British Enfield 303?

[WAW44]

ok, called them, could not resist. Ishy 2A in 308. For $600..I'd pass.

 

[Knobgoblin]

ok, called them, could not resist. Ishy 2A in 308. For $600..I'd pass.

Holy crow!!
I traded a $150 mossberg pump for my Ishapore.
I did great, apparently.

 

[User 1234]

Too high!

 

[Aero Denezol]

We must be talking about Royal Tiger Imports?

View attachment 1754220

At the risk of being sacrilegious, somebody could make a mint refinishing, restoring, and rebarelling those (as needed). In their current condition they are not worth collecting and probably lousy shooters. I'd just rather they not wind up on the scrap heap.

 

[ma96782]

A bit of history prior to the SMLE Number 1 Mk III, we have the......

And then, for the FREE Friday night movie, I give you........

"Breaker Morant"

Aloha, Mark

 

[ma96782]

And then.....the "improved" SMLE.

Aloha, Mark

 

[WAW44]

At the risk of being sacrilegious, somebody could make a mint refinishing, restoring, and rebarelling those (as needed). In their current condition they are not worth collecting and probably lousy shooters. I'd just rather they not wind up on the scrap heap.

Why? There are plenty of good clean Enfields out there....

 

[Pete F]

I bought my first Enfield for $5 at Sears, MK4 No.1. They also had 200rounds of ammo for $5.

This was my first deer rifle after cutting the stock down.

They were in pretty good shape. My Brother's was cosmolined - what a mess.

 

[Mikej]

Hmmm, makes me want to dig out my matching BSA 1918 No1 MK III and shoot it again. I was thinking about selling it to make room for something I wanted MORE.

 

[ma96782]

Yeah.....NOT all of them were made in .303 caliber. Besides......now a days finding cheap .303 ammo can be a challenge.



















Aloha, Mark

 

[Knobgoblin]

Hmmm, makes me want to dig out my matching BSA 1918 No1 MK III and shoot it again. I was thinking about selling it to make room for something I wanted MORE.

Dig it out . I'll trade you a mossberg for it

 

[echo1]

Holy crow!!
I traded a $150 mossberg pump for my Ishapore.
I did great, apparently.

I traded a Savage 69RXL ex-cop shotty for an Ishapore 2A1. C note for the pump, sold the Ishy last year for $550. PAX

 

[DunRanull]

A .308 LE? Assuming the bore is good+ and the general condition is decent, I'd drop the dime on it. A little high but the prices of these will rise. A useful rifle if/when semi-autos are banned. Time to access strippered ammo and a spare magazine or two in case something goes bad in future. Ishies were built in India under supervision of British technicians, quality is good. An accurate fast-shooting bolt rifle.
I like the Enfield in spite of it having been used against some of my own people. 7.62NATO chambering is a big plus.

 

[WAW44]

A .308 LE? Assuming the bore is good+ and the general condition is decent, I'd drop the dime on it. A little high but the prices of these will rise. A useful rifle if/when semi-autos are banned. Time to access strippered ammo and a spare magazine or two in case something goes bad in future. Ishies were built in India under supervision of British technicians, quality is good. An accurate fast-shooting bolt rifle.
I like the Enfield in spite of it having been used against some of my own people. 7.62NATO chambering is a big plus.

2A1 was made by India as a stop gap rifle before they adapted the FAL. It was designed and made after India gained independence. It used old British machinery, but that's as close as it got to the Limeys. Also, most of these went to the local police before being surplused and are often pretty worn out and thus get refinished when they get stateside.

Meh, but then I got over 3000 rounds of 303 I have not shot yet and 22 Enfields in my safe to choose from at last count.

 

[DunRanull]

2A1 was made by India as a stop gap rifle before they adapted the FAL. It was designed and made after India gained independence. It used old British machinery, but that's as close as it got to the Limeys. Also, most of these went to the local police before being surplused and are often pretty worn out and thus get refinished when they get stateside.

Meh, but then I got over 3000 rounds of 303 I have not shot yet and 22 Enfields in my safe to choose from at last count.

Note: I didn't say they were designed or used by the Brits. I did say that Brit techs were involved at Ishapore.

 

[WAW44]

Note: I didn't say they were designed or used by the Brits. I did say that Brit techs were involved at Ishapore.

Noted, also, little more history on the Ishy No.1 and the 2a1...

Extract from "Gun Digest 33rd Anniversary 1979 Deluxe Edition"
Article Author : Mr A G Harrison
Qualification : Former 'Proof Master' of the 'Rifle Factory Proof House, Ishapore, India'

From 1908 to 1950 all military bolt action rifles made at Ishapore were proof tested with a dry-round, followed with by an oiled proof round. The proof cartridge was loaded to 24 tons psi breech pressure, or 15% higher than the service pressure. In 1950 (after the departure, in 1949, of India from British control) the material for the rifle bodies was altered from an EN steel to SWES 48 steel with the recoil shoulder and cam recesses being heat treated. With this change the rifle receivers distorted when oiled proof cartridges were fired. This was discovered when hard and sometimes impossible bolt retraction was experienced. Large quantities of rifles were rejected.
To avoid rejections the authorities ordered discontinuance of the oiled proof round. Therefore from 1950 to the end of SMLE production, rifles made at Ishapore were proof tested with one dry proof only, although the specification still called for both dry and oiled proof. All bolts and bolt heads issued as spares were always proofed with a dry proof round only.

A bolt action rifle similar to the SMLE MkIII*, modified to fire the 7.62mm NATO cartridge, was produced at Ishapore, first in February 1965. The receivers were made of SWES 48 steel (as per the SMLE MkIII*) and with the NATO proof cartridge the receivers were found to distort with both the dry and oiled proof round. The material was changed back to the EN steel so now the rifles stand up better to dry and oiled proof. After passing proof the barrels are impressed with the Indian national proof stamp. The bolt handles and bolt head claws are struck with the crossed flags only.

Editorial: Basically it 'just' works with original 7.62 144-150gr bullets and NATO loadings, Use heavier bullets, hotter loads or 308Win hunting loads at your peril.

 

[Benelli1776]

I clearly got into the Milsurp game way too late.

Same here. The most recent Lee Enfield I snagged was $500. No. 4 Mk. 1 British

 

[Cannonboy]

Hmmm, makes me want to dig out my matching BSA 1918 No1 MK III and shoot it again. I was thinking about selling it to make room for something I wanted MORE.

Might be interested if you are selling. I have 2 BSA motorcycles and thought it might be cool to have a BSA rifle.

 

[DunRanull]

Editorial: Basically it 'just' works with original 7.62 144-150gr bullets and NATO loadings, Use heavier bullets, hotter loads or 308Win hunting loads at your peril.

THAT figures...

 

[DunRanull]

A bit of history prior to the SMLE Number 1 Mk III, we have the......

And then, for the FREE Friday night movie, I give you........

"Breaker Morant"

Aloha, Mark

I hates The Brits, for a variety of reasons, but mainly cuz they've never been friends of MY kin. They tend to be a perfidious bunch. OTOH, I loves me some .303 Enfields, whether Long Lees, #3, or #4... Even the Ishies arent too bad if not heavily worn/beaten on... Good battle rifles in their day and hold their own with any bolt gun...
My #4MK2 is among the most accurate surplus rifles I own/have owned...