I came across a Lee Enfield in .303 British today in Good to Very Good condition. The owner said it must have been sitting in a closet for 50 or 60 years! [8D] He only wants $100CDN ($85USD) for it...maybe even less.

I don't know the model # offhand but are the actions on these old Enfields strong enough for modern ammo? It's inexpensive but I intend to shoot it so I want to be sure it's safe.

I can get the model # on Monday and post it.

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If I had a need for a .303, I'd buy it. My friend has a couple .303's and all he shoots is remington(?) ammo. His dad has dropped 2 moose with it. Hope this helps,


Cory

I don't have a need for it either...that's the last thing on my mind. Maybe a few trips to the range w/ it and that's it. The thing is, I've been humming and hawing about starting a military rifle collection for years and thought this would be an inexpensive way to get started.

Great rifles. I can't say anything bad about them.
If its full stocked and the rear sight is in front of the receiver its a SMLE or N01 MKIII
If its full stocked and has the rear sight behind the receiver its a No4 variant.
Those above are the most common types, though there are a lot of jungle carbines out there too.

I wouldn't buy a gun because the price is right. It must also be something I want.

South of the border it's not very popular and I'd let it stay in the closet another couple centuries.

You (canadians eh?) seem to have a penchant for the .303s and indeed they're powerful enough for a lot of hunting. I wouldn't say the action is strong nor is there anything attractive about them but they'll handle the factory loads and handloads that are "per the book" and put moose and such in the freezer.

Personally there's a few reasonably priced rifles (savage-Stevens) rifles availavle and for the slight extra cost I'd get a better cartridge (.30-06 etc) and a strong bolt to handle good handloads.

That's my $.02 worth.

If you're thinking about starting up a military rifle collection, I'd highly recommend the 6.5x55 Swede. Great little guns on everything smaller than a moose. JMO though

Cory

hehe, if it was a Mauser for 100 bones we wouldn't be having this conversation...and I'd have a new rifle!

Yeah, guess you're right, but I was lucky, got a fully customized one given to me!! But if ever find one, that's the way to go.

An enfield isn't any thing less than a remchestersavage, just different. Stunt reloading will blow up a modern gun just as fast as it would with an enfield. True, they have a rear lugged action, but so did the remington 788, yet you have very few people whining about those. For less than $100, a No4 enfield is at elast as good as a winchester 94 as a hunting rifle, maybe even better because it has a large rear aperture sight and a more powerful cartridge.

Americans don't usually see much value in the enfield, but that hasn't stopped Great Brittain, Australia, India, and several smaller countries to use it in two world wars, As much as I like Mausers, enfields handle better and shoot faster.