$150-$200 Enfield Sporters? Safe?

cptseawolf

cptseawolf

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Hey,

I have come across a couple enfield sporters in this price range. Almost every seller i've talked to hasnt fired the rifle personally. Either got rifle from someone else, in a trade, doesnt hunt anymore, safe queen, etc.

They all look amazing cosmetically. But i'm wondering if these will shoot reliably, or if they are really meant to put on the wall and look at?

Mike
 
cptseawolf said:
Hey,

I have come across a couple enfield sporters in this price range. Almost every seller i've talked to hasnt fired the rifle personally. Either got rifle from someone else, in a trade, doesnt hunt anymore, safe queen, etc.

They all look amazing cosmetically. But i'm wondering if these will shoot reliably, or if they are really meant to put on the wall and look at?

Mike
Click to expand...

A lot of people use them, those I have work just like any other Enfield. Like any gun, not sure have it checked by a gunsmith. They just have very little value as no longer original. i.e sporterized Ross $150-200 shots great, original Ross $600 to lots of dollars.
 
Well if it was sportered the only thing that really was done was they took the stock off and cut it down, wouldn't have really messed around with the mechanics of the rifle. Unless, they took the barrel off put on a newer and (improved one) and drilled holes for scopes as in Bubba'd. Some people would probably correct me here is I said there's a bit of a difference between a Sportered rifle and a Bubba'd rifle.
 
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I just find hard to believe that things that look this nice go for $150.

I guess i should jump on one then eh?
 
cptseawolf said:
be0f7cee.jpg



I just find hard to believe that things that look this nice go for $150.

I guess i should jump on one then eh?
Click to expand...

Yup, and if you wanted to retore it to it's original configuration just spend up to $300.00 and you'll have a No4 Mk1 for $450.00 (a bit high for a desporterized though).
 
At the very least, I check headspace before I fire a Lee Enfield that has unknown past history.

A nice bore is also a good thing to have. I mean, so many Lee Enfields, I don't mind being picky a little. By that, I mean, some rifling left. And something that looks like a straight barrel. You know, the basics.

The ones I'll sell, I try to make it to the range to fire a few test shots before selling them. I think it's only fair.

Ah, if only I had more range time! Some day, I suppose...

Lou
 
The Lee-Enfield rifle in most of its various incarnations was the toughest, most trouble-free rifle that was ever built.

The problem with them is that they are 'old-fashioned' and the rimmed .303 cartridge is 'obsolete'. After all, the obsolete .303 in its final military load only gets 2550 ft/sec with a 174-grain bullet and does it at a mere 44,000 pounds pressure. The wonderful American development which replaced it is the 7.62 NATO, otherwise known as the .308 Winchester, which gets 2550 ft/sec with a 173-grain bullet at only 52,000 pounds pressure.

Yes, you read that correctly. Those figures are for the .303 Mark 8 and for the 7.62 NATO M-118 sniping round respectively. Don't take my word for it: check it out yourself.

So everybody runs out and buys spiffy new rifles that won't do the job any better, but cost a helluvvalot more and are spiffy and pretty and have big scopes because most guys nowadays can't be bothered to learn how to use iron sights.

And THAT is the whole thing in a nutshell.

No doubt there will be a few million guys after my butt for saying that, but it's the truth.

I have bought 4 of these in the last 2 years, none over $90 and they are all safe, they all work fine, they all hit the target and I'm darned sure that if it had been a deer or a bad guy instead of a tin can, it would have been just as ventilated.

Friend of mine once dubbed me 'The Garbage Gun Curmudgeon'. He was right about the last part, but the Lee-Enfield is a looong way from garbage.
 
If you could put all the big game that has been taken with a Lee Enfield in a pile, you would almost have as big a heap as the BS that come out of Ottawa in a day.:p

Rifles are like any other machine or tool, and, to a certain extent, like people. You can sometimes tell just by looking, sometimes you have to dig a bit. I have bought some really nice old LE rifles that have been "sportered" for very little money, and have had good luck with them all.
 
Bart212 said:
Yup, and if you wanted to retore it to it's original configuration just spend up to $300.00 and you'll have a No4 Mk1 for $450.00 (a bit high for a desporterized though).
Click to expand...

Actually that one's a non-starter for restoration. The barrel has been cut back a bit in front of the foresight.
 
Just imagine if we'd never seen these before and someone imported a container of them and was selling them for $150. each.

The threads on here would be full of guys jumping up and down shouting about them, buying three at a time etc. etc.

For a few dollars more you should be able to get one with a nice Monte Carlo stock and a checkered forend.

BTW, have you discovered P14s yet?:D
 
Hey there, i have one i bought for 140$ and it shoots great, the only problem is my range is too short, the closest range is 400 meters. but yeah theire great shooters, and all around fun! Happy shooting, Adam
 
I bought my Enfield for $50 a couple years ago, it looks like bubba's #####, and I was told at the gun store to tie it to a tire and pull the trigger with a string before getting it too close to my face. I was dumb and didn't get it checked out, but luck was on my side and the damn thing is one of my favourite rifles. Accurate, really short and the type that I don't mind if it gets another ding on the stock from hard use. Best $50 I ever spent. Too bad the charger bridge was removed, but what can ya do?!
 
Tis of classic form. As a sporter, it looks to be quite well done. I would not hesitate to buy if the bore looked good.

Buy the gun, a cleaning kit, several boxes commercial ammo. Shoot them all, clean the gun. Pick up the brass, put them back in the box, keep them for later.................................

Go back to the store, buy several more boxes of commercial ammo.............................

It would be easy to spend more on ammo in the first weekend than it cost to buy the gun.

My favourite rifle of all time (and I have lots to choose from) is my beater of a cut down Lee Enfield. Not much to look at but it is very acurate. With iron sights and my eyeballs, simply put, if something is close enough that I can see it, I can hit it. When I go out to harvest venison, this is the one that I take. I put meat on the table with it every year.

Moose, deer, bear. The 303 lacks nothing as a hunting gun, maybe a little heavy for dogging all day. But durable........I could tell you stories.
 
It's not a wild deal or anything, tons of them around. Pretty well any gun shop will have them from $100-$150. Better to look for one with an uncut barrel with original sights front and rear.
The one in the pic has a cut bbl and aftermarket sights, works fine but will never be original again.

As long as the bore is clean and shiny, highly likely to shoot just fine.

A really durable, well made rifle.
 
I have learnt to love the poor red headed step child of the Milsurp world, the sportered Lee Enfield.

Having reached a point in my hobby of collecting and restoring, where I now think that not every sportered Lee Enfield should be returned back to mil spec. I like these old classic sporters if well done, and find them to be as interesting as the old war horses.

I believe that no collection is complete without one, they are part of our heritage.

There was one point in my collecting where every milsurp I had was sportered in one way or another. They were sold/traded with friends, many rifles ago. Some of them are still circulating between local collectors/hunters.
 
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