British 303 Enfield

[GregD]

Recently obtained a British 303 Enfield model NO. 4 MK2 UF.55, all matching numbers, beautiful rifle in mint condition. Purchased from a friend who had replaced the rear sight with a S/K scope mount and used it to take nine deer.
I will replace the scope mount with the original sight. I find that 303 ammo is somewhat hard to find, unless you pay $30.00 box (Academy). I did purchase 200 rounds of PPU 303 150 gr SP-BT from Aim Surplus at $13.95 ea.

Any reviews or opinions of this model Enfield.


Thanks,

Greg

[jack404]

100,000 + German ones and some 300,000 Japanese ones , and a aussie who's biased

I like them , like a Mauser , solid reliable , take a knock and still function well

some are 100 years old and will still be taking game and such in another 100

[GregD]

Originally Posted by jack404

100,000 + German ones and some 300,000 Japanese ones , and a aussie who's biased

I like them , like a Mauser , solid reliable , take a knock and still function well

some are 100 years old and will still be taking game and such in another 100

Thanks, It will be handed down to one of the grandchildren .

[jack404]

True story for you

Afghanistan 2 days before NYE 2001

aussie troops get single but well aimed shots incoming but cant find the shooter

we stop , so do the shots , a young boy on a donkey comes down the hill yelling ,

we ask him whats happening and he says we must show we are not bad men and have a meeting ..

ok so out in the middle of a open plein with some small hills aboyt a mile and a half off we stop and make chia ( tea) and wait for the snipers to rock up ..

1 old guy with a old ww1 LE rocks up and introduces himself

he's the head of his clan , and doe's not want riff raff in his vally

we explain we hunt taliban and he points us to the trails they use and tell us he will send a boy along to the next village where their where NA folks who could help fight taliban

his rifle had the old volly fire sites with ranges out to 2600 yards and i figure he had us pegged at 2000 , a well aimed long shot is a bigger worry than this running burst fire the yahoo's used to try

value , even here up to 10 years ago they where cheap , the last 6-8 years maybe, they have tripled in price , i'm suspecting too many have been sporterised or made to .308 NATO etc ..

[GregD]

Yes, the "spray and pray" mentality is cazy, even in law-enforcement .

Oh by the way, my dad who was in WW2 (South Pacific) stationed on an air-base, said they would take on fire when flying in and out of the base, from Japs in the hills/mountains. He said he loved it when the Australian troops would hunt them down . He said the Japs were scared to death of the Australians . THANKS !!!

[Jorge_in_Oz]

Originally Posted by jack404

value , even here up to 10 years ago they where cheap , the last 6-8 years maybe, they have tripled in price , i'm suspecting too many have been sporterised or made to .308 NATO etc ..

Good story jack404. I think there are a lot of cashed up baby boomer collectors here in Oz who are driving the prices up as they buy loads of them. I've seen the same dudes buying rifles all the time. I sold Lithgow No1 MkIII which had matching numbers but had been drilled and tapped and had a scope. It was in great condition I use to hunt deer with it and had a spare sporter stock for it. I bought it for $150 and sold it for $300. Now they are worth much more specially the ones that are original. I don't think I'll get another one at those prices. I love the SMLE's.

I also have a 1897 Dutch Steyr in 6.5x53R and it still shoots, looks old but is still a shootable piece. Those old rifle are well made.

Cheers

Jorge

[jack404]

Jorge bought a parts gun MkII for $80 put wood back on it and took it to almost original ( numbers did not match) $320 i got for it , i aint complaining but worried where the trend is going i have hopes to buy a few more but not if the prices keep going this way ,

and yes the styer specifically is a nice rifle, but i'm partial to the older ones ..

[Laufer]

A guy about three hours from here in middle TN showed me his mint condition 1916 vintage Enfield.
The wood looks new, but might be original (?). I can furnish his phone number if needed.

jack404: That's an interesting story. A buddy here was activated for a year over there. He is a JAG (legal type).
Bernie told me that one villager never crosses the next village's boundary, without permission.

In a book ("Rumour of War"/Philip Caputo) about the first US Marine Regiment to enter Vietnam, at Danang in 1965, there is a tiny excerpt about two Aussie Special Forces guys who were advisors to the SVA.

All he said when they walked into camp was that they had a few souvenirs from a firefight. He could not quite understand the lingo they used to describe it. But he saw that they had the Viet Congs' ears on strings. The Marine First LT then began to realize something about the nature of guerilla warfare.
My question is what guns did the Aussies use in 1965?

In the US we've been very fortunate to have had the British fighting with us in several major conflicts, and especially the Aussies. No, I've not forgotten the NZs, SAs, Canucks....

[jack404]

65 before my time but a pic of a mate might help

PIc AATTV 1965 ( SOC )

the main rifle was the L1A1 SLR ( FN/FAL)

section weapons where the Bren and GPMG M60

assault weapons where the owen gun and F1 (son of owen) and later like thses guys had M16's ( although these ones in the pic have had the treatment)

[Laufer]

Man, that was quick! Thanks.

Maybe the harder-hitting FAL was more reliable than many of our early M-16s (wrong powder, few cleaning kits: many dead US soldiers as a result), and was well worth the extra rifle and ammo weight.

[jack404]

i am a fan of the 7.62 Nato ( short too) over the 5.56 ....

[jack404]

but i suspect it was more about british alliances than ammo ..

[3/2 STA SS]

And the XM grenade launchers mounted too...bad ass. I am with Jack on the .308 debate. I was USMC infantry and a Scout Sniper back in the day and the .308 puts them down everytime.