WWII No 4 MK I Enfield Bolt Action Battle Rifle. 303

[Arkan]

I am thinking about placing a bid on one of these at Gunbroker.com. The bolt serial number does not match the receiver serial number. Is that something to be concerned about?

[kickassnikov47]

unless its a lend lease rifle, that has the US property mark, i would not go more than $200 bucks on it!

[Arkan]

Originally Posted by kickassnikov47

unless its a lend lease rifle, that has the US property mark, i would not go more than $200 bucks on it!

Thanks.

[RG Coburn]

Trouble with the .303s is the shortage of any decent surplus ammo. There just isn't any.

[aquaman]

mis-matching bolts are not uncommon, when head space opened up the Brits just swapped bolts around.

[nitrous_bob]

enfields are short barreled and long action w/ round nose bullets

i have one...im no fan

your truly better off with a .30-30 model 336, and "lever revolution" ammo from hornady

assuming your not a collector, it just isnt a desireable gun for any reason other than a war relic

[Spook76]

Well, I like them...Their balance, durability and capacity make me favor them over certain other rifles. US commercial ammo will generally not be loaded as warmly as surplus or European commercial, but it's more than adequate out to a good range.

As to the bolt/any headspace concerns: Some brit armorers might very well have simply swapped whole bolts (more likely an idiot importer or bubba), but not most (as it isn't the right way to do it on an Enfield). The bolt head alone is what's changed to fix headspace on these, is cheaper/easier to do, and allows headspace to be adjusted over the life of a given rifle (especially with moving headspace due to wear/high round counts). Spare (even in NOS condition) bolt heads are available here in the states for somewhere in the $15-$40 dollar range, depending on condition and seller.

Depending on your budget and why you want one, a better option than a well-used example might be one of the un-issued/never shot (still in wrap, for that matter) post-war Number 4 Mark 2 rifles also somewhat available here. Functionally, the only meaningful difference is a more durable method of attaching the trigger. These rifles tend to have come out of the Fazarkerly arsenal, and are quite beautiful and truly in "new" condition. Going rate on this type is in the $6-850 range, depending on the seller.

For a "regular" No. 4 Mk 1, I personally wouldn't pay over $450, and that only for a really good condition one. Items to check on these are about the same with any rifle, except you might add checking magazine and general stock fit. The buttstock on these originally came in (as I recall) 4 different lengths, so if you have particularly long or short arms or the like, that would be another consideration (in other words, if one doesn't fit you can either find another that does or just buy a spare buttstock section which better fits you).

Hope that helps.

(ETA: nitrous bob says he feels these are "short barreled and long action w/ round nose bullets"...I wouldn't call a 25" barrel "short", they are actually more a "medium-length" action and can fire one of the many spitzer (pointed) bullets available in military as well as commercial loadings in .303 just as easily as the round-nosed type. I don't know what rifle he was describing, but it doesn't read to me much like a No. 4 Mk 1 Enfield...Just thought I'd mention that.)

[my-rifle]

Originally Posted by kickassnikov47

unless its a lend lease rifle, that has the US property mark, i would not go more than $200 bucks on it!

My Century rep said the same thing when he sold me three Lend-Lease Savage SMLEs for $30 each. They were "U-Fix-Ems" that were missing small parts on each rifle. I can not for the life of me figure out why they would be more valuable - except for the flaming bomb stamp. To each his own I suppose.

The Savage Enfield has a very weak bolt race milled into the receiver, and many are broken, because forceful cycling of the bolt without ammo tends to break off the tab at the front of the receiver that holds the bolt-head in place.

[nitrous_bob]

i dont know id have to dig it out and look at it

the last time i remember shooting it was probably almost 10 years ago , when it got put away i remember saying

"that's a waste of space"

so maybe its not as bad as i remember, but its quirky and worthless to me

short stock maybe makes it seem so small ? i dont know. and i remember the ammo all being round nosed like a lever gun. oh well

glad you like it, not me

theres a ton of stuff i'd take over it. mine was given to me, and i'll never get rid of it

but to buy one ????? i'd buy 1 SKS over 2 british 303's all day long

[shifty_85]

look for an enfield ishapore its in .308 much easyer to get ammo. same great fast bolt. and a 12 round mag instead of 10!

