its a simease "smiling tiger" the rifling looks alright but as my other post indicated it seems very loose in the muzzle area... if i found a number 1 mk 3 with strong rifling(i hope its not a pipe dream) would it destroy some of the value swapping the barrels?
re barreling an old 1919 enfield #1m3
- Thread starter Sirus115
- Start date
- Location
- Beaverlodge, Alberta
Yes I think it would. It would never be numbers matching again. There are other options:
Shoot flat based bullets such as Sierra's 180 pro hunters.
Slug your barrel and find the correct diameter bullets or cast your own.
Try shooting factory ammo and see how it does. Lee-Enfields left the factory with varying bore diameters. Some were tight and some were anything but. I had one that had a crazy tight bore but pretty worn rifling. There is nothing to say yours won't be a great shooter, even if it has a loose bore.
Shoot flat based bullets such as Sierra's 180 pro hunters.
Slug your barrel and find the correct diameter bullets or cast your own.
Try shooting factory ammo and see how it does. Lee-Enfields left the factory with varying bore diameters. Some were tight and some were anything but. I had one that had a crazy tight bore but pretty worn rifling. There is nothing to say yours won't be a great shooter, even if it has a loose bore.
- Location
- WMU248 near Edmonton
Going to cost you a few bucks to find a barrel, then another chunk of change for the gunsmith work, and you'll have a rifle that is worth less then what you started with.
Not recommended
You might be able to buy another enfield for what your going to spend on rebarreling
Not recommended
You might be able to buy another enfield for what your going to spend on rebarreling
Out of roughly 10,000,000 Lee-Enfields built, the Siamese type amounted to exactly 10,000: ONE in a THOUSAND.
They left the factory 90 years ago and served in the same climate as rusted a Colt 1911 to garbage in 2 weeks.
They are MUCH too scarce to start mucking about with.
FLYING PIG was serious about the FLAT-based bullets. THAT is what the rifle was DESIGNED to use.
Have you actually SHOT the rifle? How did it shoot? Did you actually bench-rest it.... or was this off-hand. Off-hand tells you nothing if you are not Iron Man.
There are a DOZEN things which will make an SMLE shoot poorly; a bad barrel is only ONE of them (and the hardest and the most expensive to repair). MOST f the repairs/fixes are cheap to do.
Serious.
They left the factory 90 years ago and served in the same climate as rusted a Colt 1911 to garbage in 2 weeks.
They are MUCH too scarce to start mucking about with.
FLYING PIG was serious about the FLAT-based bullets. THAT is what the rifle was DESIGNED to use.
Have you actually SHOT the rifle? How did it shoot? Did you actually bench-rest it.... or was this off-hand. Off-hand tells you nothing if you are not Iron Man.
There are a DOZEN things which will make an SMLE shoot poorly; a bad barrel is only ONE of them (and the hardest and the most expensive to repair). MOST f the repairs/fixes are cheap to do.
Serious.
Great debate coming up, I can feel it. It all depends on your perspective.
To a collector, the gun fitted with the worn out but original barrel would be worth more to him than if it had a nice shiny replacement.
To a shooter, the brought back to decent shooting condition rifle with a nice shiny replacement barrel would be worth more than one that is crapped out but original..
Depends what you want to do with it. Look at it, fondle it and imagine it shooting, or, shoot it and enjoy trying to hit bulls eyes.
Two different schools of thought.
I have two old Army Jeeps, both original. One just sits in the garage with a blown engine, the other I drive with a rebuilt replacement engine and transmission.
Both basically the same model. Which do you think that I value most, and which one do you think that I would sell first?
If a rifle in service was sent to the unit armourer with a worn out barrel, what would he do?
Bit of a contentious subject.
But do try some flat based bullets. There are some available made special a wee bit oversized. Some worn barrels still shoot well, or at least well enough to have fun.
You could always keep the old barrel and include it should you decide to sell. Not a big deal, the barrels, although very tight just screw in and screw out. Easy to change with the right tools.
Now I will duck and put my helmet on.
To a collector, the gun fitted with the worn out but original barrel would be worth more to him than if it had a nice shiny replacement.
To a shooter, the brought back to decent shooting condition rifle with a nice shiny replacement barrel would be worth more than one that is crapped out but original..
Depends what you want to do with it. Look at it, fondle it and imagine it shooting, or, shoot it and enjoy trying to hit bulls eyes.
Two different schools of thought.
I have two old Army Jeeps, both original. One just sits in the garage with a blown engine, the other I drive with a rebuilt replacement engine and transmission.
