Smle mk3
- Thread starter Joetremblay
- Start date
Nobody can tell you that. The only way to know is to shoot the thing.
LOL. You gonna pay a gunsmith $100 to inspect a $250 rifle? Really?
And which gunsmith do you think is gonna drop his backlog of work to immediately look at a POS sporterized LE and who also happens to have a set of 303 headspace gauges?
This kind of advice doesn't live in the real world.
Sporterized enfields can be very good rifles depending on how they were kept all these years and of course how much they were shot.
250 is a bargain these days..... i pay that for some decent parts rifles when the urge takes me.
my advice is , have a good look at the bore, make sure the bolt and trigger function and fit as they should.... matching serial numbers is not essential in my opinion unless it's being bought for a restoration.
If you buy it, clean the hell out of it, especially the bore.
Shoot it with factory ammunition such as a federal power shok hunting load. I've found this ammo to be very reliable in loose chambered enfields.
Fire a round and inspect the case for abnormalities. It would be a good idea to research how to inspect .303 brass for issues related to exessive headspace
I've bought many an old enfield off the forums when good deals on what i'm looking for come up. I kind of have a bit of a hobby with taking non restorable sporters and giving them new life with further sporterization. This one is a darn fine hunting rifle in this configuration and is a customized 1942 Lithgow with the barrel shortened to 19"
250 is a bargain these days..... i pay that for some decent parts rifles when the urge takes me.
my advice is , have a good look at the bore, make sure the bolt and trigger function and fit as they should.... matching serial numbers is not essential in my opinion unless it's being bought for a restoration.
If you buy it, clean the hell out of it, especially the bore.
Shoot it with factory ammunition such as a federal power shok hunting load. I've found this ammo to be very reliable in loose chambered enfields.
Fire a round and inspect the case for abnormalities. It would be a good idea to research how to inspect .303 brass for issues related to exessive headspace
I've bought many an old enfield off the forums when good deals on what i'm looking for come up. I kind of have a bit of a hobby with taking non restorable sporters and giving them new life with further sporterization. This one is a darn fine hunting rifle in this configuration and is a customized 1942 Lithgow with the barrel shortened to 19"
$250 isn't bad.
1) what's the purpose for the rifle?
2) if you had the intent of refurbish, is it a WW2 Australian Rifle, or an OG WW1 British one?
3) is it all matching?
Shooting the rifle will tell you a lot. Don't be overly concerned with accuracy, the draws may be cracked, worn, or shrunk; much of the accuracy comes from a solid stock mounting. Key holing is bad, but understand most off shelf .303 Br will be undersized. Couple that with a worn bore...you'll get key holes. While the bolt heads are easily changeable, if all parts are matching, the likelihood someone has improperly changed out the head is reduced. Fired brass will indicate headspace issues. Save your $100 smith inspection.
If you're going to shoot it more often than a couple of dozen times, get into reloading. at $4 or $5 a round for undersized cartridges (bullet), tailormade makes a lot of sense.
1) what's the purpose for the rifle?
2) if you had the intent of refurbish, is it a WW2 Australian Rifle, or an OG WW1 British one?
3) is it all matching?
Shooting the rifle will tell you a lot. Don't be overly concerned with accuracy, the draws may be cracked, worn, or shrunk; much of the accuracy comes from a solid stock mounting. Key holing is bad, but understand most off shelf .303 Br will be undersized. Couple that with a worn bore...you'll get key holes. While the bolt heads are easily changeable, if all parts are matching, the likelihood someone has improperly changed out the head is reduced. Fired brass will indicate headspace issues. Save your $100 smith inspection.
If you're going to shoot it more often than a couple of dozen times, get into reloading. at $4 or $5 a round for undersized cartridges (bullet), tailormade makes a lot of sense.
Eaglelord17
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Sault Ste. Marie
Original Mk. 3s don’t necessarily shoot the same as they once did. Military armourers used to keep them all within spec and would do yearly inspections/maintenance on them.
Lots has happened to them since being out of service in the last 70 years. Poor maintenance, how they were stored, wood swelling/shrinkage, what climate they were last regulated in, how much cordite ammo was shot though and how it was maintained afterwards, etc.
Even things like brand new in the wrap No. 4 Mk. 2s won’t necessarily shoot within factory spec as the wood may have swelled or shrunk where it matters, and that is a brand new rifle.
The only way to know how it would shoot is to shoot one. Military standards for accuracy are also much lower than most would expect, 3-4 MOA being the standard area for a battle rifle, even snipers were generally only held to a 2 MOA expectation. Doesn’t mean they can’t shoot better with good handloads and regulating, just that the minimum expectations were low by the modern eras standards.
A sporter will definitely give you a feel for what it was like to shoot though, which if that is what your looking for, it isn’t a bad way to go on a budget.
