The current and recent world record Alaska Yukon moose was killed by an enfield shooting .303 in Yukon. The hunter was wearing plaid. Probably more moose and bears killed with .303 in Canada than all other calibers combined.
The biggest deer I ever saw was shot with a .303 British. It was shot by my uncle's 78 year old father-in-law Kenneth. It was his first time deer hunting as he farmed and only raised daughters, he never took the time to go hunting. He bought the rifle as surplus in 1967 for $11. The deer is in the record books, it was a 12 pointer with a 26-1/2" inside spread and weighed 238 pounds 2 days after it was shot. It's body alone was a foot longer than any of the 200+ pound deer we shot that year. Several people shot at it including myself, all missed. It came running up by where Kenneth was standing on that drive and stood broadside 30 yards away. Because the head was even with the fence line, with his cataracts Kenneth couldn't see the horns, but knew he could shoot buck or doe and that this was an adult deer. The deer dropped dead with that first and only shot. Because the whole party was registered for the local big buck contest, he won a new rifle for the heaviest buck, and won his choice of any knife in the store because he had the widest rack. I was the person on the drive that scared it up, I look back fondly at that hunt and still am glad I missed it. It gave a 78 year old first time hunter the bragging rights of a lifetime. Kenneth is gone now, but his smile and laugh that day are memories that I will always cherish.
One more comment, the next year was the last year he felt comfortable hunting with his failing eyesight. That next year, he shot another 12 pointer that was slightly over 200 pounds close to where he shot that first deer. At almost 80 years old, this slight of build man with the huge smile was the king of the deer hunting kingdom for a full two years! He was a young man again.
@@stevenschumacher2418 Congratulations, Steven. I was just having a bit of fun. My second daughter served in the Navy for twelve years. She was a crack shot to the point some of the men didn't want to go shooting with her.
Thanks guys. The .303 was the king of the Australian outback. It could take down camels, water buffalo, big crocodiles and up to the 70's, you could buy a surplus Aussie made Lithgow SMLE in good shape for $65.00. Bayonets were $5.00. That bolt action is fast and the rifles were accurate and well made. I wish I had bought a dozen of them when they were cheap.
Brought my first SMLE from a quaint inner suburban gun shop in Brisbane back 95 for $100. Hindsight been 20/20, shouldn't have been cheap and brought a couple. No4's were going for $150 which indicates how little Australians thought of SMLEs back in the day. Better rifle, but not much historical connection to Australia. These days 99% of lithgow made SMLEs sell for more than No4's . I suspect that's due to local historical connection. And with hindsight, should've brought a cheap banger and stuffed that instead of cutting the thing down for a hunting rifle (first effort) then later turning the barrel down to 18 inches, fitting an A2 flash hinder, a Boyd's laminated stock and putting a XS scout rail with an Aimpoint M4 during the great scout rifle craze of the 2010s. Bloody good bush gun for Sambar. ( especially pushing heavy slugs in thick country) but a waste of a good FTR'd 1928 Lithgow that would be worth more unmolested than most the other civilian rifles in the rack.
@@SnoopReddogg First 303 I shot was a No1 Mk3 that was in pretty rough condition and came from Carl Schultz gun shop on Waterworks Road back in the 80’s. There was no gun laws worth mentioning so it was no big deal to go in and pick up a Milsurp bolt action and a couple of packages of surplus ball ammo then head straight out and spend a weekend shooting roo’s.
You mentioned the Lee Enfield being retired from an Indian State Police in 2020, but it was retired from the Canadian Rangers at about the same time. The Canadian Rangers are a 5000-strong reserve unit in the Canadian North. Their main role is to act as guides, scouts and trainers in wilderness survival for other units. They were issued the Lee Enfield because it is dependable in any kind of weather and had a big enough bullet to stop a polar bear.
I think the SMLE No. 4 Mark II Model - T is or may be still utilized as a basic infantry-unit’s sniper rifle, or else certainly for marksmanship training purposes, in some African Armed Forces & elsewhere. In Britain, The re-chambered No 4 Mk2 (T) into 7.62 x 51 mm NATO Rounds, & then redesigned its description as the L42A1 model sniper rifle. It actually re-entered active Army service with the advent of the NI Troubles, mainly as a counter foil to the IRA’s sniper weapon of choice at the time, the ArmeLite, A.R. - 15, & which this relatively low-intensity conflict, consequently turned out to be the longest active deployment in the British Army’s history, some 38 years (1969 - 2007; Operation Banner), saw the army 🇬🇧 reintroduce this highly accurate & dependable sniper rifle back into service from 1970 upto 1993, when the more modern & updated Accuracy International (A.I.) sniper rifle, model L96 & subsequent versions too, superseded it.
The stars ( * ) on British rifles do not have anything to do with an accuracy rating. They are indicators of minor updates made to the rifle or pattern of rifle. Ie the star on a no1 mkIII* would indicate the removed of the volley sights and magazine cutoff. Where the No1 MkIII would still have those parts deemed unnecessary.
