Lee Enfield Accuracy
MTA Dog
at the range and noticed two fellows shooting their brand new Irish in the
greasy wrapper Enfields. Using his spotting scope, he snoops on everybody
elses shooting. Well, one of these Enfields was grouping all its shots
"touching" and the other was grouping around 4 inches. This was at 100
yards. FWIW.
Steve Wood
into a 2" group, offhand, at 100 yards. I shot in a DCM match this
weekend and my groups were in the 3-6" range...that I attribute to my
being "nervous" at the range.
I find both the SHLE and the "standard" No. 4 Mk I to be both very
accurate rifles. I'd love to get one "worked on" and set up with a
floating barrel, some work elsewhere.....and then see what I could do
with the thing benched. I'm betting it'd be sub MOA.
Steve
Kirk Andrews <kand...@cei.net> wrote:
#Much has been written in this group about LE rifles and their
#riliability. I have read several articles stating that they are
#inherently inaccurate rifles due to chamber and barrel tolerances. I
#have a No.4 MkI which shoots about 3" at 100 yds at best with handloads.
#Would be interested to know what others are experiencing as far as group
#sizes at 100 yds. We are, of course, talking about millitary or arsnel
#condition rifles using original or replacement actions and bbls as
#opposed to custom remakes.
Bruce D. Hood
shot several different samples of ammunition through a No.1 mk111
a No.4mk1, and another No.4mk1* made at Longbranch Arsenal in
Canada. ( The title of the article is "Don't Overlook the Lee-
Enfield" ) Using quite a mixed bag of ammunition including some
very old military surplus .303 ball from Bench rest at 100 yards,
he averaged a lot of 10 shot groups of four inches or so...
Degree of accuracy is somewhat relative to the task at hand, so
if one was shooting at soldiers on the other side.. well, I am
about 18 inches or so wide at the shoulders, and even turned
sideways am a least 12 inches thick, I don't think I want
someone shooting at me who can regularly get their bullets on
the mark within four inches or so of where they want to... It
doesn't get much better if I'm 200 yards away assuming 8 or 10
inch groups.. the other guy still has a good chance of getting me..
My point of course, being that the Older Enfields, which I have
a great fondness for, are great fun to shoot even at
200, or 300 yards, and will reward good shooting skills with
satisfying hits. As a rugged utilitarian hunting rifle, they
also will work well. I'm sure that with some careful modifications
the L.E. can be gotten to shoot more target like groups
if that is one's primary goal.
The Standard L-E sights have large apertures,
for rapid target acquisition in poor light and
difficult conditions, so that might
be a first line of attack for tighter groups.
For the Scottish shooter, the older L-E's
have the added advantage of being available for under a hundred
dollars, if you don't insist on having one of the unfired Irish
ones. Congratulations on your four inch group... sounds like
you are shooting well...
--
Bruce Hood,Instructor of Speech,Butte College,Chico,California
bh...@cello.gina.calstate.edu
Gale McMillan
#
# In the July 1993 issue of the American Rifleman,C.E. Harris
# shot several different samples of ammunition through a No.1 mk111
# a No.4mk1, and another No.4mk1* made at Longbranch Arsenal in
# Canada. ( The title of the article is "Don't Overlook the Lee-
# Enfield" ) Using quite a mixed bag of ammunition including some
# very old military surplus .303 ball from Bench rest at 100 yards,
# he averaged a lot of 10 shot groups of four inches or so...
# Degree of accuracy is somewhat relative to the task at hand, so
# if one was shooting at soldiers on the other side.. well, I am
# about 18 inches or so wide at the shoulders, and even turned
# sideways am a least 12 inches thick, I don't think I want
# someone shooting at me who can regularly get their bullets on
# the mark within four inches or so of where they want to... It
# doesn't get much better if I'm 200 yards away assuming 8 or 10
# inch groups.. the other guy still has a good chance of getting me..
# My point of course, being that the Older Enfields, which I have
# a great fondness for, are great fun to shoot even at
# the L.E. can be gotten to shoot more target like groups
# if that is one's primary goal. A few years ago I was invited to build a rifle for the 2300 yard
matches in England. The only requirement was that it would be able to
beat a Lee Enfield. What a joke! Since my rifles held all the 1000 yard
records at the time I felt confident when I told them if I didn't beat
every Enfield on the line they wouldn't have to pay for the rifle. I
should have checked the record book before shooting off my mouth .It
would have saved me a rifle. There is something very unique to the
Enfield that has been explained to me and I still don't understand
exactly what it is. It has to do with the two piece stock and the
harmonics plus the flex of the joint makes every thing come together at
2300 yards. You Lee Enfield lovers check the records of the 2300yard
matches at Bisley. It will lift your spirits so high you will be able
to laugh at us Magnum shooters. Don't ask me how a rifle with a 300 foot
mid range trajectory can consistantly beat out our high scoring Mags.
Gale McMillan
BEN SANSING
References: <4eebcp$j...@xring.cs.umd.edu>
KK> Much has been written in this group about LE rifles and their
KK> riliability. I have read several articles stating that they are
KK> inherently inaccurate rifles due to chamber and barrel tolerances. I
KK> have a No.4 MkI which shoots about 3" at 100 yds at best with handloads.
KK> Would be interested to know what others are experiencing as far as group
KK> sizes at 100 yds. We are, of course, talking about millitary or arsnel
KK> condition rifles using original or replacement actions and bbls as
KK> opposed to custom remakes.
My No1 MkIII* Lee-Enfield (Enfield, 1918) has a rather "frosty" bore, but
manages to group under 3" for 5 shots at 100 yds., using my reloads with
180gr (.311") soft points and #3031 powder. This rifle has the open sights,
of course, and has not been bedded or given any special treatment. I figure
3" groups make it good enough to hunt with, and I've taken various sorts of
game with it. Good old rifle.
Ny No4 Mk1* (Longbranch, 1942) has the two-groove barrel (near-mint bore)
and has been bedded by the center-bearing method (favored by Bisley
marksmen). It regularly groups 2" or less with most loads, and with a few
selected loads will go down to 1" or even less! I attribute at least some of
this to the receiver sights, which are easier and more precise for me to use
than the open sight on my No1 rifle. Of course, the bedding, the barrel, and
other factors come into play, too. This one's a good hunting rifle, too -
though I prefer the balance of the No1 and tend to use it more, especially
for rough duty since my No4 is near-mint and I don't want to knock it around
more than necessary.
Enfields - great rifles. Every shooter needs one! BUY 'EM ALL!!!!
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Ordinary_Guy
I concur. In 1960 (or so) my mom brought home from Wanamaker's an SMLE No.
1 Mk. 5 (yes, 5, that is not a typo) which, with surplus ammo, once printed
a three-round cloverleaf at 100yds. Probably a fluke, but I don't see SKSs
capable of that.
Regards,
Walt
Frostyice
"My father and I have a No 4 Mk I that consistently gets MOA. Of
course the condition of this rifle is original, but it's such that it
seems unissued. It's a longbranch(canadian) with a long stock."
To which I query: What kind of ammo do you shoot?
Jimmy Dewey
#Much has been written in this group about LE rifles and their
#riliability. I have read several articles stating that they are
#inherently inaccurate rifles due to chamber and barrel tolerances. I
#have a No.4 MkI which shoots about 3" at 100 yds at best with handloads.
#Would be interested to know what others are experiencing as far as group
#sizes at 100 yds. We are, of course, talking about millitary or arsnel
#condition rifles using original or replacement actions and bbls as
#opposed to custom remakes.