Not Quite Military

[KCSO]

I happened on to a SMLE barreld action the other day in a fellows basement. He was saving it for parts but would trade it to me for something he could use. Here's the rub this is a high polish blued action with sporter sights and is marked Parker Hale on the action and the barrel. Are the Parker Hale actions re worked military and are they chambered any tighter than a standard action? This is going to cost me about $20 so I am getting it regardless but I was just curious.

[wiljen]

Parker hale used military actions and fitted their own barrels in a lot of cases so it may be a tighter chambering than the standard mil-spec barrel. I have attached a few catalog pages about the PH Sporters. Think they might be a bit ambitious with the bears?

[45 2.1]

Are the Parker Hale actions re worked military and are they chambered any tighter than a standard action?

The Parker Hale marked rifle I have has a normal commercial type chamber in it, not tight, but certainly much better than any of the military SMLEs i've tried.

[KCSO]

Well I got the Parker Hale home and got the low down on where it came from. The rifle was shipped to California and was damaged when it arrived so the current owner bought it with no stock to save for parts. He sold the original 5 shot magazine and the trigger guard and put the rest in the closet in 1982. According to him the rifle was never shot and the bore is the best I've ever seen on an Enfield.

Now for the critique...
I put the action in a Santa barbara sporter stock after I removed some storage rust from the outside. As I said the bore was shiney and sharp. But...

I have always wanted a Parker Hale Enfield as I thught they were something special. I remember writing to Elwood Epps in 1971 asking for brochures and prices, but at that time a Parker Hale was MORE than a new Remington 700. Now I have one and I am not impressed, oh I will love shooting a 303 with a new bore, but I have had many sporters made here in the States that were better workmanship than this gun.

The gun itself is a Lithgow 303 marked 1920 and the barrel was cut back to 22 3/8" (did the british EVER have a standard barrel) . The front sight is a cheap uncheckered ramp and the rear sight is a piece of bent tin marked Parker Hale that here would be found on a cheap 22. The rear sight is dovetailed into the barrel and they never even filled the pin hole from the military sight. The headspace (all matching numbers on the bolt too ) . 070 so that is not bad but the chamber is military and is no tighter than the 1918 BSA I took out of this stock. The gun has a deep shiney blue that was done by a rookie with a polishing wheel even the knox form has rounded edges. The receiver has the charger guides milled off but the holes on the right side were never filled. The bolt was polished but the trigger pull is stock military with a second pull of 4.6 pounds. All in all my dreams are shattered, other than the new bore the gun is not what one would call a quality sporter. It will be interesting to see how it shoots as I just sighted in twith the old action last week and was shooting 2 1/2" three shot groups with my hunting load at 100 yards. This is a 220 rnfp at 2000 fps.

[45nut]

KCSO, I have one of the Santa Barbara mags here, if your interested send me a pm.

[KCSO]

Now if I can just find a PH scope mount and rings I have a nice 2.5 Weaver for this one.

[Buckshot]

..............KSCO, Parker-Hale like any other outfit dealing with firearms had their ups and downs. And especially being in Britain had a tougher row to hoe then many others. Those sporter Enfields I'm sure were merely a means to produce a product to keep the workers busy. The days of producing their superb iron sights and other fine firearm accessories was past.

They DID produce some spectacular muzzle loading replicas in the 70's. From what I heard though is that the cost to produce them was very close to what they were selling for. If I'm not mistaken, the much less regulated muzzle loaders were the last firearms P-H produced. Such was their quality that their value has escalated into the collector realms these days. Especially their Whitworths, but also the more common 2 and 3 band Enfields.

..................Buckshot

[KCSO]

From the parts I got this gun was a Custom #1 and was suppose to the be ULTIMATE 303. Having it in hand is like goinng to a bordello and having your girlfriend answer the door. I'm giving it a try but I just EXPECTED more. I have some side mounts and am going to try and mill and re drilll one to fit the PH screw pattern. I will try and post some pictures.

[Freightman]

Here is what I did to a "chopped" enfield. Made a #5 out of it I am a lot more satisfied with it.

[TAWILDCATT]

you got an enfield I have a mauser. mine marked germany and no other serial is under stock.military stock cut down.and slimmed.sights cocked to right.primers pop out 20 tho.metal is probly ww1.barrel must be twisted out,so have to turn in to vertical.so much for german craftmenship. :coffee:[smilie=1:

[dromia]

I still use a PH No4 action sporter in .303" as my main stalking rifle, they are fine guns.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/adamsutherland/No4%20Sporter/RHSboltopen500.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/adamsutherland/Brora%20Jan%202005/RoeandRifle.jpg
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/%5BIMG%5Dhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/adamsutherland/No4%20Sporter/RHSboltopen500.jpg%5B/IMG%5D

[NoDakJak]

dromia: Fine looking rifle that you have there. Did you use a cast boolit on that deer? Is that a "Barking Deer"? I shot my first deer while stationed at RAF Upper Heyford more than thirty years ago. It was just about the size of yours. Neil

[dromia]

I used "J" word military ball on that little Roe, its too wee for expanding ammunition.

Never heard of Roe been called a barking deer before. I think that it could be a Muntjac that you shot.

[EMC45]

Nice rifle Dromia!

[longbow]

Frieghtman and and dromia both have me thinking now.

I know a fellow with several "sporterized" Lee Enfields but not near as nice as dromia's. I bet I would get a couple at a good price. Not likely $20 though! I would jump at that one.

One or two have chopped military stocks so are candidates for Frieghtman's psuedo #5 ~ I like that! That and a fancy one with a nice stock like dromia's would be real nice.

I never owned a .303 Enfield before a couple of years ago but the more I shoot it the more I like it.

I have also toyed with the idea of rebarreling one to .444 Marlin. A "No. 5" in .444 would be quite the gun.

Longbow

[dromia]

Nice rifle Dromia!


Thanks, I'm very fond of it and its taken many beasties.

Parker Hale made a very good job of these conversions and are a testament to the longevity of the Lee Enfield action, the fastest follow up shot rifle in existence.

I've taken the odd double with it, one down one running.

As an Enfield collector these later variations are important too.

[NoDakJak]

Dromia: Yes, it was definetly a Muntjac. Most of the local Gamekeepers that I was aquainted with called them "Barking Deer" due to the odd sounds that they emitted. I lived in Bicester at that time and they were almost as plentiful as pheasant. Neil

[NoDakJak]

KCSO: I found a set of Parker-Hale rings in my junk box yesterday. PM me your snail mail address and I will ship them to you. Now all that all you will need are bases. Neil

[dromia]

Those little muntjacs, roes and chinese water deer that abound through England now really are a bugger, they are too small to be worth butchering and just too big to get into a pan.

I do like the challenge of stalking Roe although a shotgun is good enough for them.

I'm really a high ground Red Deer stalker at heart.

[KCSO]

Rings a new magazine pretty soon I will have enough for a whole rifle. Thanks all and I am still lookinng for bases, these are side mount 3 hole bases.

[KCSO]

I dug in my parts drawer last night and found a set of side mounts for a Savage 340. These were the Weavers and were fairly new ones so i got busy with the milling machine. After some mild bending in the press and milling and fillling I now have a set of mounts and rings for the Parker Hale action. Now my rifle looks like Dromia's. I hope to test it today, but so far the scope is centered and is bore sighted on with the adjustments in the middle of the range. I'll post instructions and photo's in the gunsmithing section.

[Boz330]

This would be a great candidate for Jeff's 303 Pygmy if you don't like the oversize chamber.

Bob