Hey guys, I've really been wanting to get an authentic, non-sporterized Lee-Enfield .303., I just wonder, is it a better big game cartridge than the .308? I woulddefinately take it hunting eventually, but also, if Iwere ever to goon an elk or moose hunt, which gun would I get? I noticed the .303 ballistics were similar to the 30-06, how's the recoil?

I'm going to shoot a 30-06 at the range for the first timein a long timethisTuesday, so I'll get an idea how I deal with it.

The .303 is an adequate round for deer and has killed LOTS of moose and elk , along with about every other species of game in the world, since it was the standard military cartridge of the British Empire for years and years...

That being said, it's not as powerful a round as the 30-06 or the .308, although it's probably every bit as capable of cleanly taking game animals within it's useful range of perhaps 200-250 yards..

Recoil would be similar to the .308, and a little less than the 30-06 with equal bullet weight and rifle weight..

What Pygmy said.

Have a few .303's that I use as my back up gun when I go hunting. I have also havested a number of deer with that .cal. Problem with .303's is that some drive tacks and others are all over the place. It is nice when you get a good one. Super dependable. If you are using it in it's military form then it most likely will have a brass butt plate which can really hurt if you are not careful. Use a good recail pad.

Its about on Par with our old 30-40 Krag. Between the 30-30 and 308.

Younggun, I concure with all replies thus far. The .303Brit is certainly ok for deer and will probably work ok for elk / moose.
However, be careful in your choice of firearm as "Whitetaildreamer" says.
A lot of the old Lee Enfields are just about shot out, and need to be carefully checked out for head space. If you can find one look for a No.4 Mark-II, Irish arsenal in unfired condition. I sold a couple of them last year at a gun show. Got them thru Southern Ohio Gun supply about 10 years ago. I still have my old No.4 Mk-1 savage made gun (know as a "Lend-Lease Gun") which shoots like a dream.
Gun luck in your search for an Enfield.

VTgao

That was my first high powered rifle I owned. I hualed hay and mowed grass, and anything else just to buy one.I payed 75.00 for it in 1976. I thought I had the grand prize of the world.I took a bullet to show all my friends at school.(Try that in todays world)I killed seveal deer with it including my first buck !! It just dropped them in there tracks, I was always impressed by it preformance. My father-inlaw still has one,He tells me all the time that it is the best deer gun on the planet.I still havent seen him shoot it??? I have never told him I had one so it just makes it better.I would say if you had one and it was a good one you could kill anything you wanted to ,,....