The Lee Enfields were fine rifles, in their day. Remember, the basic design goes back to 1888 or so. The rifle is a bit dated today, but can still be a very effective hunting/defense rifle. The No 1 MkIII (SMLE) is a rifle for younger eyes, but the WWII produced No 4 Mk 1, or Mk1/2, or Mk2, with an aperature sight on the reciever is much easier to shoot. The bolt lift is about 60 degrees, vs the 90 degrees lift of many modern bolt rifles, making the action pretty fast for a bolt gun. Cock on closing isn't liked by many people, but most of the effort used to unlock the bolt goes to primary cartridge extraction, not cocking the striker spring. The safety is very positive, locking the scear and the striker, and is located where your thumb naturally falls, it's very fast as well. I've hunted a fair amount with various Lee Enfields, used them as truck/utility rifles, and just generally used them as an all around rifle. You don't give up anything out to 200 yards or so, and even farther with a competent rifleman.

The .303 cartridge is no slouch, either, being pretty close to the .30/40 Krag in proformance. It's not difficult to hit 2600-2700 fps with 150 grain bullets, which will kill anything I hunt very dead. Only problem with the .303, IME, is the fact that many, if not most, of the Lee Enfields have very generous chambers. If you reload, you have to careful about sizing, otherwise you push the shoulder back every time you resize. Head seperation is almost guaranteed. Neck size only on your reloads, and full length size only when absolutely needed.