What did I buy?

Chemist

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It is registered as a Lee Enfield but I think it is a Pattern 14 Enfield...P14. 303 British calibre. It has ERA on it...Eddystone Remingston Arms I'm assuming. It has been sporterized and has a weaver scope on it. The mount has No1 stamped on it. Just to make me feel bad, what might this critter be worth?


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Mind you they did put some time into it. It is nicely recrowned and they knurled the stock. I'm sure it made someone a good hunting rifle. Atleast it isn't a hacksaw special.
 
If it's a 303, its a P14. If it's a 30-06, it's M1917. Eddystone's not as desirable as other manufactures. Winchesters are probably the most sought after. Sporterized beyond reasonable resto, as metal has been messed with. $100 in change? Weaver scope might be interesting...What is it?
 
Thread Highjacked!

Winnipeg Toymaker, you have peaked my interest with your comments on the scope and mount. I have been looking for a similar scope mounting system to match up with the hole pattern drilled on my Long Lee Enfield. Looks very much the same as the one that you identified in the picture.

Here is a pic of another rifle with a mount that I found on the net. Anybody recognise it? Is it the same Cooey unit? Huh? Huh?
P2100551.jpg


Here is the hole pattern in my Long Lee.
drillntapped.jpg
 
The one on your rifle has a rounded base ( fits the contour of the action)and is one piece unit c/w rings and fits only 3/4 inch scopes. The later picture shows the replacement ( newer) side mount for the Cooey that fits 1" scopes. This is noteable by the large headed set screws that hold on the second part of the mount. This second part can be got in high or low rings. The action has to be drilled and tapped to accept the mounts. The long Lee I had was not tapped such so someone did the deed. As you may be able to tell , the last (RH) hole was drilled too close to an original screw in the last pic. And the scope was an early (60s) scope.
 
Thanks for the compliment , Lou. I do a lot of reading and online searches so garner a bit of info here and there. I did have a l rifle that was marked a Lee Speed and had the saftey on the bolt like the last pic of rifles. Wished I had kept it but it was bubba'd bad and the bridge gone... original front sight was replaced with a winchester post type etc. but it sure shot good and was very accurate to about 150 yards open sights. Took a lot of deer for me and the former owner, ( step father)
 
Thanks W.T. Good info.

I think that I am getting closer to sourcing a mount for my Long Tom.

Not really wanting to put brand new modern parts on a vintage rifle, but from surfing I gather that a Weaver #1 Side Mount (part #48401) is what i will need along with its mating ring mount. I would prefer to mount a vintage scope on my 1902 rifle. What size are older scopes generaly? 7/8 inch? Is there a disadvantage as to having a 3/4 inch setup?
 
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Chemist,

From the checkering pattern and stock cutting, your rifle seems to be what was called a B.S.A. model B, marketed by Parker-Hale, or a copy of it, anyways. They usually show a groove in the foreend though, but some did not have it.

The rear sight protective "hears" were milled down, drilled and tapped for both scope mount and receiver sight, the barrel was shortened to 24" and had a ramped front sight.

The receivers were re-heat treated and usually look "purpleish"... also made with M-17 in 30-06 and .270 Win.
Below is a 30-06 (M-17 based) BSA rifle, and the markings you should find on.
There were other variants, this one being the "economy" one. Others have re-worked bolt handles, re-worked magazines (reshaping) etc.

You also can see the "purple" of the receiver.

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the original scope mounts were made for the rim fire rifles , not the big bore. These lighter cheaper scopes in 4 power were generally used for rim fire too. In those days the 3/4 " diameter scopes were mass made and more public oriented. Cheap enough for the myriad of rim fires sold after the war. they were really the forebearers of the fly spotters we have now. At the time I would hazzard to guess that they were a coveted possession.

Many of these 4x scopes are still around. I have 3 and they came mounted on my 1947,'48, and '49 Mossberg 151s. Great for gopher shooting but it became too hard to locate them in such a narrow field of vision. But none are side mounted, all are for the dovetail grooves on the actions. Mossberg developed their own side mount and it only has 2 drilled holes. Looks much like the Cooey one.

