In truth, I've barely got a representitive exapmle of the breed. I have none of the Lee Metfords, RIC or NZ carbines yet. I have a 48 date Ishy that is as nice as any of my Brit or Aussie rifles. Then there is the 1910 MkIII Ross and the BSA commercial sporter (on lay-away).
As for comparing the LE to the MN, well, I used to collest MNs. Has 20 or more at one time, Finns Russki, Chinese, even a US made '91, and while they are solid, accurate and powerful, they just don't measure up, IMHO, to the LE for ergonomics, fire power, or over all combat effectivness/grunt friendliness.
They Are neat pieces of history and the variants are almost as numerous as the LE.