Sighting in with military sights set at 300 yards/meters for 100 yard shot

[greenwart]

I am shooting a SMLE MKI* no4. and wondered If I use the 300M setting for the sights will it be accurate at 100 yards for cast. I have a J$#@% load for a scoped 180g sp spitzer @ 2450fps the BC for that bullet is .411. If I run a ballistics calculator zeroed at 300yards the impact on the target is + 7.32". When the calculator is run for the cast bullet Lee 309-170-fn 175g BC .268 1600fps. It show that the bullet drop will be 7.92" from the barrel axis. Does anyone have any rules of thumb in military sights for shooting cast. I have one of the flip up sight for my SMLE which has 300m and 600m settings.

Bob

[JeffinNZ]

With a cast loading doing 19-2000fps I have to set my SMLE sight to 225 yards for a 100m zero.

[303Guy]

Jeff, he said SMLE No4. It's a No4 MkI* (not an SMLE - those have barrel mounted sights) with the flip up 300yd/600yd sight. Very often cast boolits shoot low due to barrel harmonics and muzzle lift differences. Whether it will work is anybodies guess. Try it and see, I've been lucky with a MLE (pre-SMLE) carbine in that all I had to do was set the barrel sight for a longer range and it was right on at 100. Otherwise you could look for a micro adjust lift up sight. Or you could change the hight of the front sight which is a bit of a pain.

[JeffinNZ]

Ah, right. My bad. Of course we all know a No4 is not actually a SMLE right?

[WineMan]

I tried a couple of years ago to do the same drill on a M1917 "Enfield" using bullet drop, jacketed sight data, etc. None of the predictions panned out, and I ended up with 600 yards on the sight for 200 yards using a 311284 at ~1,500 fps. Trial and error seemed the best method. What did work was if the table predicted a bullet impact at 100 yards for a zero at another range, that was what you got. You may also need some windage correction in addition to elevation correction.

Dave

[atr]

I too have the 300/600 flip up sight and I find trial and error the most reliable way of knowing where the slug is impacting ..
atr

[MtGun44]

Jeff,

Please explain to this unschooled Yank why "A No. 4 is not a SMLE"? I have a number of these
rifles in various marks and Nos. and thought that the whole clan was properly referred to as "SMLE's"

Bill

[JeffinNZ]

The first Lee Enfield service rifles were MLEs. Magazine Lee Enfield. This was the No1 Mk1. Then came the service No1 MkIII know as the SHORT MLE as it was shorter in length, hence SMLE. The No4 Mk1 was always referred to as No4 Mk1 etc. I guess this was because it was a completely new form of the base rifle.

[Dale in Louisiana]

I think I'd swap that sight out for the ladder type and stick the old one in my kit somewhere for a rainy day. The adjustable ladder would make your problem go away. If you can't remember what setting you need for each of your loads, a notebook will make up for failures of memory (if you can remember to bring the notebook).

I always liked that ladder sight. Just wish the Brits had put a windage adjustment on it. A good No.4 Mk. 1 or 2 would make a fun military match rifle if it had windage adjustments.

dale in Louisiana

[303Guy]

A good No.4 Mk. 1 or 2 would make a fun military match rifle if it had windage adjustments.
I believe there were some made. Not sure who buy or whether they were military. I'd like a windage for one of my No4's.

[Dale in Louisiana]

I believe there were some made. Not sure who buy.

Yeah, I've seen a few. More expensive than the rifle. Almost makes one want to fire up the machine tools.

dale in Louisiana
(who needs ANOTHER project)

[Outpost75]

I believe there were some made. Not sure who buy.

My No.4 has an A.J. Parker 8/53 target conversion installed on Mk.1 battlesight. It has positive click adjustments for both windage and elevation.

[BruceB]

Yes.... over the length-of-service amassed by the Enfield rifles in British and Commonwealth organizations, quite a few "improved" sights were designed and built.

Remember that windage adjustment is not difficult once we have the correct tool for the front sight.... but you won't be using it for every shift in the wind.

One of my Number 4 rifles has a Parker-Hale #5C target sight.... a wonderful device, but far from ideal for hard service in the field. I think one of the click-adjustable MILITARY rear sights is about the optimum for most civilian use. Get the windage set and locked down, and then make suitable adjustment to the rear sight as needed. KEEP A RECORD of how many "clicks" it requires from dead-bottom for any given load and/or range. Maybe the butt-trap would be a good place to keep such a record...?

[Mr Peabody]

I'm not sure how many heights of front sights were made for the model you shoot. For the nr1 mk 3 that I shoot; five different heights of front sights were made. I bought them all for about 10 bucks. You might try looking at getting a taller or shorter front sight, their easy to change out