Both basically the same model. Which do you think that I value most, and which one do you think that I would sell first?
If a rifle in service was sent to the unit armourer with a worn out barrel, what would he do?
Bit of a contentious subject.
But do try some flat based bullets. There are some available made special a wee bit oversized. Some worn barrels still shoot well, or at least well enough to have fun.
You could always keep the old barrel and include it should you decide to sell. Not a big deal, the barrels, although very tight just screw in and screw out. Easy to change with the right tools.
Now I will duck and put my helmet on.
- Location
- Beaverlodge, Alberta
If I was him I'd trade it to a collector for a less desireable rifle plus cash if he wants a shooter
Personaly, i would buy a sporter with a good barrel & drop that into the woodwork, that way you have done something thats reversable & you have a shooter & a collectable.
fwiw, cars, trucks, boats, airplanes & even jeeps are not collectable firearms & as such fall under different rules to what you can do to them that will alter their value/collectability.
fwiw, cars, trucks, boats, airplanes & even jeeps are not collectable firearms & as such fall under different rules to what you can do to them that will alter their value/collectability.
SSA is the rarest of WWI SMLEs. Personally, I would NEVER scope one, not after spending 20 years to find one.
Guys, when you have a gut-ache and go to the Doc, does he START with ulcer surgery?
Or does he carefully EXAMINE you to find out what is wrong FIRST? Maybe do a blood test and an X-ray?
And THEN does he try the EASY and CHEAP things first....... or does he haul you off into the O.R. and tell you to strip?
A Lee-Enfield rifle is very nearly a living thing in many ways and you have to TREAT IT as if it were.
That means DIAGNOSE your problems first, try the CHEAPEST fix FIRST and reserve the radical SURGERY for the patients who NEED it.
Cheapest and easiest 'non-invasive' treatment for the perceived ills of an SMLE is the use of FLAT-BASED bullets. Try the Sierra 180 Pro-Hunter and the Hornady 150 Spire Point, BOTH seated to the OAL of a Ball round.
If THAT doesn't smarten the old girl up, start looking for something else CHEAP to fix, The Damned Crack being a good example: it costs 15 cents and a bit of work to correct, but The Damned Crack is responsible for more lousy shooting with SMLEs than half the bad barrels still in existence.
When you run out of ideas, come back here and somebody will help, sure as eggs is eggs.
But always try the SIMPLE, EASY and CHEAP fixes first.
It is just amazing how often they work!
Guys, when you have a gut-ache and go to the Doc, does he START with ulcer surgery?
Or does he carefully EXAMINE you to find out what is wrong FIRST? Maybe do a blood test and an X-ray?
And THEN does he try the EASY and CHEAP things first....... or does he haul you off into the O.R. and tell you to strip?
A Lee-Enfield rifle is very nearly a living thing in many ways and you have to TREAT IT as if it were.
That means DIAGNOSE your problems first, try the CHEAPEST fix FIRST and reserve the radical SURGERY for the patients who NEED it.
Cheapest and easiest 'non-invasive' treatment for the perceived ills of an SMLE is the use of FLAT-BASED bullets. Try the Sierra 180 Pro-Hunter and the Hornady 150 Spire Point, BOTH seated to the OAL of a Ball round.
If THAT doesn't smarten the old girl up, start looking for something else CHEAP to fix, The Damned Crack being a good example: it costs 15 cents and a bit of work to correct, but The Damned Crack is responsible for more lousy shooting with SMLEs than half the bad barrels still in existence.
When you run out of ideas, come back here and somebody will help, sure as eggs is eggs.
But always try the SIMPLE, EASY and CHEAP fixes first.
It is just amazing how often they work!
Step 1. Give your bore a very through cleaning.Step 2. Slug the bore.Step 3.Find a mold or a source for a cast bullet that is 2 thousands over and give it a try with some starting loads and see how you do.Sometimes with a old rifle that has had the crud of 90 years cleaned out of the grooves and a proper sized bullet you will do well.And sometimes you will find that 90 years in a Thai jungle has taken it's toll and it's off to Step 4.To re barrel or not to re barrel,That is the question?Are you really a collector? Or would you rather be a shooter.If the latter save yourself a whole lot of time and effort and sell it to a collector and buy a shooter grade No1 MK111*(in full wood of course)for less??? than you would get for yours.If you are a collector put it aside for possibly years and years and as time goes on it will appreciate in value as time and attrition takes it's toll.
