[DontBurnMyFlag]

www.gibbsrifle.com

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with the Gibbs No 7 enfield in .308? Its redone with all the bells and whistles and I was wondering if it would be worth buying at all? It looks like another perfect rifle to add to my collection for camping and hiking. Would it just be easier and cheaper to buy a enfield no 7 or 5 and just use that instead? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[armoredman]

Expensive, but interesting. Never saw one in person - the 308 with M14 mags would be a nifty and handy rifle.

[Father Knows Best]

Can you even get them? According to that website, they don't have any rifles left other than miscellanous junk from the warehouse such as rusty action without bolts or stocks. The catalog shown on that website is dated 2000.

[rbernie]

Thery are not available from Gibbs (a local shop in WVA) directly, and most that come up for sale are really rough around the edges. Search the archives here and you'll find a few happy owners and a bunch of folks who were pretty sad with what they got.

[Gewehr98]

Run, don't walk, out the door, posthaste. The stuff Gibbs cranked out makes the trained monkeys at Century Arms look like they're building perfect Stradivarius violins.

I watched the entire forend and nosecap on a Gibbs' assembled NoIMkIII* "tanker" launch downrange with the bullet. From what I've learned, it was pretty common. :(

[DontBurnMyFlag]

well thanks for the warning guys. i guess i was just taken in by the flashy detail of the bells, whistles and little survival kit in the butt-trap. I could easily do that little survival kit with the cleaning kit in the butt trap of my SKS.

[Father Knows Best]

It looks to me like they were built on surplus Enfield jungle carbines, which are generally excellent little rifles. They are very smooth and reliable -- a real pleasure to operate. You could build one yourself by picking up a nice surplus Enfield No. 4 or No. 5 jungle carbine and having it rebarreled, or just leave it in .303 British which is a fine cartridge.

The Enfield No. 5 jungle carbines aren't known for their accuracy, but that's mostly because they suffer from vertical stringing during rapid fire. For hunting/survival use, where you won't be shooting a lot of shots in rapid succession, that's not an issue. The issue stems from the process used to make the No. 5. They basically took a No. 4 and lightened it by removing material from the receiver in various places.

The No. 4's are perhaps less susceptible to vertical stringing, but they also weigh more. For a hunting/survival rifle, I'd take the lighter weight of the No. 5.

You can generally find No. 4 or No. 5 jungle carbines in excellent condition for as little as $200-300. Even if you rebarrel, that's still not much money.

[Dave Markowitz]

I watched the entire forend and nosecap on a Gibbs' assembled NoIMkIII* "tanker" launch downrange with the bullet. From what I've learned, it was pretty common.

I experienced this with a "Tanker" No.2A Ishapore SMLE that Gibbs' monkeywrenched on. That was in addition to the several other problems the other Gibbs rifles I was testing that day had. (I have previously posted a detailed writeup of my Gibbs SNAFU. It's in the archives.)

Gibbs = Garbage.