Improving with the Lee Enfield

[Petay]

Have been shooting the No4 mk2 a lot lately in a bid to improve with it and because it’s turning that makes me smile most!

Couple of 10 shot groups from the weekend below - benches at 100 yards with a fair wind. I think part of my problem is lifting my head a bit at times thus making shots drop lower, need to learn to stop looking at the screen between shots and just stay in the gun.

Have to say I’m a bit in love with iron sights and old military rifles - will be putting in a variation for 8x57 Mauser and 7.62x54R soon.

 

[chouchin66]

Well done, sir.
Not meant to be an " egg sucking" thing, but, if buying a surplus K 98/ ( VZ 24,not so much, depending on importer) be sure the bolt serial # matches the action/ bottom metal serial #. A good few surplus rifles ( especially Russian captures) may well not match up - (bolt/ receiver) & pose a headspace issue, so worth checking.
* Also worth noting : Try to keep to ' 43 & older date stamps & worth doing a bit of looking into on mfg. codes on Mauser receivers , late war stuff is lesser quality, quite often. Jerry Kuhnhausen( sp?) has a good book on Mauser rifles.

 

[Petay]

Well done, sir.
Not meant to be an " egg sucking" thing, but, if buying a surplus K 98/ ( VZ 24,not so much, depending on importer) be sure the bolt serial # matches the action/ bottom metal serial #. A good few surplus rifles ( especially Russian captures) may well not match up - (bolt/ receiver) & pose a headspace issue, so worth checking.
* Also worth noting : Try to keep to ' 43 & older date stamps & worth doing a bit of looking into on mfg. codes on Mauser receivers , late war stuff is lesser quality, quite often. Jerry Kuhnhausen( sp?) has a good book on Mauser rifles.

Very useful to know and not teaching to suck eggs at all, I did a lot of research into Lee Enfields and what to look for before buying one. I’d figured there would be quirks to the Mauser I’d need to learn to look for when buying one. Was aware later war ones would be less desirable as they moved more and more towards last ditch production, in a strange way rifle production actually tells the story of the war - early British rifles were poor and improved as the war progress, early German rifles were quality and deuteriated as the war progressed and they started loosing.

 

[Backgardenplinker]

Your shooting an actual period lee enfield ?

100 yrds on opens that looks good to me!

Pic of rifle please

 

[Jester]

Triggers on these can be made noticeably better by cleaning up the trigger & sear - gentle polish of the 1st and 2nd stage trigger bumps, polish the sear where the trigger touches, then the merest hint of moly grease where it all touches including the sear\bolt interface.
Can largely mitigate any unsmooth trigger characteristics and maybe drops the pull a pound or so.

Usually done as part of removing all the old grease, fluff etc that's found it's way in there over the years.

 

[Petay]

Your shooting an actual period lee enfield ?

100 yrds on opens that looks good to me!

Pic of rifle please

Yes although post WW2 - it’s a 1949 Fazakerley built No4 mk2! Bore almost as factory new, bolt head is stamped 0 which is as good as they get and it’s all matching serials accept the magazine which isn’t uncommon to see.

 

[Petay]

Triggers on these can be made noticeably better by cleaning up the trigger & sear - gentle polish of the 1st and 2nd stage trigger bumps, polish the sear where the trigger touches, then the merest hint of moly grease where it all touches including the sear\bolt interface.
Can largely mitigate any unsmooth trigger characteristics and maybe drops the pull a pound or so.

Usually done as part of removing all the old grease, fluff etc that's found it's way in there over the years.

It’s on my list of things to look at, just not keen on removing the wood hence it’s a constantly put off job.

Tye trigger isn’t that bad in terms of break but the first stage is a bit heavy and spongy.

 

[zogg364]

Nothing wrong with those groups at 100 with a Lee, I am not sure I could do that with a scope on my my No4

 

[2506sendero]

Lovely looking rifle, and a reminder that i need to tidy my reloading bench up

 

[Rich79]

Tried the same with my No5 on Saturday but I forgot the bayonet, they shoot better with the bayonet on.

 

[Petay]

Tried the same with my No5 on Saturday but I forgot the bayonet, they shoot better with the bayonet on.

I’ve not actually shot it with the pig sticker attached so I’ll have to give that a try now you’ve said it.

 

[Danger Mouse]

I don't have my LE sporter anymore, so I can't take a photo to show what I mean re a trigger mod.
There were (still are) a lot of the SMLE over here in the colonies. Common trigger fix was to get rid of the first stage/second stage setup.
Easy as to do...just a small metal shim Araldited (or JB Weld, etc) to take up the slack that the 1st stage lives in. Attach the shim to the sear, not to the 'bump'.
Then you only have the 2nd stage to deal with (or not).
This makes for a nice short trigger pull, and no creep. Well worth the small amount of time to do for a much better trigger pull.
In the diagram, you could pack out the spot where the 1st stage bump (B) meets so far that it alone acts to operate the sear.
If you go to the 2nd stage (D) you are loosing mechanical advantage.
Try it with a wee shim (maybe 25thou or so). I always used a cut off piece from an old feeler gauge set (it's hardened steel). Just sit it in place and you will see what I mean.
This method is easy to remove too if needed, and you haven't mucked up any value of a decent old rifle.
The diagram gives good advice too, but it's not as easy as the metal shim method.

 

[Mr Clark]

It’s on my list of things to look at, just not keen on removing the wood hence it’s a constantly put off job.

Tye trigger isn’t that bad in terms of break but the first stage is a bit heavy and spongy.

Lovely first year mk2, you and the rifle are shooting well, the old saying applies "if it isn't broken, don't fix it".

Leave it alone, if you take the forend off you will change your zero and it doesn't get any better than you are doing at the moment as a standard No4mk2.

If you do decide to remove the forend, make sure you remove it 'straight down' from the rear, with even pressure ( don't pry from the muzzle) so you don't damage the draws.

 

[terry1001]

If you're looking for another military rifle I can recommend the 1896 Swedish Mauser as an accurate and nice to shoot option. I had a few and they were all nice guns.