One disadvantage of the 3/4 " set up is that most newer more powerful scopes are 1" diameter. It may be possible to heat and stretch the rings and use longer screws so you can fit a larger diameter scope. I have not seen a scope that is 3/4 inch and more powerful than 3x7x.
 
englishman_ca said:
Winnipeg Toymaker, you have peaked my interest with your comments on the scope and mount. I have been looking for a similar scope mounting system to match up with the hole pattern drilled on my Long Lee Enfield. Looks very much the same as the one that you identified in the picture.

Here is a pic of another rifle with a mount that I found on the net. Anybody recognise it? Is it the same Cooey unit? Huh? Huh?
P2100551.jpg


Here is the hole pattern in my Long Lee.
drillntapped.jpg
Click to expand...

nothing irritates me more than a long lee that has had the classic dust cover ditched in order to drill and tap the receiver. That has to be on the top 10 list of milsurp sins.
 
Call me Bubba.

Gary D said:
nothing irritates me more than a long lee that has had the classic dust cover ditched in order to drill and tap the receiver. That has to be on the top 10 list of milsurp sins.
Click to expand...

:agree:

Ya, me too.

However, sporters filled a need for a cheap and practicle way of putting meat on the table and feeding the family. Nothing wrong with a sporter in my eyes if done properly. They are a part of our Canadian heritage.

I snag pretty much any Long Lee that comes my way, military or sporter. Lots of the latter around, I live up in deer country. I note that the dust cover has to go to allow for scope mounting, many times it can be refitted to the bolt if the scope is removed. What really pisses me off is that many rear aparture sight eye pieces will foul on the dust cover attaching lugs, so the lugs get ground off. I have an all matching example with the lugs roughly ground off, it erks me but I will probably replace the bolt.

This takes me to my next project. I have a 1902 BSA MLE with drilled and tapped receiver (the one pictured in previous post) but it has a minty bore full length barrel, so the barrel is coming off and going in the spare parts bin. I also have a nicely sportered 1896 BSA MLE that has the barrel bobbed but the receiver is untouched. The shortened barrel is coming off and will be mounted on the drilled receiver. At the end of the day, I will have two rifles, one a full length milspec Long Tom (albeit with non matching numbers) and the other a nice carbine length deer gun with scope.

Neither will be original, but so what, I am doing this for my own *hits and giggles. I enjoy rebuilding correct milspec rifles and as a bi-product, I build sporters which are also a lot of fun.

This one is a 1942 Lithgow, building it into a range rifle out of take off parts from my the junk drawer.
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I build all my toys to shoot, and I shoot them a lot. :D

My problem is my eyesight, not as good as it used to be. I enjoy hunting but if I can't be sure of a shot, I don't take it. Missed the opportunity to take a deer just too many times last fall, hence the need for a scope for those long shots.
 
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3/4" scopes - I have a 330 Weaver on my 03A4 clone. It is not a bad scope, even though it is only 3/4". Reasonably bright, clear, works fine on the '06.
 
From a 1965 Stoeger catalogue " Table of Weaver Mounts" the Lee-Enfield 1,4 & 5 states ( requires adapter base TO-1,Price $1.75 - gun must be drilled and tapped). The Weaver Tip Off Mounts ( 1" for K Models ) listed at $8.00.
There was no N Mount # listed in the table for any of the Lee Enfields - but that doesnt mean somebody didn't make one of them fit! Kayceel
 
TO-1 is a popular mount

kayceel said:
From a 1965 Stoeger catalogue " Table of Weaver Mounts" the Lee-Enfield 1,4 & 5 states ( requires adapter base TO-1,Price $1.75 - gun must be drilled and tapped). The Weaver Tip Off Mounts ( 1" for K Models ) listed at $8.00.
There was no N Mount # listed in the table for any of the Lee Enfields - but that doesnt mean somebody didn't make one of them fit! Kayceel
Click to expand...

Thanks for looking it up but the TO-1 mount is a drill and tap thingy fastened to the receiver ring and the charger bridge. Sadly, no good for my Long Lee Enfield. :(
 
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