Who is doing all the Enfield target shooting??

[rapidfire10ring]

I was perusing some of the vintage sights on U.K. eBay and was astonished at some of the prices received for the Parker Hale and Twin Zero rear sights specifically made for the Enfield pattern rifles. These sights were made about 50 years ago, and although I recall seeing some articles in shooting magazines referring to either British or Australian matches, I have not found any recent articles about target shooting with the Enfield.

I have a good supply of BSA Martini Internationals, and collect sights (if they are reasonable enough), but was seeing the Enfield sights, especially the Parker Hale PH 5A sights, top the price chart.

I have only one Enfield left in my collection and unfortunately sold off my other two. I would like to get some direction of making them back into a target rifle. I doubt too much information would be found on this side of the Pond (USA), but some Brit's or Aussies might know.
Thanks for any help. Please reply (CC) to the Hotmail address below, cuz I am not on this forum very often. .

rapidfire10ring@hotmail.com Thank you

Information

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[cprher]

Don't know about others, but I've got a AJP Twin Zero on my L39A1, regulated for 7.62 NATO, and a PH5B on my Model 1917.




The 5B helped me shoot this target at 200 yards


I am very impressed by both AJP and PH sights. High quality, robust, durable (if not abused) and affordable.

Keith

[Colonel Enfield]

As fond as we all are of the .303, I think we're all adult enough to accept it's not a superbly accurate target round in the today's era, when people have come to expect - nay, demand 1 MOA out-of-the-box accuracy with modern rifles.

A .303 is still perfectly accurate for target shooting and hunting, of course!

Having said that, I know there are countless numbers of .303s set up for range use (with specialist target sights) in Australia - there's always a few in the racks at the rifle ranges I've been to - but my observations are they aren't generally being used for many Serious Competitions anymore, outside the accurised division of some of the Service Rifle competitions.*

*I'm fully expecting someone to come along and tell me their club has a full Lee-Enfield Range Rifle competition which has dozens of regular shooters with people regularly coming in from the other side of the country to compete, of course.

[Frederick303]

An American collector here, multiples of No 9, 9C, 9F, 9G, No5, No5a, No5b, No 5c, No 5e, also TZ, TZ 3/35, 4/47, 3/49, 4/68, PH4, 8/53, central, central bisley, Central no 4, post central model, BSA-Tippins, etc.

In any case when I started buying in the late 1990s, a set of sights cost 40 to 50 dollars. That said I bought a bunch of them when traveling overseas in NZ and NSW.

used to shoot them to see how well they could shoot. Learned every thing I could on regulation, set up a number of rifles and diddled to make them shoot. Shot the number 4 in local matches between 2008 and 2012 when I went over to the Swiss K31 rifles. Never looked back.......

[mr.e moose]

I think with the renewed interest in Lee Enfields and the amount of people restoring them, it is natural that some people would like to have a good target sight. So as we have seen the price of rifles steadily increase so will the price of sights.

Since there is a finite number of sights compared to rifles we could possibly start to see them cost more than rifles.

Would the performance of every rifle benefit with the addition of one, probably not. On the other hand, would some shooters benefit with the use of one? I for one have started to appreciate them as my eyesight slowly deteriorates. Aperture sights and diopter sights allow me to focus only on the front sight which keeps me shooting.

[Brian B]

I have picked up quite a few L39A1a over the last couple of years and almost all had no sights on them. I may never get around to shooting them, but would like to see them complete again with some period correct front and rear sights. It has been tough to find any sights locally so that auction site has been the best bet. They command high prices but the thought of bringing another rifle back to the ready status seems to override my common sense in not paying too much.

I need to round up all the rifles and loose sights one of these days and see how close I am to matching up all the rifles with appropriate sights.

Brian B

[Peter Laidler]

Commercial sights for the L39 were........... well, whatever the unit had left over from the old No4's that the L39 replaced or whatever the Oi/c the PRI chose to purchase (the PRI = the President of the Regimental Institution. The person who held the unit account of money supplied by the MoD for its own use). One unit I was with used ex P-H converted sights from their old No4T's while another used ex No8 sights where another hole had to be drilled on the charger bridge to accommodate the sight base.

So any of the commercially available sights are 'appropriate' in effect as they were supplied from Ordnance sightless. As were the L96's supplied as target rifles - as opposed to sniping rifles

[Seaspriter]

What we are all seeing with the price of sights is a simple matter of supply and demand. The demand is increasing, the supply limited and diminishing, and the price is rising. Just look what has happened to the price of a standard Mk 1 milled sight for a No.4 Enfield. On eBay these have risen steadily and typically exceed $50 USD. Same for a No.4 magazine: over $50 USD on eBay. I had a spare No.1 mag in very good condition that I put on eBay a couple of months ago. I expected to get $50; received bids from around the world, and sold it for $75 USD. Same thing is happening with No.4 fore-ends; getting very scarce. On the other hand, take butt-plates; they are plentiful and can't fetch more than $10.

The good news is: our Enfields are becoming more and more collectable, and thus more valuable.

My advice is: if you think you will need parts in the future, buy them now, because parts will be considerably more expensive in a few years. The old warehouse suppliers that had hundreds or thousands of parts are now being depleted as the small eBay entrepreneurs scoff up parts at lower prices and then put them on the global market to the highest bidder.

[Frederick303]

I would say competitive shooting with Lee-Enfields is a real flop in the US of A, about as popular as Rosie O'Donnell pin-ups. . At my local rifle club we tried to get matches running at 100 yards, made up a bunch of the tin hat targets, our local computer wizard made up some very neat score books, we advertised the matches and.....nothing.

Tried it again the next year and ........nothing.

In fairness we cannot really even get much of a turn out for a Springfield or M1 match anymore, with Enfields we cannot get anyone (except me I will show up).

[enfield303t]

I have a couple with PH 5C sights but those I NEVER shoot? Have a buddy that has (had??) a couple of spare sights and they are anything but cheap now. In the early 60's I bought a 5C for $25.00 from Sidney I. Robinson in Winnipeg MB. If only!