I was just given a Lee Enfield .303 British NO4 Mark1(I am told, I do not know) and wondered if it was good for anything besides leaning in the corner collecting dust. The rifle has no magazine or buttplate. I really have no interest in the 303 but have heard of a bunch of these being converted to larger 303 based cartridges like a 40 caliber which may be interesting. Thanks in advance!

Matthew

Check post on Nitro Express.
http://forums.nitroexpress.com...n=0&page=0#Post95857

Von Gruff.

45/70

40 through 50 cal using the 444M,450M,458WM or WSM cases are much easier to get to feed in the SMLE.

Do a search online...there are several good forums outlining what is doable in the SMLE...also search this forum...I did a 458 American that also will handle 458 WM length cases with lower pressures and also single load the 45-70, 45-90 and 45-100.

Luck

Don't do a damn thing to it.

The .303 served the British Empire exceedingly well for a very long time. Now, great "truck gun" or similar. Parts/ammo readily availale, but ammo not inexpensive.

Fun, reliable 10-shot mag MBR. Look at a ballistics table when you have a spare moment.

When Lee presented it to Sharps about a hundred and forty years ago, they had well shaped one-piece stocks. They look like a real rifle with one. And, you can turn one into a 45-90 with a bit of magazine work. IIRC, the Gibbs Rifle Company (Atlanta area?)offered them for a couple years.

Rich

It is still a bit of a sows ear of a rifle. It can not be made into a "silk purse".

Tough, durable, etc........., but fugly.

At least it is not a Nagant.

Keith

okay Keith,

I seen pictures of some of the women you been out with. Let's not hear too much talk about fugly...

Rich

quote:

Originally posted by Hog Killer:
It is still a bit of a sows ear of a rifle. It can not be made into a "silk purse".

Keith

A sow's ear may not make a silk purse but it will make a hell of a pigskin wallet.

You only have to look at a comercial sporter or a Lee Speed to see how nice these rifles can be made. Have a look at this for a desirable rifle.

http://forums.nitroexpress.com...=0&page=0#Post153011


Von Gruff.

quote:

Originally posted by Matthewx:
and wondered if it was good for anything besides leaning in the corner collecting dust. Matthew

I can tell you what they were good for in Australia years ago and that was shooting the shit out of roos and pigs being chased by vehicle. M98 and M17s were piles of jamming junk compared to 303 SMLEs And of course those 10 detachable magazines

I have no idea what you expect from your Smelly, but I have used them at Bisley several times at ranges up to 800 yards. A Smelly is a piece of history. If all you can do is to stand it in a corner and let it gather dust why not sell it to someone who will use it?
Peter.

Ship it my way if you want to get rid of the dusty old piece.

Thanks guys, I think it will become a 45/90. It is in bad shape, too bad to keep as a collector(unless you collect broken abused gunsmithing projects from people whose only tools are hacksaws) Upon more research it seams the butt stock is cut about 3" short(and crooked) and the barrel has had some modifications.

It looks like the action is in good shape and has not been touched. It seems like it should be made into something fun to plink with.

Matthew

There are plenty of pieces and parts available for all the SMLE's still and several good forums...check out Gun Parts or do an online search for parts.

Stay away from the 45-90, for all intents and purposes it is too long...unless you have done a lot of wildcatting and/or reloading you will get into trouble...the magazine work is a total PITA...besides the COAL is ~3.05" so the 450 M and 458 WM are the better choices...basically no mag work at all other than lip bending to get it to feed...AND the receiver is rated at 45KPSI so you have to watch your loads for pressure.

I use full length 458 WM cases(but load for the receiver pressures) in my 2a (and a 308 12 round magazine) for some bullets depending on where the cannelure is, but for other bullets I shorten the case to 2.25" to 2.4".

I can single load 45-70, -90, and 100 cases(or shorter) just in case because of the way I set up the chamber and the way this particular rimmed action plays out...but why even bother other than bragging rights.

The easiest conversion is to do a 458 AMERICAN and call it good, you don't have to mess with trimming cases, the load pressures are just right for that receiver and it is totally simple to do.

The easiest fix up is to stay with the 303, buy the needed parts and go shooting...it is an excellent backup/pickup gun and not really worth throwing money at. I did mine because original 2a's chamber was so bad it ate cases for breakfast, lunch, dinner and bedtime snack. I could have done a 458 American/WM barrel for one of my Savage 110's for the cost of the barrel and reamer rental and saved the price of the aftermarket stocks and mangled magazines trying to get one to feed.

The only fly in the pie is it will cost you as much or more to convert it as it costs for just buying a 458 WM used.

