burning cordite wear pattern in the leade or throat of the barrel. We've had that long winded discussion here before.

[jrhead75]

My best shooter by far is a 2 groove Maltby.

[newcastle]

Ditto - two groove mismatched pitted bore longbranch is my best shooter.