I have never been satisfied with the performance of my Lee Enfield rifles. The only exception was one of those new Irish contract rifles, which shot about a minute… but I sold it.
I am trying to find a decent load for these two - a real #4T (got it new, never issued) and my #4PT (Pretend T, or Pseudo T). It has a medium weight Winchester 308 caliber barrel, chambered with a 303 reamer. I call it a 308Brit.
In theory, the #4PT should shoot best. A quality heavier barrel. I like it because I have lots of 308 bullets on hand.
In the past the results have been disappointing. A good #4 should shoot 2.4 MOA or better. 2.5 was ok for the Military, but I would prefer 1.5.
I made up a survey in 1 gr increments with 150 gr bullets (with 4895) and 180 gr bullets with RL-15. 308 bullets for the #4PT and .311 bullets for the #4T.
The challenge with the #4T is the 3X scope. I made targets with 3” black squares to aim at. This worked well. The #4PT has a cheap 3-9 BSA scope, and it is a pleasure to shoot at 1” black patches. I aim at the corner of the patch.
To properly clean a rifle, you need to remove the bolt. With a #4T, this means removing the scope, because you have to stand the rear sight up so the bolt will come out. I did this, but was concerned about losing the zero.
The first shot was very high right. Each successive shot in the 5 shot group went lower and to the left. The last shot was about zero.
The smaller group was typical of the #4T. If it will do this constantly, I will be very happy.
No idea what was settling down, but it was fine after that.
It has been my experience with Lee Enfields that a flat base bullet will usually shoot better than a boat-tail. This seemed true in this test. I shot 175MKs in the #4PT and 174MK in the #4 and in both cases a 180 gr flat base hunting bullet shot better. Here are two groups shot in the #4PT with the same powder charge. Boat tail match bullet not as good.
Here are two groups shot with the #4T with the same powder charge. As usual, the flat base did better.
The survey was made with thrown powder charges. I see some promising groups and will load more ammo, with weighed charges in 0.5 gr increments. I hope to have a reliable load for each rifle.
I am trying to find a decent load for these two - a real #4T (got it new, never issued) and my #4PT (Pretend T, or Pseudo T). It has a medium weight Winchester 308 caliber barrel, chambered with a 303 reamer. I call it a 308Brit.

In theory, the #4PT should shoot best. A quality heavier barrel. I like it because I have lots of 308 bullets on hand.
In the past the results have been disappointing. A good #4 should shoot 2.4 MOA or better. 2.5 was ok for the Military, but I would prefer 1.5.
I made up a survey in 1 gr increments with 150 gr bullets (with 4895) and 180 gr bullets with RL-15. 308 bullets for the #4PT and .311 bullets for the #4T.
The challenge with the #4T is the 3X scope. I made targets with 3” black squares to aim at. This worked well. The #4PT has a cheap 3-9 BSA scope, and it is a pleasure to shoot at 1” black patches. I aim at the corner of the patch.
To properly clean a rifle, you need to remove the bolt. With a #4T, this means removing the scope, because you have to stand the rear sight up so the bolt will come out. I did this, but was concerned about losing the zero.
The first shot was very high right. Each successive shot in the 5 shot group went lower and to the left. The last shot was about zero.

The smaller group was typical of the #4T. If it will do this constantly, I will be very happy.
No idea what was settling down, but it was fine after that.
It has been my experience with Lee Enfields that a flat base bullet will usually shoot better than a boat-tail. This seemed true in this test. I shot 175MKs in the #4PT and 174MK in the #4 and in both cases a 180 gr flat base hunting bullet shot better. Here are two groups shot in the #4PT with the same powder charge. Boat tail match bullet not as good.


Here are two groups shot with the #4T with the same powder charge. As usual, the flat base did better.


The survey was made with thrown powder charges. I see some promising groups and will load more ammo, with weighed charges in 0.5 gr increments. I hope to have a reliable load for each rifle.
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