Projet "Bubba the Lee Enfield" Scope base done !

bobfortier

bobfortier

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Hi all

I am a member of Extreme Précision, a french-canadian firearm forum. I was minding my business on the forum, browsing topics as usual, when I saw a guy asking about this gun. Couple of answers comes in, I read a bit and forget about it. Then the other day I see it for sale, 50$ shipped. Since small game hunting end march 31st, and my range opens up only mid May, I decided to buy it to keep me busy.

Now before we begin this incredible journey in the world of Bubba, all I will do to it will not harm it any more than it is now. It started life as a Longbranch No 4 mk1*. Then it was FTR in 52. That is my guess, there is /52 with the serial, then (F)FTR on the side, and the Longbranch 1944 marking has a line on it. Then at some point Bubba got his dirty mits on it. The barrel was cut just to remove most of the straight spot where the bayo and sight attach. Then he went on to cut all upper parts, the bridge and the rear sight "ear" at the left of the receiver, making it a flat-top kinda thing.

Not only that. Bubba filled some sort of dovetail just over the chamber to attach some sort of Cooey 60 sight. I do not think the dovetail will be an issue.

The good points are the barrel and parts. I have had a couple of used Enfield before, and the barrel on this one is one of the best I ever saw. Rifling is all there, sharp and bright. And there is not rust or pitting, except the stock screw. All mechanical parts are functionning perfect. There was no mag, but I will take my other No 4 mag when I will shoot this gun. And it got a no 3 bolt head on it.

Here are some pics. My project will be pretty simple. Make some sort of bracket to attach the small bushnell 1.5-4 scope I got for free, and use it as a deer rifle in the woods for 100 yards or less distance. So as long as it is minute of pie plate I'll be happy.

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I am going bunny hunting this weekend, I will take it along to test fire it before I put any more work on it.
 
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Sad to see a sporterized Enfield but happy to see she is getting some much deserved attention. I see too many of them at my local gun shop, in the corners collecting dust and nobody wants them.
 
Glad to hear there are other forums in French. The shooting community needs all the friends it can get. You have a comparitively simple task ahead of you. The left side wall is flat, and the top of the receive has been cleared of obstructions. Take a look in your steel pile for a piece of 1 1/2-inch 90deg angle about 8 or 9 inches long. Slap it on the side wall and machine out to clear the ejector screw, safety lever and receiver ring. You can drill and tap where ever the receiver will give you enough material for screw threads. My advice would be to give yourself enough horizontal surface to put a Weaver rail far enough forward for today's longer scopes. No sense shortchanging yourself.
 
Exactly my plan. I picked up a piece of aluminium angle, this will be easy to work using files, saw and taps (i do not have access to a machine shot).

Also, making a couple of holes in the receiver side does not bother me that much.
 
Looks like a no4 mkII stock with the cut all the way back for the receiver hung trigger. In fact, upon closer observation - I believe you have a no4 mkII! The trigger hung from the receiver is a good thing, imho.

Shame about the bubba work!! All that metal cut out of the receiver for whyyyyy
 
Bubba certainly got some overtime done on that one...

At least with the prospects of restoration far off the table, you can do whatever the hell you want to do with it now.

And for 50 bucks shipped, makes a good bush rifle beater.
 
wait bunny hunting....well at least it won't make that damn crying noise. Nice gun by the way. I am scope mount issues of my own. But I'm probably just going to buy a B square mount if I can find one. But I'd like to see your set up when it's all finished. Don't quite understand your plan.
 
happykal said:
wait bunny hunting....well at least it won't make that damn crying noise. Nice gun by the way. I am scope mount issues of my own. But I'm probably just going to buy a B square mount if I can find one. But I'd like to see your set up when it's all finished. Don't quite understand your plan.
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Just to set thing straight, I will not hunt with this gun, I have a 12 gauge, and a birch tree for the crying part of the snowshoe hare hunt....
 
bobfortier said:
Just to set thing straight, I will not hunt with this gun, I have a 12 gauge, and a birch tree for the crying part of the snowshoe hare hunt....
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I assumed you were not going to be using a .303, I was being a smart@##. I like the birch tree idea. I had one bad shot, didn't compensate for distance with a .22LR, it wasn't pretty, and it almost caused me to give up rabbit hunting. But it was delicious in a jambalaya.
 
happykal said:
wait bunny hunting....well at least it won't make that damn crying noise. Nice gun by the way. I am scope mount issues of my own. But I'm probably just going to buy a B square mount if I can find one. But I'd like to see your set up when it's all finished. Don't quite understand your plan.
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The OP's rifle has nothing left on the top of the receiver. Just a big long slot between the left and right sides. The B-Square mount needs to grip the charger bridge (IIRC). There are always mounts on E-pay for less than $100. Either a B-Square or S&K.
 
I test fired Bubba yesterday. I shot into a gravel pit, so no hole to see, but the mechanical function of the gun is perfect, feed from the mag real good, so it is a go for the making of a scope base. Recoil is not that bad, considering I was shooting a very light gun with a shortened barrel.
 
So I had some time today to work on it. I started by making 2 holes threaded 8-32 at the top of the receiver, where it is about 1/4 inch thick. Then I took the aluminium angle, made some holes and threads, and here I am today. This week I will finish the shape, still need to be cut for the ejector screw and I need to remove a bit on the top so the shell can eject, but so far I am very happy.

The more I look at it the more I think I will redo a nice stock in walnut, I have time before I can try this gun and it would be nice. I will also paint the base flat black once it is done.

I installed the base so I can take my scope from my target gun set-up and install it without removing the rings from the scope tube.

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Hi

Scope base is all done. I painted it flat black so it blends better with the rest of the gun.

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About the stock, I was talking with a friend of mine last weekend and he offered this to me for a price I could not resist. This will fit perfectly.

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A little update. I installed a Bushnell 3200 3-9 x 50 on Bubba, shot a box of winchester ammo, neck-sized the brass, and reloaded for some test. 43 gr of IMR4350, with Sierra 180 prohunter, gave me this at 100m. Good enough for a gun I paid 50$, and good enough for whitetails. The small square on target is 1 inch from corner to corner.

 
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