Who Bubbaed your Enfield?

[GunnyUSMC]

I have read post that have blamed Bubba for the crimes commited against Enfields.
But it was not always Bubba and his evil doings that caused those poor Enfields to suffer.

Lets go back to 1965 and see how things were.
Here in an ad from an gun magazine '65 .


As you can see, sporterized endfield rifles sold for almost twice the price of one still in military dress.
So you can see that Bubba didn't have to chop up a rifle, someone else was doing it for him.
Most offten it was not Bubba buying the sporterized rifles. We know that he was cheap and would not spend the extra money. It was the guy with the extra cash that was buying them.
You must understand that during this same time a new hunting rifle sold from $80 to $150. Money was still tight for amoung blue collor workers. A nice sporterized military rifle for $27 was a heck of a deal.
So lets not be so quick to blame Bubba for all the sporterized rifles out there, just the ugly ones.

 

[TrickyDick]

it breaks my heart to see those prices! DAMN INFLATION!

 

[MrBorland]

My Dad "bubba'd" his (now mine).

Needing an inexpensive deer rifle to go hunting with his uncles, he bought it as a young man in the 50s for $10 out of a barrel of cosmoline, cleaned it up, and sporterized it. The workmanship is top-notch. I don't give a rat's patootie what anyone thinks of "bubba-ing" Enfields; it's my Dad's deer rifle, it's well-done, and it's an heirloom to me.

 

[Eb1]

That is a fine deer rifle. I really like the .303 British cartridge. I am seriously thinking my next rifle will be a Ruger #1 in .303 British.
I am taking my No.1 Mk.3 out with me to the woods a lot this year. My dad wants me to pop one with that rifle for him.

I wish my No.1 Mk.3 was a #4. I'd bubba it in the blink of an eye. I'd also like to have one converted to .45-70 Gov.

How about some closer shots of that #4 deer slayer.

 

[MrBorland]

How about some closer shots of that #4 deer slayer.

A couple:

 

[Eb1]

Nice.

 

[madcratebuilder]

The Lee Enfield was a very popular rifle to sporterize. I paid $15 for my first one in 1960. $5 for a Redfield peep sight. Drill, tap, saw, sand and finish I had a first class deer rifle for under $25. I had to pick a lot of berries and beans, plus mow lawns for that money. All summer long, but it was worth it.

I try and pick up any of the Gibbs or Golden State sporters I see these days. There is gaining interest in these old sporters among collectors.

 

[303tom]

I Bubbaed my own................Not really, when I found it, it no wood on it at all, Just a barreled action.

 

[Reloadron]

Yeah, pretty amazing how following WW II how many fine battle rifles were "sporterized" and today we would give anything to have them back in their original GI state. However, they made for some fine hunting rifles with many personal touches.

The ones that make me cringe are the US 03 and O3A3 rifles.

Ron

 

[desidog]

I have a Golden State Arms Santa Fe Model 1944; its fun and handy, but too far gone to be un-bubba'd. Mine has a different front sight, and a dovetail on the barrel, with no rear sight. Got mine covered in rust for free, and hit it with steel wool and Laurel Mtn Browning Solution. It looks good for a truck gun....but it's no C&R.

Golden State Arms really machined their offerings to the point that you can't restore them without more time effort and loot than the real thing costs. They set out to create a hunting/sporting rifle, and that is what they did - they also tarnished the image of the Lee-enfield Jungle carbine permanently...

 

[kBob]

Oh yeah those 1965 prices were great......

lets see I worked agricultural labor that summer for a 50 hour week ( plus an un paid 45 minute commute each way every day) for $0.30 an hour minus rain time so that there were only two full $15 checks all summer and most of my buddies thought I had a great paying job for a kid.

Dad brought home after tax etc about $65 a week for a 55 hour week.

Mom was the big money person in the family cause as a school teacher she made over $4,000 a year before the "de-ducks" hit it.

If its all the same with you I'll stick with today!

-kBob

 

[tahunua001]

when I blame bubba it is for the blatantly home done jobs that required nothing more than a drill and a hacksaw. in my vocabulary there are 3 grades of milsurp rifles, military, sporterized and bubbafied.

