Help please. What do i have?

Chanman; straight as a dog's back leg...lol...I can't wait until the Conservatives cut 3/4 of the red tape/bureaucratic BS out of this ridiculous system the Liberals call gun control,maybe then we won't need to bring a lawyer with us to the gun shop to make a purchase on something that puts holes in paper with extreme prejudice:D
 
No 4 rear sights

leadhead36 said:
would that rear sight be a mark 3 or did the mark4 have the same .on the .303 i had it had the same type of sight mark 3 on the top part of the sight. just wondering not nit picking
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The Number 4 Lee Enfield rifle had a PEEP type sight mounted near the rear of the action. The Number 1 Lee Enfield rifle had an open rear sight attached to the center of the barrel.

There were four types of peep sight for the Number 4 rifle. These were designated:

Mark 1 - A screw micrometer adjustable elevation slide (the best sight) but time consuming to make

Mark II - A simple "L" type flip sight for 300 and 600 yards

Mark III - A stamped metal rear sight with a seperate spacer washer

Mark IV - A stamped metal rear sight with the spacer attached and an improved adjustment catch.


The Mark II, Mark III and Mark IV type rear sights were made to help speed up production of the Number 4 rifles.

Some people tend to confuse the earlier Number 1 Mark III rifles because of the way these rifles are identified. These people refer to the Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield Number 1 Mark III rifle as a Mark III rifle, which is not correct nomenclature. It is the SMLE No. 1 Mark III, (or No.1 Mark III*) rifle.

A Number 4 Lee-Enfield, is NOT referred to as a SMLE, but rather as a Lee-Enfield. If you referred to a Number 4 as a SMLE, in the presence of an Instructor, or worse still, the Sergeant-Major, you would have had this difference positively reinforced by several fast laps of the Parade Square holding your LEE-ENFIELD above your head.
 
The MARK 3 rear sight for the NUMBER 4 RIFLE was pretty much a bust owing to the fragile adjustment lever which stuck out to the right. This rifle seems to have this sight. The improved MARK 4 rear sight is very similar but has the adjustment catch curved so you don't bash it. Just don't bash the thing and you're okay.

There were a LOT of Number 4s converted to exactly this specification in the 1950s and 1960s.

Some guys disrespect rifles such as this ('shoot the crap out of it').

This I do not understand.

It has enough horsepower to flatten ANYTHING in North America with one round (if you can place it) and it has the ACCURACY to do just that at any sane distance. And the barrel will last about 5/8 of forever if you give it the slightest bit of maintenance.

What you have here, friend, altered as it might be, is the finest FOUR-GENERATION freezer-filler ever made.

And that is NOTHING to disrespect.

BTW, the Army always left the magazines IN the rifles so that they didn't get damaged: the feed-lips bend easily. Loading (very darned FAST loading) was done with CHARGERS (which people insist on calling 'stripper clips'). A 'stripper-clip' is something that an ecdysiast uses to hold her costume together before she gets plain nekkid on the stage! Your rifle uses CHARGERS which hold 5 rounds and are worth a buck each.

Whatever you do, cherish it and have fun with it..... but NEVER disrespect it.

Nice toy!
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plinker 777 said:
I thought there was a shotgun limit of 3 (non restricted) I've also never seen anymore than 10rds in a centerfire bolt gun......{daydream sequence}....30rd mag in an Enfield would make for a really cool {and expensive} mad minute though!:D
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The shotgun limit is a migratory waterfowl limit in the hunting regs, not the firearms act. The FA treats all centerfire long guns the same, either shotgun or rifle.

I think the AIA Enfield version has a higher capacity than 10, but I am not sure. I think the reason for no high cap bolt actions is the mags get in the way and lots of ammo isn't that much fun in a bolt action.


Mark
 
mmattockx said:
The shotgun limit is a migratory waterfowl limit in the hunting regs, not the firearms act. The FA treats all centerfire long guns the same, either shotgun or rifle.

I think the AIA Enfield version has a higher capacity than 10, but I am not sure. I think the reason for no high cap bolt actions is the mags get in the way and lots of ammo isn't that much fun in a bolt action.


Mark
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Ohhhhh, my friend I beg your pardon to differ:redface: 30rds in a No4 would be tremendous fun!:D BOOM.....tink!.....BOOM....tink! x30= mad minute on steroids!

The heat on the barrel would also be tremendous though.....can we use your gun?:p
 
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mmattockx said:
The shotgun limit is a migratory waterfowl limit in the hunting regs, not the firearms act. The FA treats all centerfire long guns the same, either shotgun or rifle.

I think the AIA Enfield version has a higher capacity than 10, but I am not sure. I think the reason for no high cap bolt actions is the mags get in the way and lots of ammo isn't that much fun in a bolt action.


Mark
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AIA Enfields are also 10. Some of the Ishapore 2A/2A1's have 12 round mags though
 
@mmattockx: quite agree. I have one of the original WW1 25-round extension mags for my Kar98aZ. When affixed, it turns a nice, medium-weight, handy rifle into a very heavy and ungainly club. Looks really cool, but really not all that practical.

