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.
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.
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.
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.
We caught them, and we shot them, under Rule 303, SIR!
Good rugged rifle. If you want to reload, however, the rear locking bolt is hard on brass, a couple of reloads is all the case will stand.
I have owned several of the various models of the Enfield. A fine rifle tho I would personally rather have a Mauser or a Springfield.
They are not quite as well finished as the Mausers and not quite as accurate but still accurate and generally well made.
The British sniper versions are real gems from what I have read and heard but also hard to find.
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.
Very fast and smooth bolt action rifle. It should be able to shoot 3 inch groups at 100 yds right off the shelf. It cocks on closing and is able to maintain the sight picture better than the Mauser that cocks on opening. The 303 cartridge is powerful enough for most North American game and there are many different loads available for the reloader. The avg. price for a VG cond. Enfield is $200-$300. I got mine 10 years ago for $75 at a department store. It’s not politically correct, but I prefer it to the 98 Mauser and the M1 Springfield.
In my experience they're wicked good shooters.
Sniping standard for awhile also.
The fastest and smoothest bolt action rifle every made. The Enfield was a great rifle. If it is in good condition and the person doesn’t want an arm and a leg, they are good buys. The action was so easy to work and the British soldiers of WWI received certain training on using the action that in some instances when the Germans went against British troops they thought they were facing machine gun fire when in reality they were up against bolt action rifles. A great classic and worth 200 or so dollars if in good shape.
WARNING! I bought one of these back in the late ‘50’s as my second deer rifle, used it for a few years, and found out that quite a number of them were shipped into this country with the rifles in one crate and the bolts in another. When they were re-assembled, they did not match them, just grabbed a bolt, and stuck it in a rifle. If you buy one of these, take it to a gunsmith and have him check the headspace. Some of these weapons have excessive headspace in the chamber because of the mismatching, and can cause big problems extracting fired cases, not to mention the danger from possible blowouts. It’s a good strong action, but the headspace needs to be checked on all of them. Good luck with it. A good gunshop should have a headspace gauge.
He told me that the biggest fun was getting the right ammo for them. They were made over such a long period that the bullet powder combo for one was horrible for the other. He had one that initially started out shooting 3 foot groups at a hundred yards. After doing some research, he realized that it had never been rebuilt and was designed to shoot cordite. After, a lot of trial and error, he got that rifle to shoot 2 inch groups (from a rest) at a 100 yards