New smle

[porthos]

I thought that I was done buying guns , but I saw an ad in the garand newsletter for a new unfired last year production ( 1955) smle no.4 mk2. came with a new bayonet new sling and a new parker hale sight. it's so ugly that its beautiful. I already have 2 smle's a savage and a longbranch. the individual that I purchased this one from was a little take back when I told him that I was going to shoot it. I was afraid that he might not sell it to me. shot 20 rounds yeaterday to break in the bbl. yeah I know , but I think that bbl break in makes cleaning copper fouling eaiser. after a hundred or so jacketed bullets i'll switch to lead. in the mean time i'll play with the bedding. sort of a before and after experiment. I have a dozen or so military rifles only ones that I have more than one of , are krags and enfields. the most accurate (with lead ) is a Venezuelan target mauser, 03 springfield is a close second. i'm done buying now. my life is complete

porthos

[303carbine]

Congrats on the new rifle, but I seriously doubt that you are not ever going to buy another Enfield. You sound too much like an addict to say such a thing, welcome to the addiction. :p

[303Guy]

I seriously doubt that you are not ever going to buy another Enfield.Agreed! You now need a Jungle carbine and a cavalry carbine and a No1 and .... Otherwise they get lonely you see.:mrgreen:


I already have 2 smle's a savage and a longbranch.Just to clarify the nomenclature, those Savage and Longbranch are No4's, not SMLE's. Your new rifle is a No4 too, not an SMLE. The SMLE is a No1 (a later nomenclature decided on by the Brits). The No2 was a 22 trainer and the No3 was the P14.

Another point - No4's are beautiful rifles! :roll: Well, I think so anyway.:mrgreen:

[JeffinNZ]

"So ugly that it's beautiful". Well, that's a bit harsh. :-P

[Ithaca Gunner]

He's right about .303's being great cast boolit rifles. My No. 1 Mk.3* shoots cast better than it does jacketed.

[KCSO]

In 1969 I boght one of those for $30.oo and sent it to the Guru in Canada for tuing for match shooting. I actualy beat a couple Garands with it. Sounds like you got a teriffic package there, now you have to decide to shot it.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Back in the `80`s my brother bought 2 Lee-Enfields that were new, unissued and still in the "mummy" wrap. He got a No.4 Mk 2 and a No. 1 Mk3. He stripped the wrapping off and wiped off most of the cosmoline from the surfaces, but never fired them. I got them after he passed on back in `03. I`ve never torn them down to clean them up nor have I fired either of them. Just goes to prove that there are new rifles still out there.Robert

[JeffinNZ]

My No4 MkII will shoot MOA with cast when the operator does his bit. I have tuned it to the max. The SMLE will go close to that also.

[Green Lizzard]

about the best i have shot with my number 4 mk1 is 3 or 4 moa for 10 shots, tried all the pressure point tricks

[303Guy]

Jeff doesn't shoot boolits - he shoots torpedoes!;) Therein could lie the trick to accuracy with Lee Enfields.

I gave my No4 barrelled MLE a go with cast with 220gr boolits at around 1800fps and the initial results were very promising at at under 1MOA. I can see room for improvement in the boolit fit in the throat. I never did pursue it though. Now I have a Longbranch No4 with ladder sights that I'd like to try with cast.