British Enfield No. 1 in 303 cartridge (Lee, Springfield: closing, prices, military)

[family first]

Thought I'd ask if anyone has or knows about this set up. Had one in my hands the other day and the seller wanted $195 for it. It has Lyman peep sights on it and appears to be in good condition. The barrel looked in good condition also. How is the 303 as far as cartidges go? Would use it for deer sized game.

[RANGER.101ST]

303 is a good rifle little pricey to shoot but still a good gun $195 isnt a bad price.nothing id go out and shoot a moose or a bear with but it will work fine for deer,

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Many big game animals have been taken with the trusty old 303 in Africa. It's rugged, reliable and surplus ammunition is available at reasonable prices.

[Coaster]

The Enfield .303 was originally designed to be powerful enough to knock down a cavalry horse at 800 yards. Even wth modern ammunition I doubt there's anything in Maine that would pose much of a problem for it in the hands of a good marksman.

[family first]

Thanks for the input, but I have further questions. I'm told that the No. 4 has a ten shot clip? When did they start going to clips for that gun? The one in the store I looked at had the floor plate that looked like it holds 4 or 5 rounds? I've been told that the gun has a short throw so that the military could jack through rounds quickly during military use. Can all these enfields take a clip instead of the floor plate models? Would this Caliber squeeze in between the 270 and 30-06?

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Some Enfields were made in India and take the 7.62 NATO round which is also the .308 Winchester. Same ammunition. Many of those take a 10 or 20 round magazine.

By the way, magazines are intended to be reused. Clips are disposable.

[Pilot1]

Originally Posted by family first

Thanks for the input, but I have further questions. I'm told that the No. 4 has a ten shot clip? When did they start going to clips for that gun? The one in the store I looked at had the floor plate that looked like it holds 4 or 5 rounds? I've been told that the gun has a short throw so that the military could jack through rounds quickly during military use. Can all these enfields take a clip instead of the floor plate models? Would this Caliber squeeze in between the 270 and 30-06?

The Enfield takes a stipper clip. What you are talking about is a magazine. The stripper clip loads from the top and you push the rounds down with your thumb into the rifle's fixed magazine. The stripper clip then can be re-used.

Collecting and Shooting the Enfield No. 4 Rifle - Range Report

The .303 is a fine hunting round.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

I just remembered that the .308 Enfield from India is often called the Ishapore from the armory name where they were made. The .308 is available in every hardware and general store that sells ammunition. If you can get one it will always be easier to get ammunition for it. If not, the .303 is nearly as good.

[schizuki]

Originally Posted by family first

I'm told that the No. 4 has a ten shot clip? When did they start going to clips for that gun? The one in the store I looked at had the floor plate that looked like it holds 4 or 5 rounds? I've been told that the gun has a short throw so that the military could jack through rounds quickly during military use.

Sounds from your description that you have a "sporterized" rifle. A standard Lee-Enfield uses a detachable ten-round box magazine that protrudes notably from the bottom of the rifle. In practice, the magazine was left in the rifle and reloads were done with five-round stripper clips. Very easy to top off in battle - shoot five, strip in five more.

The "throw" is the same as any full-length military round, but the bolt handle is set back for quicker manipulation. It also cocks on closing, which splits the work of extraction and cocking, also making it faster. The well-trained troops at the Battle of Mons in the first weeks of WWI kept up such a high rate of fire that the Germans thought they were facing machineguns.

It's been said that the Americans had the best target rifle ('03 Springfield), the Germans had the best hunting rifle ('98 Mauser), and the British had the best battle rifle. I agree.

If you Google "Lee-Enfield" or "SMLE", you'll learn all you'll ever want to know.

[Bydand]

I know several guys in Aroostook County who use the "Brit Tree-oh-Tree" every year for deer and have VERY good luck.