The rifle came with the original front sight but is missing the rear.  Any information that the experts could give me on this particular rifle would be appreciated. I am headed out tomorrow to see how it shoots.  I will be using Greek HXP ammo, hopefully that ammo is Good quality and will give me an idea of what the rifle is capable of. I have purchased reloading dies in plan to reload for it if I feel like it would benefit accuracy otherwise the HXP Greek ammo I have will be fine.  I tried posting pictures through Photobucket but not sure if they're going to go through 

            https://photobucket.com/share/a047e26d-b65d-4ee7-8f71-52e98ff82029" rel="nofollow - https://photobucket.com/share/a047e26d-b65d-4ee7-8f71-52e98ff82029

Well, from a brief look at the rifle your friend gave you, if he's still on this side of the grass you should keep him well supplied with scotch (or the drink of his choice) for a few years to come.

You have what looks to be a serious rifle for somebody who would enjoy serious shooting with that rifle.  I am definitely not an expert, only a guy that spent a lot of time behind Lee Enfield triggers at the range.

First, the missing original rear aperture is easily corrected and it will not cost you a lot to acquire one to keep as an accoutrement of the rifle.  The sight you got with the rifle more than makes up for not having the original sight... the originals are almost as cheap as borscht, still.

The specific details on the rifle one of the actual collector experts can supply you with.  I would hope your initial instinct to tear it to pieces to clean it didn't result in disturbing any of the bedding of the rifle which is likely to have been done by somebody using those sights in order to get the best performance out of it. Casual shooters and hunters don't put sights and sling swivels like you have there on their rifles.

You have a good chance of getting at least average grouping performance out of whatever year of HXP ball you have on hand.  I only have a few hundred rounds remaining from my stashes of '67 and '69 and it groups very, very well in my 1950 Long Branch.  I don't recall ever seeing complaints about it when it was regularly available.

I wouldn't be planning on regular occurrences of what happened last year - somebody finding another large stash of HXP after it appeared to be gone for many years.  The amount of quality surplus military ball that becomes available is rapidly decreasing every year.  When your supply of HXP runs out, you are probably going to be in a reloading situation if you want to shoot much.

With proper reloading techniques and bullet choices, you should be able to get as good or better performance than from the ball ammunition.  If you're going to reload, you'll also get much longer case life by starting out from the very first shot using proper techniques to minimize original case stretching that results in ultimately early death for the cases.

Privy Partizan brass is every bit as good as Greek HXP or any other arsenal Mk VII ball ammunition's cases.  It is generally readily available, but somebody recently posted that it was now selling for $49/50; I think the last time I bought 500 it was around $33 or something like that.  If you don't see yourself shooting that beauty that you now have in your possession much, then none of that will particularly matter as the cost of replacing brass that fails won't amount to much in the long run.

Prepping those ball rounds before firing can be done by using what is referred to as "the O-ring trick".  It's written about on most LE forums and involves slipping a thin O-ring over the case and snugging it up against the rim before chambering and firing.  A bit of a pain, but you will only have to do it one time at first firing.

For new unprimed brass like Privi Partizan or once fired cases you have acquired, you can get what is an even better result by forming a false shoulder, then reducing it until the cases chamber with a light crush fit, and then using a Lee collet neck sizing die from that point onwards for reloading.

I posted about that in specific detail last year at the link below within the Reloading forum here, and a discussion on reloading techniques and tooling for the .303 British followed in the thread that developed:

https://www.enfield-rifles.com/getting-best-results-from-your-303-british-cases_topic14147_post163582.html#163582

 If you're going to spend the time and money on components to set up for regularly reload for serious shooting at the range, one of the no-gunsmithing scope mounts that doesn't bubba the rifle in order to use a scope as a low cost investment.  And a strap on comb to raise the height of the comb will only run you about $20 - much easier to work and shoot with than pieces of guntape run around the stock to hold pieces of foam and other materials in place to do the same.

This is a cheesy picture I just grabbed as I'm about to head out to our indoor 100 yard range to test some different cast bullet loads that I'm trying a few changes with to serve as an example.

The real experts here should be along shortly and they'll help you with any details you need help with to get sorted out.  Enjoy that rifle!

https://postimages.org/" rel="nofollow">

 

the target sling mount and target sight lead me to believe it may have been used in competition - no guess where or under what circumstances but those are nice add ons , they are valuable in their own self , they add to your rifle , 

your rifle was converted at fazakerley during the contracts post war - ill have to look for my records to tell you which one [unless it was revealed above in that first long post] these were post war make work but are very well done as there was no longer urgency , 

beautiful rifle and one to be proud of - you have/had a great friend 

This is a very nice rifle, I would not mess with it.  Removing the fore-end will damage the bedding if not done right.  The rear sight alone is now getting hard to find and worth $400+.

It seems to also have the "5-round" (which frequently holds 7) Santa Fe magazine?