When my friend Jack Snow (Nfld. Reg't.) was being taken back to the POW clearing centre at Heilsburg in the Fall of 1918, some of the German troopies still had these on their rifles. Jack and a couple of friends had just spent almost 5 months wandering around in the Russian Civil War, following on their escape. Jack was taken at Monchy-le-Prueux in April of 1917, at which time Fritz had already given up on this magazine on the Western Front although they must have had some continued utility in the peculiar conditions in the East. Jack particularly mentioned these magazines and their continued use in the East when we were writing an Armistice Day feature on his adventures. His travels during the War are documented in several places, including old LEGION magazines.

There also were extended magazines built for the SMLE but they also were a bust, mainly for bulk and weight. All called back and destroyed, they are now SUPER-rare.... and just as impractical as Fritz's devices. Ten rounds is just fine if you know how to reload the rifle as per KOR. For this, CHARGERS are the key: 67 rounds a minute with chargers has been demonstrated MANY times, also 37 rounds a minute with 100% hits on a 200-yard target. The so-called 'Mad Minute' was the MINIMUM for QUALIFICATION: it was nothing special. But the secret, always, was CHARGERS.
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smellie said:
@mmattockx: quite agree. I have one of the original WW1 25-round extension mags for my Kar98aZ. When affixed, it turns a nice, medium-weight, handy rifle into a very heavy and ungainly club. Looks really cool, but really not all that practical.

When my friend Jack Snow (Nfld. Reg't.) was being taken back to the POW clearing centre at Heilsburg in the Fall of 1918, some of the German troopies still had these on their rifles. Jack and a couple of friends had just spent almost 5 months wandering around in the Russian Civil War, following on their escape. Jack was taken at Monchy-le-Prueux in April of 1917, at which time Fritz had already given up on this magazine on the Western Front although they must have had some continued utility in the peculiar conditions in the East. Jack particularly mentioned these magazines and their continued use in the East when we were writing an Armistice Day feature on his adventures. His travels during the War are documented in several places, including old LEGION magazines.

There also were extended magazines built for the SMLE but they also were a bust, mainly for bulk and weight. All called back and destroyed, they are now SUPER-rare.... and just as impractical as Fritz's devices. Ten rounds is just fine if you know how to reload the rifle as per KOR. For this, CHARGERS are the key: 67 rounds a minute with chargers has been demonstrated MANY times, also 37 rounds a minute with 100% hits on a 200-yard target. The so-called 'Mad Minute' was the MINIMUM for QUALIFICATION: it was nothing special. But the secret, always, was CHARGERS.
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I bow to your experience gentlemen, I however would need extended mag cap if i were to hope for anywhere near 67rds per min. I find the chargers a bit of a pain really. They never seem to charge the mag efficiently. Yes I do fill the chargers _-_-_:D but they still hang up...FTF jams.
 
Chargers should feed well, but some do not. Especially, the Parkerised or phosphated ones tend not to be worth the powder to blow them. Late-War-Two chargers and post-war ones generally are to be avoided. The late-wartime ones were like everything else then: rushrushrush and standards fell, sometimes abysmally. As far as the post-war ones are concerned, quality there also deteriorated because everybody knew that the .303 was on its way out.

The ones to search out are the Mark II, Mark III and Mark IV chargers which were properly BLUED. These do not have that d*mned phosphate buildup on them that stops the world from rotating, practically. Select your chargers for a BLUED finish, then check them carefully. If they are much too tight, you can spread them a bit without wrecking anything. If they are too loose, you can pinch them inward a bit. If rounds still lke to jam, POLISH the insides of the LIPS of the chargers with some Crocus cloth or 600 emery cloth. They should be SMOOTH. Do it right and they will feed, as a fellow told me once, "slicker'n greased monkey-s**t".

The old-time target shooters all knew about this.... and so did the troopies. Experienced soldiers NEVER relied on the chargers coming from the factories; they re-used the ones they had worked on.

And a point to remember, also: most modern ammo is made to SAAMI specs and not to the original milspec standards. There are VERY OFTEN significant dimensional changes, especially as regards the RIMS..... and they are vital.

Sounds silly, I know, but it works.

Good luck.

Hope this helps.
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Hi!
Nice rifle. It looked like mine when I got it from my father. It is now fully restocked. Shoots very well.

The "M47C" stamping on the left side of the rifle's butt socket indicates that it was made by Birmingham Small Arms (BSA)-Shirley. It is the same stamping code marked on my rifle, No.4Mk1.

If you're interested in furhter info on stampings, proof marks, marker marks, etc. and the various .303 British rifle out there and who made them, try having a look at Ian Skinnerton's book, The Lee Enfield Story. You can request a copy of it from you local library. It's an extreamly informative book on all Lee Enfield rifles. That's where I started from for information.

I now own my mint copy of the very same book.

If you haven't been out shooting it yet, have the firearm checked out and cleaned by a qualified gunsmith. He/she may find some hidden issues (broken or missing parts, bad barrel, etc.) that you may not be aware of. Not woth loosing an eye or have the rifle blow up in your face.

If hte rifle is good to go for the range ... have at her. They're a lovely shooting rifle; not to mention a good piece of military history.

If you're like me, and if the rifle is worth doing it to, you may want to restock it back to it's original form with a complete full stockset. It increases the value of the rifle.

On the down side, value wise, the rifle has been drilled and tapped which will hurt it some. However, it maybe a bonus point should you try and have it scoped for target shooting or as a new hunting rifle. Either way the Lee Enfield will serve you for a life time and then some.

Enjoy!! Welcome to the club!!!
 
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