Sporter 303 British

stefK

stefK

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This spring, I picked up a Sporter 303 British in very nice shape. Sporter in true fashion of the term, it has a monte carlo stock c/w the ebony fore end. Has the cleanest and shiniest bore I have ever seen on a older No.4 Longbranch, making this girl a prime contender for a very nice deer rifle.
It is stamped on the barrel, Churchill gunmakers, has the flip up adjustable elevator ramp on the rear along with a peep hole site. And it looks as though the side of the receiver has been drilled and tapped for a scope mount.
I have always been fond of this round, and think I may have a very nice little kit here. I just need some help on where to locate a scope mount for this girl as I don't want to drill and tap for scope mounts unless it an absolute must. Any guidance would be appreciated!
 
Your expectations of that rifle will probably be justified. Churchill conversions are very respectable, not the sort of sporter we typically denigrate as a bubba job. When I decided I wanted a proper sporter conversion to join my Lee Enfields I looked mainly for a Parker Hale Supreme, but I would happily have taken a Churchill instead if one had shown up first.

Pictures of the drilled and tapped side of the action might help us to guess what mount that was for.

A likely candidate is a Parker Hale side mount. This would have three holes in horizontal line. This mount has been out of production for a long time but you might find one used with a bit of luck. I'm pretty sure you will need to use Parker Hale rings with one of those, but they come up in the EE from time to time, certainly more often that I see that mount for sale. Trawl old gun shops, attend gun shows, watch the EE and post a WTB advert.

Another possibility is two pairs of holes which would be for the two mounting pads for the No.4T sniper rifle's scope. That might be because Churchill made it out of a No.4T sold off as surplus, or somebody later tried to fit that type of mount. There are reproductions out there so if those are the holes you will have the option to do that.

Also look up the Williams side mount and see if that matches your rifle's holes. They are sold by either Numrich or Brownells so you should be able to glean something from images on the website of whichever it is.
 
Churchills were not D+T'd on the receiver ring from the factory, so a popular retrofit was to D+T the side of the receiver for the PH side mount. Mine was retrofitted with a smith made sidemount, from a piece of angle - similar to the ones made by Gairlochian on this site.
 
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