 

[Eb1]

My uncle who was blind could repair and build anything. And he did a fine job. Guess what his name was. Yep! Bubba.
I have seen him swap engines in trucks, build awesome cabinets, and just plain do anything. All without sight. Makes me feel like a slacker when I think I can't do something. He inspired me. To bad he took his life with a Model 60 .357 when his parents died. Sure do miss my uncle Bubba.

 

[303tom]

I have a Golden State Arms Santa Fe Model 1944; its fun and handy, but too far gone to be un-bubba'd. Mine has a different front sight, and a dovetail on the barrel, with no rear sight. Got mine covered in rust for free, and hit it with steel wool and Laurel Mtn Browning Solution. It looks good for a truck gun....but it's no C&R.

Golden State Arms really machined their offerings to the point that you can't restore them without more time effort and loot than the real thing costs. They set out to create a hunting/sporting rifle, and that is what they did - they also tarnished the image of the Lee-enfield Jungle carbine permanently...

I would not shoot that rifle, it is not structurally sound.............

 

[Eb1]

On some of these rifles it looks like the bolts are not supported.

 

[Robtattoo]

I bought mine as a pre-Bub'd rifle. It wasn't too bad, but it still had the full length, whippy barrel & a home-made aperture sight.
I threw a couple of hundred at it; Fitted a scope, bedded the action, had the bolt-head skimmed to properly headspace the PPU ammunition it likes, piked the barrel to a more user (& accuracy) friendly 19¾" & had a recessed crown cut.

It will now shoot a genuine 1½" group at 100yds, 9 times out of 10. I've managed a 1" group, but only once out of many hundreds! Still have the target!

 

[Eb1]

I would like my no1 mk3 to look like your rifle, Robtattoo. What model was your's originally?

 

[Robtattoo]

No4 mk1 1946 vintage. It's my 'other' never part with gun, along with my Henry .22
I figure between the two i'm covered for anything that walks, crawls, swims or flies!

 

[Ignition Override]

MrBorland: It's nice to see that, along with high quality worksmanship, many of these have a military character.

Even Croc. Dundee (in II) used a sporterized #4 against the thugs' trucks. His type might have been manufactured in an Aussie factory.
Watching that one brief scene is what lit the final "spark" to buy my first Enfield in '09.

 

[2DREZQ]

#4's aren't the only "Enfields" to feel Bubbba's gentle touch.

I rescued a P17 barreled action 20+ years ago that the guy was going to "turn into a pistol" I-kid-you-not! It was already minus the front sight and the ears, and had been opened up to "magnum-length", the extractor is about 1/4 inch shorter than the port. Drilling and tapping was a bee-yatch, but it got done. On with a cheeeep scope and birch fencepo...stock. Viola! A 1.75 MOA rifle for about $50 bucks.

I am going to turn it into a retro-cool 60's style sporter with a Boyds stock, Weaver steel-tube K4, and rechamber it in 300 H&H Magnum.

Told Ya I was old school.

 

[madcratebuilder]

I would not shoot that rifle, it is not structurally sound.............

Because the charger bridge is removed? Thousands of No4's have had the charger bridge removed when sporterized and many were re-barreled to a more powerful cartridge. I'm not aware of any failures from that modification. It was very common practice in the 50's and 60's.

 

[303tom]

Because the charger bridge is removed? Thousands of No4's have had the charger bridge removed when sporterized and many were re-barreled to a more powerful cartridge. I'm not aware of any failures from that modification. It was very common practice in the 50's and 60's.

Knowing your track record & because you said so I will believe it, I just don`t like it when a rifle is structurally compromised like that..........

 

[The Man With No Name]

Some of these "bubbaed" guns look beautiful to me. I always had a thing about sporterized military surplus rifles though. If done right they serve a purpose and I'd rather see an old gun repurposed than outright destroyed.

 

[dirtyjim]

BSA did a pretty good job of bubba'ing mine. actually its a lee speed sporting rifle and is not and never was a military rifle. occasionally i take it to the shows to confuse the so called expert collectors. it was rebarred by musgrave in south africa many many moons ago adding african provenance to the rifle.









i'll be bubba'ing this already bubbaed LEC into a close copy of my lee speed but it will be chambered in 375x2 1/2NE

 

[duelist1954]

Here is mine...and the Bubba is me...