[my-rifle]

Originally Posted by nitrous_bob

i dont know id have to dig it out and look at it

the last time i remember shooting it was probably almost 10 years ago , when it got put away i remember saying

"that's a waste of space"

so maybe its not as bad as i remember, but its quirky and worthless to me

short stock maybe makes it seem so small ? i dont know. and i remember the ammo all being round nosed like a lever gun. oh well

glad you like it, not me

theres a ton of stuff i'd take over it. mine was given to me, and i'll never get rid of it

but to buy one ????? i'd buy 1 SKS over 2 british 303's all day long

I have mine, because I do like the old guns, and the Savage Enfields filled a space in my collection for the British WWII guns. That having been said I think I agree with you that it's a fugly gun, and everything about it (except the stock) feels cheap and flimsy. On the other hand it's a very accurate gun with a smooth trigger compared to my K98 Mausers, Mosin-Nagants, Austro-Hungarian M95s, and M1 carbines. The ammo I have is Privi-Partizan soft-nosed ammo that does look round-nosed even though it actually is a spitzer round.

[hockymvp]

I love mine. It was given to me by my Grandpa, and maybe that is why I love it so much. I like the larger round. I've even had people point out the shockwave moving spent shells on the ground at the range. Mine is super accurate, and the numbers match. Even on the magazine. The only problem is the ammunition cost. Thirty bucks for twenty at most locations.

[Rule7.62]

The Lee-Enfield is an outstanding battle rifle, to be honest you've come to the wrong forum for the opinions, I personally have grown up shooting my 1944 Long Branch No.4 mark 1*. Surplus ammo is sadly all dried up, but there is some VERY good ammo made commercially. I know mine will out shoot an AR at 100 yards and I have out shot quite a few AR's and more hunting rifles than I can count on both hands. As long as you keep in mind the magazine is meant only to be removed for a periodic cleaning, you should have zero issues with the rifle, if it is in serviceable shape.
I don't shoot mine as often as I used to though, ammo for it at my usual dealer has spiked up to $36, but thankfully I can get ammo at Cabela's for around $20 and that stuff shoots exceptionally. To be honest, while i greatly enjoy AK's (I really do), I would take any of my Mil-surp bolt rifles, especially my No.4 over any AK out there.
On a side note I also hunt with it in standard config (unf**ed with, lol) and it is very comfortable to carry long distances. While it is a 9.5lb rifle it's very balenced and you don't notice the weight (at least I don't)
As for the mis-matched bolt as long as it headspaces fine, you're good to go, the sad part is a good lee-enfield will run in the $400 range on average, when I got mine (back in 2005) it was $225

[Rule7.62]

Originally Posted by nitrous_bob

i dont know id have to dig it out and look at it

the last time i remember shooting it was probably almost 10 years ago , when it got put away i remember saying

"that's a waste of space"

so maybe its not as bad as i remember, but its quirky and worthless to me

short stock maybe makes it seem so small ? i dont know. and i remember the ammo all being round nosed like a lever gun. oh well

glad you like it, not me

theres a ton of stuff i'd take over it. mine was given to me, and i'll never get rid of it

but to buy one ????? i'd buy 1 SKS over 2 british 303's all day long

That's very shocking, conisdering, in terms of the No.4 i've never seen one that was a "waste of space", hell if you don't like yours I'll take it!

[talaananthes]

I had a 2A1 for a while. Got rid of it because it wasn't as accurate as I wanted out of a bolt action and .308 was getting expensive. Got a Finn M39 Mosin-Nagant and never looked back. Ammo's cheap, and it's built like a competition target rifle.

[my-rifle]

I don't like the 2A1 either. The short tangent sights are just not comfortable to me. The longer tangent sights of the Mosin/Nagants or even better the Mausers are more accurate for me, and peep sights are pretty good too.

[Seaweed02]

Originally Posted by hockymvp

I love mine. It was given to me by my Grandpa, and maybe that is why I love it so much. I like the larger round. I've even had people point out the shockwave moving spent shells on the ground at the range. Mine is super accurate, and the numbers match. Even on the magazine. The only problem is the ammunition cost. Thirty bucks for twenty at most locations.

I also love mine. I got mine brand new (or refurbished) in a brand new stock, covered in cosmoline, and beautiful when I finally got it cleaned up. I bought it about 13 years ago though and don't know if you can get them like that anymore. But mine is very accurate also, and a joy to play with although I haven't shot it in some years.

Carl