1918 Lee Enfield - is it worth anything?

S

swampdog

Regular
Rating - 100%
49   0   0
According to the date stamped on it, this Lee Enfield .303 is from 1918. It looks as if someone removed the bridge that crossed over the bolt, probably to install a scope at one time. The bridge piece and scope are both gone, and the stock is modified to look like a hunting rifle. The regular sights are still there.

I recall when these sporterized Lee Enfields were cheap and plentiful. Are they worth much more now? How hard is it to find an original stock and other parts?
 
Cutting off the top of the receiver makes it next to worthless as a collector. If the rest is in good shape, then about $125 as a sporter. or parts.
It's probably a good rifle but not worth much.
 
Hardest part to find will be the Bridge Charger Guide and the 4 little rivets that hold it on.

Springfield Sporters in the States has some of these but they don't ship to Kanada.

So you need a $250 permit so you can bring in a $4 part and pay 20 cents tax on it.

And this is called FREEDOM??????

More like Absurdistan.

They are a nice old rifle and they are tough as nails and the barrels last halfway to forever. That's a lot more than can be said for most 94-year-old rifles.
.
 
Can someone tell me what this vintage of Lee Enfield is worth in its original military configuration?

Is it worth the time and expense to look for an original stock, bridge, etc? Or am I better off selling this one and looking for an original?
 
swampdog said:
Can someone tell me what this vintage of Lee Enfield is worth in its original military configuration?

Is it worth the time and expense to look for an original stock, bridge, etc? Or am I better off selling this one and looking for an original?
Click to expand...

Its depends. Whats the make? The year, and a bunch of others thing that you have to look in to
 
$$ wise, better off selling it to a hunter and looking for an original.

If you could find the pile of parts and repaired the charger bridge to good as new (good luck), and put a nice set of wood on it and got it looking decent, it would still be a put together parts gun. Not a big draw to collectors, nor to shooters. There is a quite a bit to stocking up and bedding these things to make them shoot properly. Not just a 'bolt on' exercise.

So if you are up to the challenge (and I do give you every encouragement), do some research, buy some books, you will learn a lot putting humpty back together again.

HOWEVER, be prepared to spend three hundred dollars on parts and finish up with a two hundred dollar parts rifle.
 
Taking a sporter and returning it to original condition is not cheap. Even if the original iron is still there,(bayonet lugs etc.) all the other bits add up to more than you would pay for a lower end collectible. I am lucky enough to have every single part for a #4 and just need barrel and receiver. I am shopping for those for less than $100.
I am doing it for the fun of it, not the $
 
Thank you everyone for the advice, which certainly makes sense. Instead of trying to restore it, it would make more sense to sell it or trade it on a more original example.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom