Which milsurp rifle for use as a light-ish hunting rifle?

Picked this up absolutely filthy "barn-find" with cosmoline oozing out everywhere. Bore and bolt face were absolutely mint. Not even a nibble anywhere on the rubber butt pad. Clearly was never issued:

VT8eBtP.jpg

oot6M8n.jpg

eY1NbLC.jpg

npw7BVH.jpg


Got one of those no-drill mounts made here in Canada, and then dropped an old school VARI-X III 1-5x20 on it to make it a nice brush gun:

WREMof6.jpg


Truth is. I hate shooting it. It's plenty accurate and I'd have zero issues relying on it for a hunt, but yeah, I hate shooting it. I've got a stone stock Tikka T3X Lite in .30-06 that is far more pleasant to shoot even with "spicy" handloads.
 
Last edited:
Suther said:
I've got the weaver to1 base on my Enfield. It appears my ba24 base was modified to fit the same holes as the Weaver base, and you are correct it takes rimfire dovetail/tip off rings. Some say they do a poor job holding up to recoil, others say they are fine, but I haven't actually shot my Enfield since I put that base on it so I can't comment as to how well the rings actually hold. Base got installed, then gun ended up at the back of the locker, should really get it out one of these days...
Click to expand...

Conversely some might have to make a template to drill out the T01 base to fit the PH holes for the Weaver base lol. The old PH conversions usually have the holes there already. The universe of scope base problems.
 
Last edited:
I Dont Care About You said:
First LE I ever shot was a Jungle Carbine and they kick like an absolute bastard. Very NOT fun to shoot.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. But, if you're a hand loader, you can download the old .303 to obtain a very pleasant shooting experience. I use a 150gr Hornady SP bullet with 35gr of H4895 pushing it. The recoil is quite mild and accuracy is still there.
 
kjohn said:
Mosin Nagant M44
Click to expand...
I used to use the 44, with the bayo taken off. I used to screw a cup hook into the trees I used as a blind and hang the rifle by the bayo screw, handy and ready to go loaded with Norma 150s. Also used the m95 in 8X56R with home made shot shells for rabbit hunting.
 
tokguy said:
Other than looking really cool, I don't know why anyone would want a Jungle Carbine. Handy length, yep.
Comes with all the quirks of LE's ( which I actually like, but still...) but with enhanced recoil and muzzle blast.
And as many as will claim they are tackdrivers...well, official story says otherwise.
Why not recommend an M44, about the same breed.
Click to expand...

Weight. The M44 is substantially heavier for a thick brush gun. The No.5, FR7 and FR8 would be my choice for handy short stalking rifle. I used an FR7 for white tail this year with a lighter 150gr load. It carried wonderfully and did many miles of brush walking this season.
 
I retract my suggestion of the MAS 36. Over 8 pounds. A Berthier M1916 Carbine would be slightly more suitable in theory.

The M1916 carbines come already equipped with open sights designed for fast combat shooting. Five shot capacity. It throws heavy hard hitting 8mm Lebel bullets. The rifle is short and handy. The weight of the rifle is a little over seven pounds. The price and availability of ammunition is a problem though.
 
Last edited:
armybuck041 said:
Picked this up absolutely filthy "barn-find" with cosmoline oozing out everywhere.
Click to expand...

I had an LE with an unknown liquid that kept sweating out of the forend and handguard after repeated oven cycles on the lowest heat. The cycles were maybe 1 -1/2 hours and the wood was wrapped with paper towel. It took forever, I don't know how many cycles. The new owner also said the liquid kept sweating out as they continued with the treatment.
 
fat tony said:
I had an LE with an unknown liquid that kept sweating out of the forend and handguard after repeated oven cycles on the lowest heat. The cycles were maybe 1 -1/2 hours and the wood was wrapped with paper towel. It took forever, I don't know how many cycles. The new owner also said the liquid kept sweating out as they continued with the treatment.
Click to expand...

I bought a sporter and a drill rifle in the spring with a plan to put them together as a winter project. My wife is understanding, but not enough to let me bake a gun in the oven so I wrapped it in paper towels and set it out in the summer sun a number of days to sweat out the old cosmoline
 
DiMP said:
I bought a sporter and a drill rifle in the spring with a plan to put them together as a winter project. My wife is understanding, but not enough to let me bake a gun in the oven so I wrapped it in paper towels and set it out in the summer sun a number of days to sweat out the old cosmoline
Click to expand...

