Posted on 11/04/2009 2:08:16 PM PST by HuntsvilleTxVeteran
Anybody have info on 1916 MK111 Enfield rifle in good condition.
(Excerpt) Read more at swicoauctions.com ...
Who made it? If you can get it for less than $200, buy it. They’re GREAT guns. I have like four, a No 1 MkIII, a .22 trainer, a No. 5 MkI (.308 caliber made at the Indian Ishipore arsenal in the 1960’s), and a No. 4 Mk 1 from WWII. I LOVE them all. Good, sturdy, fast shooting ten round magazine bolt action rifles. Love ‘em, love ‘em, love ‘em. Ammunition is very available, even some old WWII surplus (clean extremely well after shooting). And they’re priced right, too.
Best bolt action battle rifle ever made. Watched a Brit outshoot the Gunny on TV (w/an ‘03) with a No.1 Mk III.
Is that a 2A or a 2A1? I got a 2A last November.
Sorry, I should have looked more closely at your post. I saw the pictures - it looks to be in Very Good condition. Buy it, you’ll be happy. They’re slightly less powerful ballistically than a .308. They make pretty good deer rifles, but I like them as they come from the factory. Remember too that a 1916 build date rifle was probably used in WWII. If it has the marking FTR stamped on it somewhere that means Factory Thorough Repair, which is the Brits’ way of saying they rebuilt it after use and put it in storage. Which means it’s not original, but it’s typically a real pretty shooter.
Sorry, I have a No. 4 Mk.I. Good rifle.
I'm not sure whether mine is a 2A or 2A1. It has the black painted metal, with what I believe is a teak wood stock, and an aluminum butt plate, if that helps.
Surplus ammo is hard to find; some Pakistani stuff is still available but it's corrosive.
Sellier & Bellot and Wolf Gold make target ammo that's not hideously expensive (but it ain't cheap); all the usual suspects make expensive hunting ammo.
If you choose to reload, watch for berdan primers even in brass milsurp cases. Remember that it uses a .311 inch bullet, not .308. Hornady and Sierra both make good boat-tailed 174gr target bullets, as well as hunting bullets.
I like Enfields. I liked them better when cheap surplus ammo was available.
I will try to buy it.
Six days left on auction and already up to $80.
http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/Prvi_Partizan_.303Brit_174grn_FMJ.html
Get the Boxer primed and reload yourself.
Once you learn the trick of working the bolt, you can fire almost as fast as a semi-auto. The Brits had something called the "mad minute" where they put as many rounds in a 100 yard target as possible in 60 secs. A trained infantryman could really put the lead out.
A Brit made Gunny Ermey look slow and clumsy with an '03 Springfield . . . of course the gunny got him back with the Garand, but it just goes to show how fast the rifle will shoot.
Ballistically it's about the same as a .30-40 Krag, a little less powerful than a .308.
One thing you want to do if you're going to shoot it is run it by a gunsmith and check the headspace. Since the lugs lock at the rear that measurement is critical, and if somebody's replaced the bolt along the way they can be dangerous.
The only difference is the rear sight on the 2A is calibrated to 2,000 meters, and the 2A1 is calibrated for 800m.
I’m just totally NOT surprised that you like Enfields.
I had read that what made the SMLE rifle so fast-firing was that the bolt rotates only seventy degrees, and the cock-on-closing action actually speeds up the reload cycle.
It was said that in 1914, when the British infantry consisted of seasoned veterans, their rate of fire was so fast that the Germans thought they were equipped with self-loading rifles, and called this “contemptible” and unfair.
So the “Old Contemptibles” they became, wielders of the dealy Enfield. But the trench warfare that followed decimated their ranks, and the raw recruits who took their place could not replicate that murderous rate of fire.
Small price break for 10 boxes of 20 each.
We caught them, and we shot them, under Rule 303, SIR!
Prvi, Wolf, and S&B FMJ should be available on-line for $14-$18 per box of 20. Your local gunshop may be able to order that sort for you, if you don't want to do the on-line ordering yourself.
Other than that ... roll your own.
I think mine is a 2A1. I probably would have noticed if it were calibrated for something as “optimistic” as 2,000 meters.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.