Firing a 1917 Lee Enfield #1 mark III*

S

Scott Bear

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Prince George
Is there anything I need to know before attempting to fire this rifle? The rifling looks strong but the bore is dark.

Can I use factory ammo or should I load a reduced round?

Thanks,

Scott.
 
Scott Bear said:
Is there anything I need to know before attempting to fire this rifle? The rifling looks strong but the bore is dark.

Can I use factory ammo or should I load a reduced round?

Thanks,

Scott.
Click to expand...
Use factory ammo, no problems but having the headspace checked would be good. Clean the bore carefully before shooting. Dark bore is not uncommon for milsurp rifle, depend how dark is it? If the bore is slightly "frosted" but with strong rifing, may shoot well but can foul quickly. However, if the bore remain very dark after a good scrub, accuracy may really suffer but the only way to know is to shoot the rifle:)
 
Ya, much better to be de-nutted!! Take it to a gunsmith who is familier with the rifle and have him check it out. Some of these are some of the nicest built hand assembled rifles you will will ever see but they are getting old!

If the headspace is good there is usually no issue but there might be other problems you might not be aware of that could cause you harm.

Scott
 
First shot, I tied the gun stationary and pulled the trigger with a string. better safe than sorry. But these old rifles will handle modern ammo if the mechanics are good, all I have shot were fine right out of SIR ( cabela's now)...to the sand pits and "boom". If in grave doubt, have a gunsmith check it out for you. Both mine are 1918 made and one is a .303 and other is a .410.
 
I have a dozen or so of these and shoot them with handloads runnng about 2250 ft/sc with a 180 flatbase bullet. Enfield rifling does not like boat-tails, thinks flatbases are candy.

Commercial ammo should be okay but will be steamier than my loads.

Military spec was 2440 ft/sec with a 174-grain flatbase bullet.

If the rifle does not shoot under 8 inches at 100 yards, likely the fore-end is cracked at its back end, right where the trigger and sear interface. This is The Damned Crack, and it is responsible for more bad-shooting SMLEs than two-thrds of all the won-out barrels ever made. Barrels on these rifles last a VERY long time. If accuacy sddenly goes to pt, the problem is that Damned Crack.

Have fun!

Hope this helps.
.
 
Scott Bear said:
Is there anything I need to know before attempting to fire this rifle? The rifling looks strong but the bore is dark.
Click to expand...

Hi Scott ... :)

It's not marked ZF or DP anywhere, is it? ;)

If so, here's a few links to other threads where Peter Laidler and others have discussed the pitfalls of DP and ZF marked rifles ...

ZF marking on Enfields?

DP Stock Marks Queryhttp://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=18143

DP Rifleshttp://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=18005

Anyone with rifles so marked should read them all thoroughly before you go and shooting it ... :thup:

Regards,
Doug
 
That is funny. Before I got a set of headspace gages I fired many hundreds of rounds of factory and milsurp ammo though my rifles and I still have all my body parts intact!
Assuming it is not a drill rifle, you should be allright.

I wonder why Lee Enfields are so "dangerous" but NOBODY worries about headspace on a Mouser, Arisaka, Carcano, Moisen, or Springfield?
 
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