Hi Folks, Been looking to get one of these beautiful old rifles for some time. Been taking note here about the failure of old receivers,so have waited for one, thats been tried and tested.
Its a BSA rifle with A.G.Parker stamped on the top of the receiver. Shoots pretty good out to 300yds.Have to get used to the open sights.
Principle reason I got it was to take part in the military and iron sight shoots we have at the range,mostly for fun or charity.I,ll try to post a pic.jc

Absolutely no one has /had more respect for that rifle than the Germans....it served England for quite some time and in many ways was a superior arm to the Springfield and the Enfield we made for the Brits. Have a ball with it...it's a piece of history like no other.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
Absolutely no one has /had more respect for that rifle than the Germans....it served England for quite some time and in many ways was a superior arm to the Springfield and the Enfield we made for the Brits. Have a ball with it...it's a piece of history like no other.

Thanks vapodog,just tried to post some pics but I think their in the wind (or whatever we call it on the net.jc

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Sorry for the duplication folks. As we say here in Scotland, Wait an hour for a Glasgow bus,and two come along at the same time.jc

Very nice rifle you have there. I see it still has the mag cut off lever intact. I have an old Lithgow (1918) that still has that on it.

Probably the best BATTLE rifle of WW I.

Read somewhere (and I'm not near my tomes of wisdom now) that the Brits fought WW I with a battle rifle, the Germans with a hunting rifle and the Americans with a target rifle.

There is a certain amount of truth in this, but it's the sort of throwaway comment that people use to make them look wise, and raises questions like "what did the French use", "what does the author think of the P14/P17" and so on.

No real wisdom I suppose.

Just to back up BREN7x64 Best Battle Rifle of WW1. The rear locking action althought weaker than the M98 is less prone to jaming and easier to clean any debris out of. 10 round magazine + Charger clips and the made for a faster rate of aimed shots. Technicques developed by the ANZACs on Gallipoli increased that rate of fire considerable.

As to accuracy well it the SMLE was capable of head shots out to 300metres. Rommel made mention of while trying to capture Trobruk from the AIF and associated forces.

Have fun with it.

That is a beautiful specimen you have there!

As to accuracy, I believe the Lee Enfield capable of holding its own against any other bolt action battle rifle. The design is anyway. It's not a weak design as such but the steels used do limit its strength. One hears of far fewer blow-ups of Lee Enfield's then Mauser's, especially the '96 Mauser. That's due to the design of the '96 bolt face - a rupturing case formed a seal which resulted in a huge surface area for the high pressure gasses to act on. Later ones were different and didn't have that problem. Lee Enfield's on the other would buckle the bolt 'like a cobra', releasing the gasses and metal fragments. It's all moot of course, just of interest. The SMLE was by all accounts a superb battle rifle, able to stand up to any competitor. More importantly, it is steeped in history and therefore wonderful to us. And it's a slick action!

Thank you for your comments. Yes its a fine rifle,Only change I know of, it had a new tube four years ago,but I realise a lot could have happened since 1920.
I put 60 factory bullets through it and am now working up a load with 180grn fmj Sellier&Bellot and 150grn Hornady Spire sp. Hav'nt found the lands yet though! jc

Nice rifle John...my favourite WW2 rifle....I have a SMLE Mk III* from 1918, parachuted into Norway during WW2 to the resistance..

I still shoot surplus WW2 cordite/axite ammo through it...along with modern ammo..

I feel very secure with it in the house, along with a Webley Mk.VI revolver...

John,

Could we see the left side, please?

Just want to see whether it's got volley sights or not. Believe some of the earlier Mk III still had them.

Pondoro, Thank you for that. Yes l feel quite secure with this one on my shoulder. It does'nt shake the same as my 7mm.08 but l suspect its the lack of magnification on the iron sights and thank you for your service.jc

Bren 7x64, Hi,not great with the technology but l have a couple l,ll give it a go.

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Hi John,
I hope that is PPU brass you are about to load for your L-E. Most other brands we have access to in the US such as Remington and Winchester are undersize at the head and give poor service life due to that and the characteristics of the Lee Enfield chamber and action. The PPU measures about .455 just ahead of the rim.
The guys at gunboards Lee-Enfield forums can tell you all the details about shooting the military ammo if you have access to old service ammo.
I only know about reloaded ammo. If you shoot the shorter matches the 174 grn Hornady RN and the 185 Sierra spitzers are extremely accurate. Flat bases will work better in those rifles especially they have had a lot of cordite rounds fired in them.
You might check out one of the exquisite match sights made for your rifle made by Parker-Hale and others. They are regularly auctioned off on Ebay.

