Lee Enfield 'Factory' Sporter conversions Questions.

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trevj

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A friend dropped by and asked me for some input on a LE .303 Sporter.

Stock looks like the one on this rifle. https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/rifles/enfield-rifles/lee-enfield---no-4---custom-sporter----303-british.cfm?gun_id=101087117

This one has had any marking on the sides of the wrist scrubbed clear, as well as the side of the action. All done to a very nice high polish blue. None of the original rough Mil Spec/wartime exterior machine marks remains. Much shinier than the one in the Auction linked.

The markings all have suffered at the hands of those responsible for a really nice high blue polish, it has the Caliber markings and the pressure in Tons per "Square" on the LH side of the barrel, Made in England stamped across the top and the remains of a mark and the remnants of the numbers looking like 159, on the RH side (Possible it was marked or made in 1959?) There is a T shaped mark on the top of the barrel. Looks more like an old school carpet tack than a stamped letter T, with the vertical bar tapering to a fine point. May mean something, may not.
There are some faint remnants of proof marks and such. Serial number of the bolt matches the serial number on LH side of the wrist. Letter BX inside the lightening groove in the bolt, and a fine letter F beside the proof stamp on the bolt head.
An F and a Z are visible at the back end of the bolt assy.


I am starting to suspect this may have been one of the offerings by Parker Hale, on converted Military Surplus, possibly a Supreme Number 4, but am still at the guessing and groping stages.

Has a PH scope base pinned on across the back of the action, a front PH base screwed on to the front ring, a set of basic PH 1 inch rings and a rather inexpensive Japanese scope on it.

Overall, and this coming from a guy that really doesn't give a .303 a second look, usually, it is a pretty elegant package, and other than the scope dragging down the overall look, it has a pretty decent presence.
 
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The one you linked at gunsinternational looks Parker-Hale, and if it is PH it's their Custom, the top of the line on a No.4 action. rear sight mount and charger bridge are milled off, a new rear sight installed on the barrel (not sure they used Williams, that could be a replacement later by an owner) and the foresight would have had a hood originally. It would have come with a Parker Hale A29 mount, which attaches with three screws in the left side of the receiver and folds over the action. The next one down would be a Supreme, it would still have its charger bridge and rear sight mount, but the rear sight would be replaced with a PH mount that is attached at the back like the original military rear sight and nestles into the back of the charger bridge has a fixed peep, and the hole to receive the stud on the rear PH scope ring. If I recall correctly, that mount is a BA21, and the knox form would be drilled and tapped for the front mount. The foresight would be the same PH as a Custom. Both the Custom and Supreme had new stocks made for PH by an Italian firm, Sile, magazines modified to near flush fit and five round capacity, and PH did nice bluing. Barrels in good condition were retained, cut down, and refinished, if not up to snuff they would be replaced with new barrels, of which there would have been ample surplus replacements manufactured for the war.
 
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To make matters more complicated, smaller factories had access to Parker Hale accessories (sights, bases, mags), and were able to buy stocks from Sile....
 
Nope. Hard PH marked butt pad. White line spacers, but no forend tip. Has a checkered cap on the pistol grip, also with a white line spacer.

The scope mount is the pinned on one, in place of the rear sight, there does not appear any provisions for a rear sight on the barrel but there is a rather nice looking front ramp and hood.
 
As others may have mentioned, the "top of the line" Parker Hale conversion of both the No. 4 and the No.1 was called the "Custom" and the next level down was called the "Supreme". The Custom had the squared style stock with fore-end tip; the Supreme was more rounded with no separate fore-end tip. Note how the Custom has the charger bridge and rear sight ears removed and uses the Parker Hale A 29 side mount base, whereas the Supreme uses the PH A 20 at front and A 21 at rear - the front one normally gets mounted to the front receiver ring, not to the barrel knox form - the rear one replaces the military rear sight and uses the cross bolt, plunger and plunger spring. Rings were available in several heights Low, Normal, High. If you wanted to keep the aperture "battle sight" on the A21 base, to be used with that hooded front sight, then you needed to use the High rings for the scope tube to clear that aperture sight - RAHS.3 was the designation for the High rings for 1" scopes. Rings can be found with matte and with gloss finish. The sketches below show the magazine sloped at bottom - I have not seen that, but have and have owned several with magazine shortened to 5 rounds and sits virtually even with the line of the mag opening at bottom of stock - might protrude slightly. Here is a scan of a very old ad for those two:

Parker Hale Custom and Supreme.jpg
 

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And, if anyone cares, here is scan of the "bottom" two conversions that Parker Hale sold - the basic "Standard", then first step up to the "De Luxe". They did these four levels of "conversion" for both the No. 1 and the No. 4 Lee Enfields:

Parker Hall Standard & De Luxe.jpg
 

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cosmic said:
To make matters more complicated, smaller factories had access to Parker Hale accessories (sights, bases, mags), and were able to buy stocks from Sile....
Click to expand...

Converting military rifles to civilian use was a very popular industry after the war, rifles were cheap and they kept people working.

Grizz
 
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