This is a discussion on .303 British within the Rifles forums, part of the Rifle & Shotgun Forum category; We have a lot of old British Military rifles in .303 British in South Africa. Fine brush guns and very reliable. Not much at ranges ...
We have a lot of old British Military rifles in .303 British in South Africa. Fine brush guns and very reliable. Not much at ranges of over 200 yards because of the trajectory, and people have converted to 6mm Musgrave, which is just a necked down .303 brit case with a 6mm bullet for plains game.
Advantage is the 10 shot removable box magazine as opposed to the Mauser's 5 shot integral mag.
Standard trigger has a pretty long pull and slightly heavy. A good gunsmith fixes that quickly. You can also have a Timney adjustable trigger fitted if you really want to.
One of mine has had the barrel cut down to 18 inches, with the popup peepsight removed and an open sight fitted with a wide V and a gold bead front. Fastest thing on target at a running warthog and plenty of knockdown power with a 174gr bullet at 2400 fps.
What do you guys think of the caliber and the lee Enfield rifles?
I really like the lee enfield rifle. I have a no.1 mark 3. I mounted a sporter monte carlo stock and 3x9x40 tasco scope on it. It looks good and shoots nice too.
Up in Canada .303 was also very popular up and through the 1970's. I have a brother still uses one, and another who has one he doesn't use much. The 'Jungle Carbine' (was it the Mk 4 ?) with flash hider, etc was great for moose in the swamps of Ontario and Manitoba.
I own a No. 5 and think it's a kick. Love the bolt on the Lee, fastest bolt there is. Mine gets reasonable accuracy and the .303 is fine for Whitetails.
I have a jungle carbine in .303 and just love it. I don't shoot it too much because most of the milsurp has dried up and the prices for new ammo in this calibre are just stratospheric.
In South Africa they go for about R500.00 to R3000.00 (presently about $70.00 to $390.00 US) depending on the condition and if it has been converted to a "hunting rifle" or not.
They are very popular for hunting of game from Kudu and Gemsbuck (Game in the 500 lb live weight class) down to Impala (in the 100lb class).
A famous old Elephant hunter "Pondoro Taylor" once said that the reason why he preferred the .303 above the 7.92mm Mauser for Elephant, was that the .303 enabled him to shoot 11 Elephant out of a herd instead of 6 before reloading, because of the magazine capacity. (Shows that it is more important where you hit it as what youre shooting it with!)
Something else, if you shorten the stock (fore-end), take away the metal rings holding it to the barrel with only the magazine frame and trigger guard holding it, and bed it on the action only, i.e making the barrel free floating, it is accurate enough for hunting deer sized (50lb live weight) animals up to 200 yards. Mine gives 3 inch groups at 200 yards.
I currently own three Lee Enfields - 2 No.4 Mk 2 rifles, and one No.4 Mk 1. One of the Mk 2s was still in the mummy wrap when I bought it, and is exceptionally accurate - especially for what it is! I have fired a number of sub-MOA groups with that rifle with different ammo, which is really rather remarkable.
I load for all three rifles, and strongly recommend the Lee Collet Die and Hornady 150 grain bullets. I have also had very good groups with the bulk Remington roundnose bullets, which rather surprised me.
The No.4 Mk 1 had been butchered when I got it, and I had to replace all the wood. It turned out rather well, although I haven't shot it yet. That will have to wait until I'm finished with my tour here in Korea, unfortunately.
The Lee-Enfield was one of the best old battle rifles out there.
It's a shame that so many people here felt free to chop them up with short stocks, etc. It's getting hard to find a decent example of the gun as it came out of the factory. I was in a gun shop last week that had 4 on the shelf, all had been modified in some way or another.
I currently own three Lee Enfields - 2 No.4 Mk 2 rifles, and one No.4 Mk 1. One of the Mk 2s was still in the mummy wrap when I bought it, and is exceptionally accurate - especially for what it is! I have fired a number of sub-MOA groups with that rifle with different ammo, which is really rather remarkable.
I load for all three rifles, and strongly recommend the Lee Collet Die and Hornady 150 grain bullets. I have also had very good groups with the bulk Remington roundnose bullets, which rather surprised me.
The No.4 Mk 1 had been butchered when I got it, and I had to replace all the wood. It turned out rather well, although I haven't shot it yet. That will have to wait until I'm finished with my tour here in Korea, unfortunately.
Hey, thanks for the tip! I've been reloading 174gn and 180gn respectively, depending on the manufacturer (Hornady is my my favourite, especially the interlock). We down in South Africa can not be too choosy and have to do with what we can get!
I'm loading the heavier bullet for brush hunting at 80 to 150 yard ranges for game in the 40 to 120kg live weight class. 150gn wil give me more muzzle velocity and hopefully longer accurate range for open country shooting like 200 - 250 yards.
Presently I'm using my .308 Win with 130gn and 150gn bullets for that purpose but because of the sweet handling and fast cycling of the Enfield action, as well as the 10 shot magazine capacity, would prefer the old Lee Enfield. Also it is much lighter than the Musgrave Bull Barrel RSA action .308 and easier to carry around.
You gotta love th' Enfields...built like a tank, and chambered for a good, practical round.
I've got two .303's, one "original" and the other "not so original!" as it had the stock cut and a small scope mounted when I got it...but, both are "keepers".
Also got a US mfg 1917 Enfield in 30-06, "built like a tank!" like the 303's...
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