Very nice!
..and it still has the windage adj rear sight too.

One of my favorite bolt action rifles.
I just had my BSA commercial MkI* SMLE out to the range a couple days ago.
My stock of HXP is serious low.

SR4759, Thanks for the heads up on the cases. Got 60 PPU fire formed loaded and ready to go. The rest of the cases are new with a head stamp .303 British nny,it does measure .455 though. Got them from a bud at the range who sold his .303 rifle,any thoughts.jc

2152hg. The windage was screwed way over when l first shot it. Thought the wind must have been blowing hard the last time out,then i noticed the front sight was way off centre and slack on the wedge.When i fixed that, it brought the rear sight back spot on centre and good to go.jc

John Chalmers that 3oh as we some times call them in Aussie is in top looking condition. Very good find.

quote:

Originally posted by John Chalmers:
SR4759, Thanks for the heads up on the cases. Got 60 PPU fire formed loaded and ready to go. The rest of the cases are new with a head stamp .303 British nny,it does measure .455 though. Got them from a bud at the range who sold his .303 rifle,any thoughts.jc

The "nny" cases are Prvi Partisan also.
That is just the Cyrillic markings for PPU.
They are exactly the same quality just different markings.

quote:

Originally posted by SR4759:

quote:

Originally posted by John Chalmers:
SR4759, Thanks for the heads up on the cases. Got 60 PPU fire formed loaded and ready to go. The rest of the cases are new with a head stamp .303 British nny,it does measure .455 though. Got them from a bud at the range who sold his .303 rifle,any thoughts.jc

The "nny" cases are Prvi Partisan also.
That is just the Cyrillic markings for PPU.
They are exactly the same quality just different markings.

You have a very nice rifle. Very attractive and an interesting specimen of modern world history.

I bought one too when I was old enough to legally own a rifle. Bought 100 rds of 150gr PMP ammo and could not get it to group. I was young and dumb then and did not know about twist rate etc so I sold it

Very nice rifle John. Enjoy it.

This is what workes for me. R+P brass-Speer .311 150gr SP #2217-Fed LR primers-seateded to 3.00". After the first fireing I only neck size with a Lee collet neck sizer with a 1/2" washer (0.100" thick) sitting on shell holder so that lower 1/10" of neck is keeped unsized. Load runs about 2500fps.I have reloaded my 100 cases about 10 times and have never needed to full lenght size. If these cases ever "go south" I will try PPU cases.

Thank you for your comments guys. Im enjoying shooting this rifle on the range. Up to 400yds, it is very accurate and although we can go to 600yds, my eyesight says no with open sights.jc

I've got a couple of .303's, a No. 4 Mk.2 and a No.1 Mk.III* (sporterized)...I love to shoot them and reload for them.

They've accounted for a lot of game for my family as well..!!

JRS

quote:

Originally posted by jrslate:
I've got a couple of .303's, a No. 4 Mk.2 and a No.1 Mk.III* (sporterized)...I love to shoot them and reload for them.

They've accounted for a lot of game for my family as well..!!

JRS

JRS Have you a photo of your Mk111.If you have a look at my pic of the rear sight there are two repaired holes.Ive wondered if a peep sight might have been mounted (or similar) which could improve my time with the SMLE in sighting it. Then l would be able to pass it on as i got it some time in the future.

SR4759. Re ppu cases. Just as a matter of interest. I have loaded and shot a few of the cases you referred to earlier, with good results. However, 10% of the rounds I could not close the bolt on. I checked all the cases and the only difference I could find on these new cases was the diameter you mentioned (.455")was +.002" Any case .455 or less cycled with no problem. I passed the +.002" cases (loaded and unloaded) to my pal. He had no problem cycling them in his no 4.Can only surmise that the new barrel fitted to my Mk111 was reamed to a tighter tollerance.The depth I already checked while trying to find the lands. jc

Hello John,
The #1 MkIII* and the #4 Mk1 that I have loaded for hoave chambers that measure .460 ahead of the rim. This contributes to the separated cases. You are fortunate to have such a tight chamber in your rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by SR4759:
Hello John,
The #1 MkIII* and the #4 Mk1 that I have loaded for hoave chambers that measure .460 ahead of the rim. This contributes to the separated cases. You are fortunate to have such a tight chamber in your rifle.

+ 1 Thank you for your comments.jc