Or is that a different rifle?

                  The plan is to be shooting this in CMP competitions this year so I've got a little work to do before I'm ready for that.   

https://www.amazon.com/Original-Dated-British-Enfield-Fittings/dp/B01N781ZF1" rel="nofollow - https://www.amazon.com/Original-Dated-British-Enfield-Fittings/dp/B01N781ZF1

Now for the bad news if you are going to be shooting in a CMP  Vintage Military rifle match it has to be  "As Issued"  no special sights or special target bedding.  I am the CMP match director for my gun club

I thought the same - and then I looked at my rifle and saw that the reduced capacity magazines sit far closer to the bottom of the stock.  (You can see that relationship in the quick and dirty picture I posted).

But now you have me wondering if the magazine holds that many rounds; I've never loaded more than five rounds in it while shooting off the bench at the range doing testing, and never tried putting more than five rounds in it.  

Now I guess I better go try and find out.

I should probably get my friend and gunsmith/Service Rifle competitor to work over that magazine.  It is a real bear to get out of the rifle once it's seated home.  That's why it rarely leaves the gun safe and usually sits beside the Long Branch bayonet and other tidbits.  

I doubt it would take Bill more than a few moments to clean both of them up.

Eric762 wrote: The plan is to be shooting this in CMP competitions this year so I've got a little work to do before I'm ready for that.

You can save yourself replicating a lot of the groundwork by making "britrifles" here one of your closest and dearest friends.  What you're writing about is essentially replicating work he's done and ground he's travelled over the last few years, including shooting Lee Enfields in CMP competition.

While you're awaiting him seeing your posts and showing up, search this website for his posts on load development, competing in CMP, etc.

The MatchKings are, I suppose, as good as any a place to start.  But CMP is mostly a close range game, unlike Service Rifle and similar military rifle long distance pursuits.  I would suggest that within the ammunition restrictions that apply to whatever matches you are shooting, expand your testing beyond FMJ bullets to find whatever works best.

We had "heritage matches" set up by an old Service Rifle competitor for a while in the 90's after the Canadian governments new regulations for AR-15s drove a lot of people to not want to bother with the "Restricted" requirements for transportation, licensing, ranges, etc.  It got off to a bit of a slow start because it was open to bolt action rifle with military history, but the ammunition had to be FMJ as well.  That was a nod to the history of the past, but a lot who might have competed and had their best loads with non-FMJ bullets like Speer Hot-Cor and Sierra GameKing didn't bother - they just stayed home.

Once the FMJ requirement was lifted, attendance dramatically increased when guys could show up to shoot the loads they had already developed.

As for FMJ, Privy Partizan has ALL kinds of FMJs for you to try other beyond just the old standby Hornady and Sierra FMJs:

Your Sierra Matchking is the one in the middle; the Hornady to it's right.  All the others are different flavors and weights of Privy Partizan - open bases just like the Mk VII ball round.

One other nice thing - cheap like borscht when compared to Sierra MatchKings.  If they group as well or better... definitely save you some money.

 

Eric, a good barrel will shoot SMKs lights out. If you have Varget, try 40.0 grains. Seat to 3.05 for reliable magazine feeding. Other powders will work, but tough to beat Varget. 

It’s hard to beat a good 1903 American sling for CMP Service Rifle matches. I use the Turner Saddlery Biothane slings, excellent product. Will be hard to find a Parker Hale sling that attaches to the swivel at the front trigger guard screw and middle sling swivel band, and they are not legal for CMP matches. 

If you do want to compete with this rifle in CMP Matches, no one will care that much if you’re using the PH rear sight and Tunnel foresight, until you start winning! I had the PH 5C on my No. 4 for a year then began to feel somewhat guilty that I was in violation of the rules (after I learned that the rifle did not conform to the rules!). No one ever said anything to me, but as my scores climbed, I decided to fit the service sights in the rifle to be “legal”. 

The Santa Fe's need a little fitting to work well. I have 2, one is in the No5 Sporter, the other fitted for the No4 Mk2 when bagged.

I actually have little vinyl numbers on them so they don't get crossed over because they differ just enough that you have to be a gorilla to get them back out.

I have found you need to FULLY 100% depress the mag catch, because that seems to help.

Probably used as a target rifle, as has been mentioned.

Yeah, you have that right.  Particularly when you do fill the magazine (which I found does hold seven rounds after you mentioned that - I've never bothered trying more than five rounds).

There have been a few times when I've wondered if I was going to have to beat it out of rifle.  Mostly I use it at the range shooting groups to test loads.  It doesn't feed when after charged either; I think the rounds are sitting with the bullets a little too low at the front, so the bullets are driven forward by the bolt action to hang up when they hit the front of the receiver well, rather than the angled portion leading into the chamber.

I have an article somewhere regarding adjusting the magazine: I'll have to take the time and see if I can make some improvements.

