Building a Lee Enfield No 4 Mk1 Scout Rifle

[Space Ghost]

It's not a 2 groove barrel. It's a Longbranch if anyone knows what that means... other than it was made in Canada...

I thought that was cool as my family came from Canada. Well, Newfoundland... It was it's own country back then.

I went back and measured that group again. 2.75", and that's from the OUTSIDE of the bullet holes. I guess I should be pleased. I will try a few other ammo types first before I tinker with anything, but considering I probably won't be shooting this thing at anything other than deer within 100 yds, I should be good to go.

I could always use this as a SHTF Jeep gun... but I have a beater Spanish Mauser with a red dot (Romeo 5) for that...

 

[Duster340]

I'd say any deer you see within 100 yards is meat in the freezer Space Ghost!

FWIW. The 150 gr PPU SPBT's factory loads grouped slightly better than the 180 gr SPBT's in my rifle.

Be well

 

[chicharrones]

It's not a 2 groove barrel. It's a Longbranch if anyone knows what that means... other than it was made in Canada...

I thought that was cool as my family came from Canada. Well, Newfoundland... It was it's own country back then.

I went back and measured that group again. 2.75", and that's from the OUTSIDE of the bullet holes. I guess I should be pleased. I will try a few other ammo types first before I tinker with anything, but considering I probably won't be shooting this thing at anything other than deer within 100 yds, I should be good to go.

I could always use this as a SHTF Jeep gun... but I have a beater Spanish Mauser with a red dot (Romeo 5) for that...

So that makes about a 2.45" group measured center to center. You did that with a milsurp gun that has a 2.5x Scout scope that can't have the reticle's focus adjusted.

I'd say, that gun is a keeper.

 

[boom boom]

It's not a 2 groove barrel. It's a Longbranch if anyone knows what that means... other than it was made in Canada...

I thought that was cool as my family came from Canada. Well, Newfoundland... It was it's own country back then.

I went back and measured that group again. 2.75", and that's from the OUTSIDE of the bullet holes. I guess I should be pleased. I will try a few other ammo types first before I tinker with anything, but considering I probably won't be shooting this thing at anything other than deer within 100 yds, I should be good to go.

I could always use this as a SHTF Jeep gun... but I have a beater Spanish Mauser with a red dot (Romeo 5) for that...

Some of the Long Branches do have two groove barrels fwiw.

In some rifles with worn rifling, the flat based bullets do better as they are believed to slug up versus boattails which allow gas to go past. Regardless of the theory, on older worn Lee Enfields, I have found it was true with my rifles. The ones with practically new bores get the boattails, the others get flat based bullets.

Others can have a worn throat that can affect accuracy to some extent. The large chambers can also affect it a bit. For that reason, a lot of folks get their absolute best accuracy from heavy long cast bullets sized to the bore. That is particularly true of the older No. 1, Mk 3 design.

Spent some time on a RCAF base in Western Canada for a time, there were the English speaking Canadians, the French speaking Canadians (they would speak English to the Yanks but not to their countrymen), and Newfies. The Newfies were friendly with everyone.

 

[desidog]

I've heard plenty of times that 2-groove barrels run cast lead bullets real well.

Yes; after my 03A3 was key holing boat-tails at 50 yards, I figured out the 2-groove barrel was the problem, but solved it by casting .308's for use with gas checks. Downloaded to about ~30-30 levels it was much more pleasant to shoot.

 

[Space Ghost]

She's not a scout rifle anymore...
She's gone all self defense in these troublesome times.
She put down fascists once, she can do it again...

 

[1KPerDay]

So

Much

Awesome

 

[chicharrones]

It's really hard to beat a good red dot. I need to get two more for myself, but I'll wait until Black Friday and see what prices are doing then.

 

[theotherwaldo]

I prefer a lighter gun for scouting.
I took a '94 Swede in 6.5 Mauser with a chopped-up stock and a missing sight and rebuilt it as a scout.
Anyway, I'm not chopping up any of my Lee Enfields... .

 

[mokin]

You're an inspiration Spaceghost. I've got a reddot that doesn't have anything mounted below it that I've been playing with recently. Maybe I should see how well the QD rings work on my rifle and give it a try. If nothing else, it would provide an opportunity to blast some old reloads.

 

[Archie]

I have a respect and love for the Lee Enfields I do not understand myself. They are rugged, reliable and shoot a round quite satisfactory. I would have probably installed a Leupold 2.5x light scope, but that's about my only quibble.

I really won't alter either of the two No 3 SMLE rifles I have. But the local pawn shop has a couple Enfield somethings that have been cut up already. Which are working on me...

 

[792mauser]

Dayum!
That looks honest to God awesome.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

She's not a scout rifle anymore...
She's gone all self defense in these troublesome times.
She put down fascists once, she can do it again...
View attachment 930982

I think Cooper would accept a red dot in place of a low-to-non-magnified telescopic sight as still fitting the basic Scout Rifle criteria. I just swapped the red dot on my Mauser Scout for a tritium SeeAll, to do the same basic job without batteries.

 

[Blkhrt13]

That’s a super swanky self defense rifle. I love it.