Welcome aboard. Quite a way to become a gun owner!
Someone here is sure to have some input. Lots of unique features.
Someone here is sure to have some input. Lots of unique features.
Thanks for that informative post.So is there any way of distinguishing markings that will signify when it was made? I also found a couple more things on it, upon closer inspection. One is R7 and the other says SURREY
Brit 303s are my bowl of rice. I would love to get my hands on one like that to put it back into military configuration. Theres lot of sites that have parts for one. Like Sarco and Numrich gun parts.
At one time it looked like this.
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Enfield ~ No. 4 MK 1 ~ .303 British for sale (gunsinternational.com)
They were sporterized like the one above by cutting back the long stock and sold en mass. in the US and Canada. I bought my first deer rifle for $20, my pick out of a barrel with about a dozen in it. Killed 3 deer in 3 shots, so the do work. Probably the most common surplus rifle in Canada and close to the most common in the US for many years. Some were made in the US for the British under the land lease act, usually by Savage company. Since they were the common battle rifle of the British commonwealth they are found all over the world, many large animals including elephant and rhino were routinely killed with them. About the same power as the .308 rifle, slightly less. I carried mine as a young man in Grizzly country many times, and never had a need.
A point of interest. I am retired military and worked in intel and related fields. During the days when Russia attacked Afghanistan and the long war persisted, US trainers advised the nomadic tribes of the mountain regions. You may recall the movie Lone Survivor, that was the terrain. The nomatic tribes routinely carried the Birtish 303 rifle. It was common on a Sunday for the tribes to kill a goat and have a feast. When Sunday came, the goat was tied about a half mile to a mile away and the tribesmen would take turns shooting until the goat was killed. Using the elevated sights, and owning only one gun, they had the ability to judge range and dial in the elevation after only a few rounds. It would take only 5-6 rounds before the goat was killed and ready for butcher. The Russian Army was frequent to report that often a lone soldier would fall to his death from a snipers single round from the mountain above. After a long pause they would hear the sound of the gunshot, having no clue where it came from. This was the gun that created
that fear.
This from Wicki:
As documented by the National Security Archive, "the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) played a significant role in asserting U.S. influence in Afghanistan by funding military operations designed to frustrate the Soviet invasion of that country. CIA covert action worked through Pakistani intelligence services to reach Afghan rebel groups."[75]
Soviet–Afghan War - Wikipedia
There in an Enfield society or forum out there if you Google. Welcome to G and G.
shipping guns internationally is very hard to do for people not in the business.
Yes. I took mine off 40 years ago and put a real pad on it. The butt stock was hollow hole with thehole about 3/4 inch. At the front of the stock is the screw that holds the butt stock on. Kept the brass butt plate as a paper weight. On the original gun, it was pretty formidable for a butt smash to the face.So I'm guessing that the butt stock setup was for cleaning gear.
I shot a goose with mine at over 800 yards. A flock was eating on a wheat field, just beyond the half mile fence. I cranked the site up to that distance and rested on the hood of a car. After a long slow squeeze I let the factory ball, military issue round fly. My buddies were in shock. Truth be known, I had picked one goose off by itself but not really sure it was the one I hit. Probably 200 of them in that flock. lolI remember having an old 303 yrs ago. Shot a deer on the run with that flip up site. Lol Not sure what ever happened to that rifle.