Lee Enfield .303 British (Mk4 No2)

[Moegoe]

Hi Guys
So,...brand new here, but hope to share some great stuff with you. Accuracy of the No4 .303 rifles? Short and sweet...
http://youtu.be/8I0PGGEai2U

I have taken a number of African plains game down with this rifle...incl. Impala, Warthog, Blesbuck, Wildebeest Nyala..., ranging from 50m, and out to 200m...all headshots...all one and done.

No.4 Mk2...still one of the best

[shredder]

Nice!

[longbow]

None of mine look as nice as yours but they shoot pretty well.

I have two No. 5's, one No. 4 MK1 in full military (well it is nice looking!) and one No. 4 MK2 sporter.

I have just been testing the new Mihec 316410 130 gr. HP boolit in mine and having loads of fun blowing up jugs of water. It should be a fine varmint boolit.

Do you cast for yours? If not you better get started! Lots of good moulds around now.

Oh, and welcome! I see it is post #1.

Lots of good folks and lots of good info here.

Enjoy.

Longbow

[SingleBarrel]

One day when I was in high school I went to a buddies house and he had one, I knew my dad had one but I had never shot it, or even seen it shot for that matter. I thought it was neat so I offered to buy the one from my dad, and he told me it probably wouldn't hold a paper plate size group so I could have it!

Well I took it and put a Luepold VX 3 on and when I sighted it in I shot a 5 shot group about the size of a nickle at 100 yards! So I went and told my dad and he flat didn't believe I did it, when he saw the target he asked if it was at 25 yards. Long story short his first three shots at 100 yards made one hole that could be covered with a dime.

It is to this day the most accurate gun I have, have never shot anything but 180gr rn core-lokt and a few old military rounds that had cordite in them. I really want to make it a long range gun, say 600 yards, but I really hate to mess with it. The only mod that has been done, other than the scope, is dad cut the stock off about half way up the barrel so it would look normal.

He bought this gun from a pawn shop for $30 back in the 70's or early 80's he said the stock was so dirty it was black when he bought it. He said it was stuck down in a barrel with several others.

I have often wondered if they were all this accurate, the one my buddy in high school has is accurate, but not as good as mine. :)

Glad to yours is accurate, mine still has the original terrible trigger.
What all have you done to it.




I blame all typos on iPhones auto correct

[longbow]

Some of mine have horrible triggers and some aren't bad. All are two stage of course which doesn't bother me but heavy/creepy does.

JeffinNZ posted a good article on accurizing Lee Enfields:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?49003-303-Lee-Enfield-accuracy-article

Yours is accurate but he may include trigger info.

There are after market triggers:

http://www.combathunting.com/ENFIELD_RIFLE-Lee_Enfield_Trigger_SMLE_1_Mk_III_Also_4_Mk_I.html

http://www.midwayusa.com/Product/618464/huber-concepts-match-grade-rifle-trigger-enfield-smle-4-mark-i-ii-steel-matte

I have been planning to do a trigger job on mine but laziness set in and I have not. I thought there was a posting of "how to" here but couldn't find it so went searching the internet and found this:

http://www.milsurps.com/content.php?r=354-The-Trigger-Pull-Off-Part-1-%28by-Peter-Laidler%29
http://www.milsurps.com/content.php?r=355-The-Trigger-Pull-Off-Part-2-%28by-Peter-Laidler%29

Now I have to get at this myself. Maybe that will help you too.

Longbow

[Hardcast416taylor]

Everybody has their preference on the trigger on their Mil. sporter rifle. Myself, I prefer the 2 stage trigger on my Lee Enfields. Once you get to know how this type of trigger really works it tells you, by feel, when the rifle is about to fire. Yes, I have changed triggers on Mausers and Springfields for single stage adjustable sorts for better control on them. Will I change the Enfield`s triggers, nope.Robert

[rjathon]

Are the bore and groove dimensions more consistent on the no4 mk2?

Any particular bullets that one would recommend?

Thanks

[longbow]

Mine all run around 0.314" groove diameter and will chamber 0.315" boolits I fill the throat with 0.315" boolits. That seems to be working for me.

My NOE 316299 shoots well as does my new Mihec 416410.

Longbow

[MtGun44]

Not happening with mine. A nice old 5" rifle.

Bill

[gew98]

Let's not forget the often maligned Patt'14. My patt'14 is the most accurate 303 rifle I have ever shot. If I could only be half as good as it can do...well you know the rest.

[Outpost75]

I love the .303 No.4. Mine is not issue, but was customized by an Ontario gunsmith in the 1980s as a bush rifle. It has killed truckloads of game and is 100% dependable. As accurate as my accurized M1 Garand. A 180-gr. bullet at 2450 fps is adequate for most anything in North America, and 2 minutes from a tuned rifle with hunting ammunition is good enough for me!

[Artful]

Nice shot - you getting ready to cast for it?