One rifle company tried to use the 45-70 and could only get two down and then not all that successful all because of that very large diameter rim.

It is a very easy conversion...a little grinding on the extractor to reshape it, a little boring inside the receiver to let the larger belted mag case feed through the hole, thread and chamber a barrel, bend the mag lips, check the functioning and go shooting.

The Mk4 is a better one for the conversion because of the way the rear sight is set up and because there are solid scope mounts available if you want a scope. I had to do more work on the rear sight on my 2a and it took me longer to do than all the other work combined.

Think about it for a while...I like my 458 American Smelly...with the 12 round mage I get 6 down and one up the pipe(how many other rifles have that capacity?) it feeds as well as any other rifle and with 450 gr hard cast lead slugs at 2 large fs, it will put ANYTHING I aim at in the hurt locker...

BUT it still is an UGLY rifle and takes some getting used to in the stroking department because of the cock on closing feature.

Luck

I'm gonna go against the grain and say the SMLE can be a nice rifle and Colonel Patterson seemed to like his well enough.

My wife like the one that Val Kilmer used in "Ghosts in the Darkness" enough that she had me build her a similar version with some slight differences for a scope and different rear sight arrangement. And I can tell you from hunting with her for years now, in her hands it is as deadly as anything you could ever want, she's dropped almost as many elk and deer with it as I have with my various rifles.






Colin

They make a wonderfull mag-fed .45ACP integral Suppressor barrelled rifle. The sound of SILENCE. Assuming you live in a free state where you can own such things.-Rob

Mattewx,

I have wanted to build a 375 2.5" NE on a No4 MkI along the lines of a Lee Speed for several years. To date I haven't had the time to get the project beyond an idea. Perhaps I will be able to get started next year. I have noticed that the Lee-Enfields have gotten a bit more pricey lately, which kinda sucks.

Some nice looking iron has been posted on this thread by the way.

Gibbs did a bunch of .45-70 conversions a few years ago. Sarco has the threaded and chambered barrels for those in stock for $80. You need to cut the extractor notch, but otherwise they're ready to use.

Gibbs used a bespoke magazine to feed .45-70 single stack. They apparently gave up on development before getting the bugs out. As far as I can tell, the follower can tilt and cause the cartridges to get a big wedgie if you put more than two in. A bit of tweaking ought to fix that.

No modifications of the magwell area of the receiver were done. The ring behind the barrel has to be opened up to clear the rim; you do that when the barrel is off.

Ejection works okay for empties, but ejection of live rounds depends on the bullet shape. For the one I was checking out, the only reliable way was to drop the mag and then drop the live round out of the bottom. There's a small notch in the right side of the receiver ring on the stock SMLE; this is to clear the tip of a live round so it can be ejected. Gibbs didn't open this up to .45-70 size. It looks like it's safe to do so; I expect they skipped that operation to save money, since they were selling their conversions really cheap.

I didn't notice any changes to the bolt face or extractor.

I posted a lengthy message about the .45-70 conversion on enfield-rifles.com earlier this year, with links to pictures:

http://www.enfield-rifles.com/...itle=4570-conversion


You can get the barrel from Sarco and Old Western Scrounger has the magazines, which they're mighty proud of. DIYing the conversion using those pieces could be done with minimal equipment - pay someone to remove the factory barrel, use a Dremel to open up the receiver ring and cut the extractor notch, function check, and refinish to your taste.

Cheap synthetic "sporter" stocks are available, but if you look there's still some very nice commercial wood out there - several British companies used to build commercial hunting rifles on SMLE actions. The military forestock wood and hardware won't even come close to fitting the fat .45-70 barrel.

You might be interested to know that James Paris Lee's original design that became the SMLE was in .45-70. The Brits changed to a more "modern" small caliber cartridge when it was adopted as the Imperial service weapon.

make it into as 366DGW. see www.customguns.us

quote:

Originally posted by CowboyCS:
I'm gonna go against the grain and say the SMLE can be a nice rifle and Colonel Patterson seemed to like his well enough.

My wife like the one that Val Kilmer used in "Ghosts in the Darkness" enough that she had me build her a similar version with some slight differences for a scope and different rear sight arrangement. And I can tell you from hunting with her for years now, in her hands it is as deadly as anything you could ever want, she's dropped almost as many elk and deer with it as I have with my various rifles.






Colin

That sure is a nice piece mate . What mounts have you used ?

there have been some very nice rifles built from them. i prefer the early rifles.
this 1899 LEC will end up being a light wieght 375/303 or .375x2 1/2NE. i'll use my 303 lee speed as a reference when i get around to building it.





i need to pick up a magazine cuttoff and fill in the extra holes on the left side of the receiver.

my lee speed