Two Words: Heat Gun
 
I just disassembled mine and tossed everything in mineral spirits. Treated the stock to a few coats of linseed oil. Basically all looks new now and I’m not getting filthy just from handling it.
 
tokguy said:
Other than looking really cool, I don't know why anyone would want a Jungle Carbine. Handy length, yep.
Comes with all the quirks of LE's ( which I actually like, but still...) but with enhanced recoil and muzzle blast.
And as many as will claim they are tackdrivers...well, official story says otherwise.
Why not recommend an M44, about the same breed.
Click to expand...

tokguy, usually like your posts, but you sound like you have never even shot a Jungle Carbine. It`s twice the gun of a M44, and it looks cool.

I have owned a half a dozen of these, and still own two. Never experienced any wandering zero, and all were good shooters to varying degrees.
With good sights and a 10 round detachable magazine as a bonus.

As to the kick and the muzzle blast, what a bunch of girlymen. I never even thought about it until I read someone whining about it here.
The kick is no worse than plenty of other rifles, like the short Mosins, 95 Winchester and 1905-R Ross that no one seems to complain about.
Blast is no worse than any of the any other short carbines out there. The m-94 Swede that I carry sometimes when I walk my dogs comes to mind.

I hunted with one for a couple of years and it worked great. My BIL used one for many years killed a few moose and a bunch of deer with it.
One of my hunting partners and his dad both had one and both got their deer and moose most years for probably 15years or more with them.

The No.5 Jungle Carbine is a fine choice for any 100-200 yd. hunting.
 
Ax.338 said:
tokguy, usually like your posts, but you sound like you have never even shot a Jungle Carbine. It`s twice the gun of a M44, and it looks cool.

The No.5 Jungle Carbine is a fine choice for any 100-200 yd. hunting.
Click to expand...

Agree 100%.
I was very surprised and disappointed to hear the respected member dump on the #5. Hope he gives them another look.
I think any soldier that had to hump around a Lee Enfield on a regular basis would choose the #5.

I own a number of these guns, complete with bayonet, and have not found this wandering zero.
To be fair, old eyes and iron sights, I'm likely not the best at getting a cloverleaf at 100m to begin with!
I won't blame the gun for my lack of shooting skill.
I think a lot of shooters experience recoil worse than it is, because of the way they shoot.

For hunting though, I'm easily within min. of tea cup at 100yd. That's about the longest shot you can get around here anyway.
 
Last edited:
Ax.338 said:
tokguy, usually like your posts, but you sound like you have never even shot a Jungle Carbine. It`s twice the gun of a M44, and it looks cool.

I have owned a half a dozen of these, and still own two. Never experienced any wandering zero, and all were good shooters to varying degrees.
With good sights and a 10 round detachable magazine as a bonus.

As to the kick and the muzzle blast, what a bunch of girlymen. I never even thought about it until I read someone whining about it here.
The kick is no worse than plenty of other rifles, like the short Mosins, 95 Winchester and 1905-R Ross that no one seems to complain about.
Blast is no worse than any of the any other short carbines out there. The m-94 Swede that I carry sometimes when I walk my dogs comes to mind.

I hunted with one for a couple of years and it worked great. My BIL used one for many years killed a few moose and a bunch of deer with it.
One of my hunting partners and his dad both had one and both got their deer and moose most years for probably 15years or more with them.

The No.5 Jungle Carbine is a fine choice for any 100-200 yd. hunting.
Click to expand...

We had one as a youth... it got traded out when I left home. Dad said it wasn't an accurate gun by his standard's.
I restained the stock, did a horrible job. Saw it a couple years back at a gun show. Tried to trade an F & W Bulldog for it...vendor wanted money on the top! Bold move...he lost out when he turned that trade down.
I don't have issues with 'Lively' rifles. Everyone was on about M44 recoil... so I went out and hammered off 80 rds of milsurp to see how bad it was...it wasn't.
Don't trip over yourself making me the bad guy... I didn't help the British Ordnance board decide it couldn't shoot straight.
I said they are cool, and like LE's.
I just don't think they are for 'Joe Average' ...even Tony acknowledges that an LE can be tricky to get dialed in.
Flame on, it's hunting season here...don't think I'll be worrying too much on this post and the retorts.
Be using a Bubba'd 30-40 Krag for what it is worth. Krag's are the only action smoother than an LE IMO. Same cartridge as a 303br for all intents and purposes...just in an easier dia to source.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom