Outside the US gun circles, there is a dedicated Stubfart cult following for the history and a love of British musketry. They meet in Alberta every year to shoot, trade stories, recreate battles, and have fun with these charming antiques that remind us that once… long ago… we were better people living in better times…
The Alberta shoot is invite-only. Chances are that if you ask Private McKenzie nicely…you can get an invite too. 😊
Feeding a Smelly or the No.4 has always been a problem 'ere. We don't have the supply lines heading to an armory with copious stocks of 303. I had a couple of those in the day. A right smart SMLE, and a No.4 Mk II. I really did like them a lot. But I couldn't feed them. Even brass was difficult to source for them. I remember them being soft on the shoulder and quick to work. Faster than a Mauser K98K even. I had a few pieces of 37 webbing, but not enough to make up a complete set. I really wanted to have a cool display, but couldn't find all the parts...
ReplyDeleteI've got one in the safe. Shocks the hell out of my surrounding stubfarts that I can nail the 10 at 100 yds with my old eyes and iron sights.
ReplyDeleteSourcing .303 is difficult, but I found a small shop close by that will keep a small quantity on hand for me.
Awesome rifles! I ended up collecting one of each type I could get, and some of the best rifles I have...
ReplyDelete10 rounds with the fastest bolt action ever, pretty good combo, though I'm biased for Mauser, Springfield and M17 Enfield. Tree Mike
ReplyDeleteI kick myself every day. When I was a young subaltern I did a stint as a Canadian Ranger instructor back in '90. I would travel to far-flung northern communities with literally a Twin Otter full of Lee-Enfields (still in packing grease) and crates of .303 cal bullets. One of my sergeants in Yellowknife advised me to only take a maximum of four hundred bullets from each crate at a time (so the supply techs wouldn't get too curious and audit the number of bullets I was leaving with the Inuit Rangers) every time I went out on a Ranger patrol--I went out on a two week patrol every month from Nov '90 to May '91. He also advised me to only take two rifles for my own use (and to keep). I didn't take any and I kick myself daily that I never did.
ReplyDeletePicked up one of these rechambered in .308 many years ago. It was my truck gun for a few years. It has a real nice feel to it.
ReplyDeleteMy take on the "springy" action is that it is really a head-space issue.
ReplyDeleteAnd that is why Lee-Enfields were the premier battle rifle of WWI. They ate mud that would make an AK lock up. Other nations thought war would be a target match or like Wimbleton. The very generously headspaced Enfields could swim in the bottom of the trenches and still shoot accurately enough.
That "springy action" was its greatest strength. And you can neck-size the brass if you are only feeding one weapon.
The guys up here tend to know the quirks of the Lee Enfield the same way you guys know your Garands, 03 Springfields and so forth. Serious Enfield guys will always get a headspace check from a smith right off the bat. If you combine bad head spacing with those springy actions, bad things can happen...
DeleteThe SMLE is one of the finest bolt action rifles to ever be manufactured. The only problem with them these days if finding affordable ammo for it.
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