The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Dear All,

The variation arrived yesterday (.303 and .308/7.62), but the latter is for a different time.

Looking to purchase a .303, but it does seem a minefield: therefore advice greatly received, such as:

Which model
What price range
Etc.

Depends what you're after really.

The P14 is arguably preferred for 'long range' as they're considered better suited than the Lee Enfield family of rifles. (You can buy mine)

The No4 is the general 'all rounder', more than capable of sinking lead into the Black at 600 metres with 'good enough "take that, Jerry!"-accuracy.'

The SMLE is my personal favourite, just because I prefer it on looks and handling over the other Enfields.

Never shot a No.5, but they're quite popular, though it can be tough to find a 'real' one nowadays.

The last .303 Lee Enfield I bought cost me £125 its all matching numbers and came with a Parker Hale rear aperture sight.I still have it.
Obviously you are not going to be able to pick up the same sort of bargain now a days but be careful people are asking for stupid money for Lee Enfield's .
What model do you want a SMLE or a No4. SMLE rifles can be horrendous prices I would go for a No4 its not unusual to pay £500 for a good No4 but I would certainly not pay any more.
I will ask my dealer friends if they have any thing interesting for a fare price if they have I will pm you.
You could also check out pukkabundhooks web site Adam usually has .303 Enfield in.

Just a side note be careful of "new made SMLE's & No4's" listed as new barrels/wood etc these have no history, some buyers have had trouble with them. Also they will be more expensive than a honest original.
Give MFL classic firearms a look I recently bought a stunning first WW BSA 1918 SMLE from him, all matching and original for less than £500 he also has No4's as well in the Suffolk area, has ads on Gunstar.

Look left I like Enfields :shakeshout:

Alpha1 wrote:The last .303 Lee Enfield I bought cost me £125 its all matching numbers and came with a Parker Hale rear aperture sight.I still have it.
Obviously you are not going to be able to pick up the same sort of bargain now a days but be careful people are asking for stupid money for Lee Enfield's .
What model do you want a SMLE or a No4. SMLE rifles can be horrendous prices I would go for a No4 its not unusual to pay £500 for a good No4 but I would certainly not pay any more.
I will ask my dealer friends if they have any thing interesting for a fare price if they have I will pm you.
You could also check out pukkabundhooks web site Adam usually has .303 Enfield in.

I think these days for a good no4 your looking more like £600 to £700 for an all matching numbers one. There just getting harder to find doint get me wrong I'd expect bayonet and sling with it for the £700 mark.

bnz41 wrote:Just a side note be careful of "new made SMLE's & No4's" listed as new barrels/wood etc these have no history, some buyers have had trouble with them. Also they will be more expensive than a honest original.
Give MFL classic firearms a look I recently bought a stunning first WW BSA 1918 SMLE from him, all matching and original for less than £500 he also has No4's as well in the Suffolk area, has ads on Gunstar.

Look left I like Enfields :shakeshout:

I shoot with Steve (Mr MFL), can vouch for the fact he is a good bloke

I was shooting alongside Steve last weekend, he always has something interesting in stock.

With Enfields it is all down to what you want and more importantly, what you budget is.

If you want to splash out there are a couple of No.1 Mk.Vs for sale, these are a trial model, only 20,000 made, but you'll be looking at 3k

On the lower end are the No.4s and P14s, these can be obtained in the 3-500 range depending on condition, model etc...

Then there are the SMLE No.1 Mk.3s, these are great rifles, the sights aren't as easy to use as the No.4, P14 or No.5 but they are wonderfully smooth guns that look great, these vary from 4-600 sometimes more, if you find an early No.1 Mk.1 you're looking at 1-2k.

The No5 Carbines are around 550-700, I've never fired one, but apparently as long as you don't mind a bit of a beating with factory ammo then they're good guns (I doubt they are any worse than a Mosin M38/44 in terms of recoil)

You don't need all matching numbers for a rifle to be a good shooter. Most of the .303s that are used to place people high on the prize lists are non-matching numbers, just well put together rifles that do the job they were intended for.

Steve E wrote:You don't need all matching numbers for a rifle to be a good shooter. Most of the .303s that are used to place people high on the prize lists are non-matching numbers, just well put together rifles that do the job they were intended for.

But maybe he wants a rifle with matching numbers and isn't worried about competing with it?