So what do I have here? (Enfield)

bill c68

bill c68

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I just picked up this Parker Hale- Lee-Enfield conversion.
At first I figured it was just a re-stocked Milsurp but that's not the case at all. I am not a milsurp fan and any enfields I have owned in teh past were flipped pretty quick.

This was a rifle bought "new" by my uncle, he died in the early 70's at 21 so I am going to assume it was bought in the late 60s.

So far I have been able to determine (from another thread) that the barrel is shortened, new hunting sights, Parker Hale scope mount and a flush fit mag (4 or 5 rounds I assume)

Can anyone shed anymore light on this rifle... history and value???

PH_Enfield_003.jpg
 
Not all sporterizing jobs on ex-service rifles were bubba grade. PH and others turned some out that are very nice. Yours is one of their better ones. It started out as a Mk. III, others were based on No. 4 rifles. If your barrel does not have a flat on the top of the breech, it is a commercial replacement. The stocks were made for PH by Sile in Italy. Your stock set was obviously selected for attractive grain.
Service rifles have been made into sporters for as long as ex-service rifles have become available.
Value? Probably less than it is worth.
 
These Parker Hale's were excellent rifles in their time. They are not "Bubba"s as suggested in the other thread. They were comercially produced by Parker Hale using ex military receivers mated to a custom free floated Parker Hale barrel and a monte-carlo stock. They will take standard military magazines but usually have a flush fitting 5-round mag. I imagine they're worth about $250.

I have one that is very similar to yours, although it's missing the front sight blade. It shoots well and the recoil is no big deal with the rubber recoil pad.

Hope that helps.
 
I think it is a replacement, the bbl is stamped "Parker Hale Birmingham England" I think it will clean up nicely maybe a refinish on the stock might be in order too.
I heard that these are actually gaining a little bit of collector's value.
 
NDB said:
I have one that is very similar to yours, although it's missing the front sight blade. It shoots well and the recoil is no big deal with the rubber recoil pad.
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I don't know if you can still call it rubber, lol, almost like concrete. I do however have a limbsaver sitting in my gun room.
 
Its interesting - Price out a current production rifle with comparable features today - nice wood stock, gloss blued barrel, magazine, iron sights, scope mount etc... The closest I can come up with in my gun cabinet is my Tikka 695 - it has markedly inferior fit and finish to the PH - yet is worth 600$ +/-...
I have a 308 PH with the spanish mauser action, and all the same features, and its worth 400$ +/-...
I think people automatically dismiss the LE action as being cheap military surplus, in an inferior caliber.
 
cosmic said:
Its interesting - Price out a current production rifle with comparable features today - nice wood stock, gloss blued barrel, magazine, iron sights, scope mount etc... The closest I can come up with in my gun cabinet is my Tikka 695 - it has markedly inferior fit and finish to the PH - yet is worth 600$ +/-...
I have a 308 PH with the spanish mauser action, and all the same features, and its worth 400$ +/-...
I think people automatically dismiss the LE action as being cheap military surplus, in an inferior caliber.
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Lee Enfield sporters are just so common...still a $100 gun in many people's minds. Go to any gun store in the country...there they are.

It's not to say that someone wouldn't pay more, but PH sporters aren't that rare or collectible.
 
cantom said:
Lee Enfield sporters are just so common...still a $100 gun in many people's minds. Go to any gun store in the country...there they are.

It's not to say that someone wouldn't pay more, but PH sporters aren't that rare or collectible.
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I knew that much at leat about the "bubba'd" sporterized rifles, but apparently these are worth a bit more due to the mods, I really don't care as it was a freebie, just curious.
 
A couple of years ago, we invited a few German nationals to hunt deer here in Ontario. These guys were hardcore, having hunted in Africa, etc. They showed up with very nice (expensive) gear, including Sauer rifles.
As their host, I took them out for a few drives. I happened to have my Churchill LE sporter with PH bases and Weaver K-4 scope. One of them picked up the rifle and looked at it closely, working the action, and said in broken english "very nice rifle, where can one buy these". He was obviously not familiar with the LE (perhaps his father was ...) I explained that it was a sported milsurp from WW2, and that they are relatively common and inexpensive here in Canada. He shook his head with a laugh - "I'd like to get one of those rifles!"
 
cosmic said:
A couple of years ago, we invited a few German nationals to hunt deer here in Ontario. These guys were hardcore, having hunted in Africa, etc. They showed up with very nice (expensive) gear, including Sauer rifles.
As their host, I took them out for a few drives. I happened to have my Churchill LE sporter with PH bases and Weaver K-4 scope. One of them picked up the rifle and looked at it closely, working the action, and said in broken english "very nice rifle, where can one buy these". He was obviously not familiar with the LE (perhaps his father was ...) I explained that it was a sported milsurp from WW2, and that they are relatively common and inexpensive here in Canada. He shook his head with a laugh - "I'd like to get one of those rifles!"
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Hahahahahahaha....zing...
 
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They are good guns and churchill/parker hale/globeco did a very good job on making them. 303 has killed as much or more than either 8mm or 3006. Back in the 60's/70's everyone used 303 as their first hunting rifle in milsurp or sporterized.
 
can14 said:
They are good guns and churchill/parker hale/globeco did a very good job on making them. 303 has killed as much or more than either 8mm or 3006. Back in the 60's/70's everyone used 303 as their first hunting rifle in milsurp or sporterized.
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They're excellent rifles, no question about that. The issue was how much are they worth in 2010 in Canada.
Tiriaq's phrase covered it.
 
cosmic said:
A couple of years ago, we invited a few German nationals to hunt deer here in Ontario. These guys were hardcore, having hunted in Africa, etc. They showed up with very nice (expensive) gear, including Sauer rifles.
As their host, I took them out for a few drives. I happened to have my Churchill LE sporter with PH bases and Weaver K-4 scope. One of them picked up the rifle and looked at it closely, working the action, and said in broken english "very nice rifle, where can one buy these". He was obviously not familiar with the LE (perhaps his father was ...) I explained that it was a sported milsurp from WW2, and that they are relatively common and inexpensive here in Canada. He shook his head with a laugh - "I'd like to get one of those rifles!"
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cantom said:
Hahahahahahaha....zing...
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Most likely from the business end!!! :D
 
THAT is a very spiffy PH indeed: beautiful wood.

And they can really shoot, too.

I have A.G. Parker s/n 0019 on a sportered LM action. They tell me it was built about 1920. Quality right from the start: 0019 even has a gold front sight!

This one is a keeper...... unless you want to waste a grand on something new. The .303 used to be loaded commercially to match the .308 with a 150 slug: 2740 ft/sec in Dominion. I would load it down a tad, but these generally shoot very nicely with either the 150 Hornady flatbase or a 180 Sierra flatbase.
 
cantom said:
For some reason, these rifles aren't wildly valuable, and I've never heard of anyone collecting them.
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My theory on this is that PH's are just far too common on the Canadian market. From what I understand PH's are worth way more in the US as they are much less common, especially the Mauser type Safari models. I agree with tiriaq, they are very under appreciated in Canada. I was on the Hunter's Life forum inquiring about an engraved PH I had and there are people out there who collect PH's specifically. Turned out I had a Safari Supreme (not to be confused with the standard Safari Super) which was only offered for production for one year as it appears solely in PH catalogue No67 (1967), and was for special order only. Big Banger now owns that sweetheart.
 
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