Looks like the front lips of the mag need to be bent upwards slightly (but not so far that they interfere or drag on the bolt). 

If you watch the bullet tips as you slowly push a round forward with the bolt, you want the bullet tip to contact the feed ramp about 1/2 the way up the ramp.  Bend the front lips of the mag a bit at a time until the bullet tip contacts the ramp at the desired position.  File the edges of the lips smooth.  Check feeding from both left and right sides of the mag. 

Yes THIS ^^^^

Perfectly normal & the real reason why mags were serialized to the receiver! "Some minor gunsmithing required" I find to ,open the lips I use a needle-nose, as mentioned but in stead of gripping & bending the lips I slip the closed blades under the feed lips & gently pull UP by twisting them round the front of the magazine body. Use small adjustments it doesn't need much.

They should look like this (different viewpoint.)

I've known the lips at the front (and possibly also at the back) are not open enough - just compared the original mag when loaded to this one while loaded.  Position of the noses of the rounds is far deeper in this magazine than the original.

When I do get at it, I have a rat tailed file of about the right diameter to throw some wraps of gun tape around for upward prying, and if I actually have to start grabbing the lips of the magazine with needle nose pliers, more gun tape for those before putting them to work as well.

What's far more important is correcting the way this magazine currently binds in the receiver.  That's the primary concern.  A few times I thought I was never going to get it to release, even when I had the rifle upside down in my rifle vice and was using a small crowfoot on the release in order to get all my body weight behind to push the magazine release as far upward as possible.

The worst time my brother was pressing the  rifle into the bench in the vice while leaning on the crowfoot and I had some pieces of surgical rubber tubing over a monster pair of straight vice grips to grab the mag just above the 90 degree corner at the bottom to horse that thing out of there.

No marks on the magazine and where I was squeezing it just above the corner wasn't caving the sides of the magazine in.  But if that hadn't gotten it out of there with Randy holding it down and me pulling it straight up, I suppose my next stop would have been Bill's gunsmith shop.

Anyways, doing whatever needs to be done with that magazine so that it seats and unseats as easily as the original full capacity magazine needs to come first.

I don't see an issue with the quality of the workmanship.  But once the magazine is locked into the receiver, it often doesn't want to leave.  I may not be the only one to have similar issues.

I am definitely not complaining about the magazine.  I found it wandering through a pawn shop in town while my brother in law was doing his usual tour looking for used tools that call his name.  

It was sitting in a clutter of magazines, mostly for .22 rifles from the looks of them, with a $5 price tag on it.

That makes it almost investment quality for what I see them sell for now.

I expect I'll be able to get it sorted out.

Late to the party as ever!

An absolutely spot on No.4 in SR"b" configuration; although at Bisley from 1946~1968 you had to shoot SR"b" with the issue open foresight. 

The idea being is that the rifle could be converted back to "issue" SR"a" in a matter of minutes.

The NRA had decided that from 1968 the major competition, i.e. The Queens Prize would be shot with 7.62mm rifles but .303 rifles would also be allowed to enter until 1972.

The NRA also relaxed the foresight rule so the excellent AJP Parker Matchmaker could be fitted.

Regarding your Parker-Hale 5c rear sight; ironically I've just bought one with unusual markings, (P-H 5c "2") which I have yet to find how it differs from the others but it also has "big knobs" like yours.  

A friend on the Milsurps forum has told me that the bigger knob versions "can" be prone to damaging the elevation screw if dropped. I shall remember his advice if I replace my AJP 4/47 with the newly acquired P-H 5c "2" sight.

And lastly for the SR"b" nerds amongst us; the NRA (UK) will allow the use of tunnel sights from this year in what is the historic SR"b" .303 Commonwealth matches as long as a post element if fitted.

For those of us in the UK the new 2026 Classic & Historic handbook should be online in about 4 weeks time. 

  

I wonder if the “2” signified the early version of the 4 click per MOA windage arm? Is that where the “2” is stamped?  

Geoff,

Yes, 1/4 MoA.

And secondly, yes I did wonder the same?

I've now seen three of these and another friend I used to shoot with, (oilermark on eBay) has another.

Mine is numbered 74 or 75? Which I think is the highest number we have come across so far.

I believe Parker-Hales rifle records were "saved", cough! from the factory closure but unsure if anybody had the foresight, (pun not intended!) to "save" the sight manufacturing records. 

Take a good look at the front face of the mag well.

I had to sand a narrow "ridge" of compressed wood from the top front of the wood. The mag can be wedged up by that making it hard to release.

Failing that mark the entire front face of the mag with a felt marker & insert & remove it a couple of times. See where the marker color rubs off on the wood a judiciously remove material retesting frequently till the mag works the way you want.

You may also want to SLIGHTLY remove metal from the bottom metal at the tapered section at the front too.

Shamu wrote: Take a good look at the front face of the mag well...

Thank you for that; saved for future reference!