.303 Leen enfield MK 4

T

troberts

CGN Regular
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Good morning all, I have a Mk 4 Lee Enfield rifle that has only 2 groves for rifling in the barrel. A friend of mine said that these were only training rifles and are only good for 100yds max. Is there ant truth to this ? :canadaFlag::canadaFlag:
 
There is no truth to that.
There were 2 groove, 5-groove, even 4 and 6 groove rifling.
Some were better than others but only for training is a term I haven't heard applied to the 2 groove barrels.
The 2-groove was shown to be comparable to the 5-groove in accuracy and was easier to manufacture.
 
If there was a difference in accuracy between a two groove No.4 and a five groove No.4 it will have long ago disappeared in the difference in how much the barrels have been shot and how well they were looked after.
 
Don't forget, after Dunkirk the Brits needed as many rifles as they could get as fast as possible. The two groove barrel was faster to make. If it is a long branch you are a lucky fellow, they are highly prized by Canadian gunnuts.
 
The Savage build No. 4 Mk1*, made under the Lend Lease Program was also a 2 groove barrel. Mine shoots just fine at 300 yds.
 
Interbak said:
The Savage build No. 4 Mk1*, made under the Lend Lease Program was also a 2 groove barrel. Mine shoots just fine at 300 yds.
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I was told by a retired CF weapons tech the 5 groove rifles were made from Bren machine guns barrels that were in inventory. Rifles were needed more urgently, so they Bren barrels were whittled down for rifles.
 
Your friend is full of sh*t. I'm tired of these so called experts touting lies. I was in a gun shop with my mint Long Branch. Some fudd walked in and scoffed at my "old gun" as he put it. Had to break it to him that said "old gun" would out shoot anything he owns.
 
xtremacanuck said:
I was told by a retired CF weapons tech the 5 groove rifles were made from Bren machine guns barrels that were in inventory. Rifles were needed more urgently, so they Bren barrels were whittled down for rifles.
Click to expand...

5groove left hand is MkI standard rifling pattern for all Lee Enfield rifles. Long Branch manufactured MkI barrels during every year of production (1941 thru 1956).

Long Branch manufactured 6groove right hand barrel from 1949 to 1958. They called these barrels C.Mk4 barrels.
Supposedly they used Bren barrel making equipment (rifling mandrels) to rifle these barrels.
 
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