Blast from the past, Bring the LeeEnfield back?
- Thread starter HeadDamage
- Start date
Put 16 gr of 2400 or 18.5 gr of 4227 under Lymans 314299 Cast boolit sized .313 - .314 and gas checked and you might be surprised how competitve the #4 rifle is. Recoil is almost noneexistant. With the standard #4 sight on my LE I can put them into a 3" circle at 100 yds from a rest so for those who can really shoot with younger eyes....or with better peep sights
Take Care
Bob
Take Care
Bob
Finally got one! A nice 1950 Longbranch #4 Mk1 from Smgcon.He seems like the kind of guy that takes care of his equipment and cleans the guns just for fun and relaxation.A man after my own heart for sure.This is the cleanest #4 I've seen in ages.Possibly ever.Hardly a round through it.
Looks like I'm good to go for SR now.I heard that Lever has some .303 on sale too....might have to take a boot over there to check it out!
My dad is a big Enfield lover too and when I talked to him about shooting SR with it he said he wouldn't mind coming out and bringing a few of the older ex military crowd with him.Looks like there might be another 78 year old Coronel at next years match!
Now we have to find a decent load Andrew!
Looks like I'm good to go for SR now.I heard that Lever has some .303 on sale too....might have to take a boot over there to check it out!
My dad is a big Enfield lover too and when I talked to him about shooting SR with it he said he wouldn't mind coming out and bringing a few of the older ex military crowd with him.Looks like there might be another 78 year old Coronel at next years match!
Now we have to find a decent load Andrew!
..... Just make sure your front sight is firmly fixed in it's dovetail ! .... I found out after a day of frustration, that it can move without falling out !!! ..... and I wondered why the groups were "different " ! .... David K.
The load needs to be good out to 500m and come close to matching the stock sights so the cast load is not likely going to work. I'm going to work up some 174gr FMJ loads in the 2440fps range as that about the same as the mk7 service load.
............It really could be a lot of fun to have the "Vintage" SMLEs on the Range once more! To shoot them against the Modern Rifles seems to me to be somewhat counter-productive, is as much as the Military Matches are intended in large part, to develop, and reflect current Rifle/Marksmanship skills. Shooting the "old stuff" in a separate category would, hopefully, allow a few of the Geriatric Group to relive their Glory Days, and because of the lower cost and ready availability of the rifles, encourage new shooters. The other plus, if some of the old timers are on the Range, there's a good chance that some of the old skills/technical aspects etc. will be passed on. Certainly, some of the newer shooters would receive additional motivation when theres a chance that some old codger with an 60+ year old rifle, might out perform him/her , even if in a slightly different category ! ..... David K. .....
David K
I guess being 62 puts me in the geriatric group. LOL. Actually this Sunday we are having a Vintage Military Shoot here in Terrace. As you know the Rangers still use the Longbranch. I suspect we will see everything from SMLEs, #4 Rifles, Garands and M 14's as well as some P14/P17's. Target arays go from 75 meters to 100 meters. Shooting light recoiling cast boolits ought to be fun against the jacketed crowd. My money would be on a Garand or M 14 over a M 16 shooting .223 at 600 yards. Tend to bet with my heart vs my head.
HeadDamage: We only have a 200 meter range here but cast are competitive out to that distance. Will check with my friends south of the 49th. Quite a group down there shoot cast in the LE's at distance. Will ask how they make out with cast. I have my wife's grand-dads old shooting records from the 30's and 40's and I know what the Le's will do out to 1,000 yds using military ball. Scary how the old man could shoot.
Take Care
Bob
I guess being 62 puts me in the geriatric group. LOL. Actually this Sunday we are having a Vintage Military Shoot here in Terrace. As you know the Rangers still use the Longbranch. I suspect we will see everything from SMLEs, #4 Rifles, Garands and M 14's as well as some P14/P17's. Target arays go from 75 meters to 100 meters. Shooting light recoiling cast boolits ought to be fun against the jacketed crowd. My money would be on a Garand or M 14 over a M 16 shooting .223 at 600 yards. Tend to bet with my heart vs my head.
HeadDamage: We only have a 200 meter range here but cast are competitive out to that distance. Will check with my friends south of the 49th. Quite a group down there shoot cast in the LE's at distance. Will ask how they make out with cast. I have my wife's grand-dads old shooting records from the 30's and 40's and I know what the Le's will do out to 1,000 yds using military ball. Scary how the old man could shoot.
Take Care
Bob
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.... Hey! .... Canuck44 .... I turn 64 in a few days ! I remember way back in my misspent youth, growing up in Melbourne (The Australian one, not Florida) and watching some of the ex-military shooters on the Williamstown Range, hitting targets out to the 1000 yard mark! Hell, I couldn't even see most of the targets they were shooting at ! Lithgow No3s, Parker Hale sights, and in some cases, fitted, with heavier, from Vickers guns, barrels. Don't think anyone at that time were reloading their own ammunition, all "issue" stuff , either free or very close to it , The Government, was at that time, actually encouraging competitive, Military style shooting ! 'Hard to imagine now, but there even was program available that you could get your own rifle for free. Of course, if you were a "Station Owner" IE Rancher, ammunition and rifle for 'Roo control was available from Government Stores ( New, in the wrap No3 Lithgow's for just a few "shillings" ! ) ...... Oh well, different time, and different place ! .... David K. ......
David K
Growing up in Edmonton, as a young boy I would go down and buy WW1 & WW11 bayonets for 98 cents each. You could buy Longbranch #4's new for $9.95 at the ARmy & Navy Store on 97st, downtown. Racks of them. Lambskin leather bomber jackets were $10.00!
As old ARchie said on T.V. "Those were the days..."
Take Care
Bob
ps You Aussies did more with the .303British round as far as wildcatting the cartridge than anyone on the planet.
rbb
Growing up in Edmonton, as a young boy I would go down and buy WW1 & WW11 bayonets for 98 cents each. You could buy Longbranch #4's new for $9.95 at the ARmy & Navy Store on 97st, downtown. Racks of them. Lambskin leather bomber jackets were $10.00!
As old ARchie said on T.V. "Those were the days..."
Take Care
Bob
ps You Aussies did more with the .303British round as far as wildcatting the cartridge than anyone on the planet.
rbb
.... That was the result of necessity ! Being at the end of the road, figuratively speaking, and with the huge numbers of Enfields available, plus the wide variety of game, ammunition, other than military ball, was not that easy to obtain. In the late 40s and early 50s there was a lot of experimenting with "wildcat loads/cartridges" .... so, it was really a case of playing with what you have ! ....... David K. .....
