How 'bout some Lee sporter rifle #### (seeing as how every other make has their own)

Royzo:
1) Thank you.
2) Get cracking. There's no time like the present!

;-)

Supercub:
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, don't put a 257 Roberts barrel on the old girl. She deserves better than that.

The B.S.A.Co. catalogues I have show they originally came in .275 Nitro Express (aka 7x57, yes the extractor will grab the rimless cases), .303 Flanged Nitro Express 2 1/4" (aka .303 British), 500/320 Flanged Nitro Express (aka 8mm Austrian Mannlicher, aka 8x50R Austrian)[because the Indian government banned the use of .303], .375 Flanged Nitro Express 2 1/2" [brought out for heavier game, to compete with the medium bore cartridges developed by Holland & Holland, Westley Richards, Greener, W.J.Jeffery & Rigby]. There was also a single shot version of the LEE SPEED action chambered for the .32-40 Ballard.

HOWEVER, I have in my small collection an Alex. Martin sporting rifle built on a B.S.A.Co. commercial C.L.L.E. action in .256 Flanged (aka 6.5x53R, .256 Swift Flanged, aka .256 Fraser Flanged) that was brought out as a highland stag stalking rifle in the same caliber as the Westley Richards, Holland & Holland & W.J.Jeffery rifles built on the Farquharson single shot rifles, or the Roumanian / Dutch Model 1892/1895 Mannlicher actions.

The American-produced Remington-Lee rifles were chambered in .236 Remington (aka 6mm Lee Navy), 7x57, 7.65x53, .30 W.C.F., .30 U.S.A. (aka .30-40 Krag, .30 Purdey), .32-40, .303 British, .32 W. Spl., .35 W.C.F. .38-55 Ballard, .38-72 W.C.F., .405 W.C.F., .43 Spanish, .40-70 Sharps Straight, .45-70 & .45-90.

I have thought many times of having a rifle made up in either .360 Flanged 2 1/4", using a Mauser 9.3 large ring barrel re-threaded to the 1"x14N.S. receiver ring thread of the S.M.L.E. Expand the neck of .303 brass to .375, then neck down to 9.3mm. The brass forms perfectly using 9.3x57 brass and the magazine feeds them without problem.

Or the .40-70 Sharps Straight. A .408" 400 grain bullet using necked-down .405 W.C.F. brass.

Or simply wait for a bit until the new .303 barrels are ready from Criterion Barrels but I think that ship has sailed as my emails from the past number of years say "when we have a chance", or use yours as is & enjoy it for what it is!
 
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jamesharrison said:
What else would you like to know?
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Not sure what else to ask. Thanks for all of that. :)

jamesharrison said:
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, don't put a 257 Roberts barrel on the old girl. She deserves better than that.
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No worries, it will never be a 257Roberts in my hands. Aside from replacing the sling studs to the original style, I'm not changing a thing.
 
My "Sussex" No.4 doesn't compare with those lovely old-world crafted speed Lees, but it puts game on the table and it's beautifully accurate with my hand loads. Please note: no milsurps were harmed in the making of this build! I have 2 almost pristine Lee Enfields, a BSA 1918 that was never bubba'd, never issued, and released to the civilian market for sale back in the day. My other "never sell" is a 1950 Long Branch No.4, and I have a '43 Long Branch for plinking. I've hunted with Lee Enfields (as well as other rifles) for over 40 yrs. and I still love their accuracy and reliability. I went searching for a nice sporter that I could tweak to fit my needs, and some years ago I bought a nice "Sussex" sporter off of a fellow CGNer. The foresight was broken off the ramp and my eyes being what they are, I took the sights off completely. I fabricated the scope mount out of angle iron, polished and blued it, and mounted a standard weaver-style scope rail on it. It's worn a few different pieces of glass over the years, but the Nikon Prostaff that's on it now is proportional and perfect for it's uses. I fabricated an adjustable cheek piece for it, since anyone who's scoped a stock No.4 knows that you end up with no cheek weld by the time you're done. It may not be pretty, but everyone who's put it to their shoulder has commented on how nice it comes to point and how comfortable it feels. The recoil pad gives me the right length of pull and makes for a pleasant day shooting, even burning off lots of ammo. So, basically I have a customized No.4 that suits me to a "T" and will do anything I ask of it. What more can you ask from any firearm?
 
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Here s mine

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True, there was a period there after the intro of Mk.VII ammo before WWI pretty much killed production. And I guess there were some made post-WWI of a similar quality to the pre-war work.
 
I know that my rifle which was made in the 1920s is bang on with current modern 303 factory loads.It is a gun that I treasure to take out hunting every year as I ve never had a gun like this that was a natural pointer as this one .It just comes up up as a natural extension of your arms.You don t collect a Lee Speed ,they collect you.
 
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This thread begs the question: will the 10 round Lee Enfield magazine be exempt from the five round restriction reportedly in the latest legislation?
 
RRCo. said:
This thread begs the question: will the 10 round Lee Enfield magazine be exempt from the five round restriction reportedly in the latest legislation?
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Not sure why it begs the question at all. Since 99% of the Sporting Lee Speeds that this thread pertains to came with 5 round magazines (out of 24 I've owned & almost 50 others that I've handled & over 100 I've had photos of, only 2 had original 10 round magazines [engraved & numbered to the rifle]), why would this matter, at least insofar as Lee Speed Sporting Rifles are concerned?
 
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