In Australia after WWII it was a very popular rifle because so many were available, so almost every household had one. Many modifications were made from sporterizing the stock to necking down the cases to create the .22-303, .25-303, and even .270-303. The .25-303 was very popular for pigs, goats and kangaroo's throughout the 1950's and 60's, until more modern, faster calibres started to show up like the .243, .25-06 and .270. Most people though were happy to hunt with the old .303, it would knock over anything you hit it with out to 500 yards, and further if you were good enough.
I got a No4 mk2 from my grandfather. He bought it back in 1970ish still in the mummy wrap. He really didn't shoot it a lot and just kept it in the safe until I got of age to get my license. Now I'm really spoiled to have a still original Lee Enfield in beautiful condition shooting 3/4 inch groups with handloaded Sierra match kings. It's a lovely rifle.
I found an unissued 1955 No4 Mk2 in an old gun store. Although it was out of its mummy wrap, it still had its original cosmoline in the action. I could never bring myself to shoot it and eventually traded it to a Lee Enfield collector.
Not forgetting the .303 chambered Browning's on the early Spitfires, Hurricanes and the turrets of Lancaster, Wellington, Halifax et all. And the Lewis Gun.
This is the first video in the series I watched; i remember when the Enfields were so cheap and plentiful in the USA. An outstanding pedigree and also a story of innovation through incremental improvements vs starting completely over with new designs. Great video.
I remember my LGS back in the 90s selling SMLEs and Swede Mausers back in the 90s for 70 bucks each. They had big 55 gallon drums full of them. I kick myself for not buying several of each
The only thing that wasn't really mentioned is how popular Enfield's (both the No1 MK3 and No4 Mk1) became in Canada and the USA post WW2. These rifles were often sporterized and because prolific deer rifles shooting good ol 303. I'm so glad y'all finally covered it!......now on to 7Rem Mag.
I'm actually very interested to hear Ryan discuss the 7mm Rem Mag. Mainly because he's hinted at his distain for the cartridge repeatedly. I'm kind of interested to hear his logic behind that. I know it has been over hyped, at times, but what cartridge hasn't?
@@willrowell3218 it is strange since 7rem mag is a excellent cartridge… I mean I don’t own one but I almost have a couple times I have a 270win and 30/06 and 300 win mag that I never use haha I figured the 7mm rem mag would end up the same way as the 300 .. so decided to pass but been tempted it’s a excellent choice . For me though 270 win is just right easy to find ammo and I’ve never not been pleased when using the old gun. By far most accurate gun I’ve ever owned it’s remarkably accurate to where within 200 yards on paper you can barely tell more than one shot went through the same hole. Hell I shot a fly at 100 yards a year are two now I was at range with a buddy and he spotted it on paper while we were both taking turns checking zeros and I for fun out cross hairs over the fly and you could see the little fly guts on edge of the hole on paper we both talk about that like every time we see each other it was one of those moments haha. Target acquired .. Fly Down
@@JoeWayne84 I think Ryan's problem with the 7mm Remmy comes from the general lack luster results when chrono graphing the cartridge. In reality your .270 is MUCH closer to the "Big" 7 than most people are willing to admit to. Truth be told a 150 grain, .277 diameter bullet at 2850-2925 fps is going to preform very closely to a 160 grain, .284 diameter bullet of similar velocity. I chronographed a popular factory load in a friend Tikka 7 Mag, 150 gr bullet gave us roughly 2750 fps average of five shots. Probably could have handloaded a 7mm-08 and gotten better velocities. The .270 will give very similar results and will give them with less recoil and with a shorter barrel. Not to mention the .270 will have a longer barrel life. I'm told that some people are getting 3200 fps from a 160 gr bullet in the 7 Mag, until I see the chronograph test I'm not going to believe it. The big problem with the 7 is case design and bullet diameter. The smaller diameter the bullet, the more barrel length is needed to reliably burn the powder in the case. In reality the cartridge needs a 28 inch barrel, to get the full potential, but most of the time its handicapped with a 24, though Browning and Winchester offer 26". The Big 7 will do virtually everything you need it to do in the country, and I've often said that if I could only have one rifle it would be a 7 Rem Mag or a .30-06, but it does leave a lot to be desired. Keep in mind that Les Bowman invented the 280/338 Bowman? (which became the 7mm Rem Mag) to give .30-06 knock down and recoil at .270 trajectories. This it does very well. Any rifle that is MOF (Minute of Fly) sounds like a keeper. LOL. God Bless.
@@willrowell3218 very good Points , if I got I got into reloading and chronograph and load development, as a hobby I’ve tried to many times I have a press and reloading dyes and some brass powder and bullets in a closet somewhere if my wife hasn’t thrown it away yet. When I was younger I bought a bunch of that stuff and I just worked to much golfed fished and hunted to much haha wasn’t ever time and I lost interest . But yes I’m sure a lot of the stated velocity’s would not live up to the stated velocity’s for most guns and ammo. My grandad gave me his 30/06 when I was like 17 it’s a old Stevens model , then later on my Dad gave me his Ruger m77 270 that he bought when he was younger his favorite gun and it’s ended up being mine of course I went and got the 300 mag when I was 19 I think had to have it it was all the talk everyone had have it or the weatherby and sadly it was never better than my grandads old gun and like I say I almost got the 7mag it was super popular all my hunting buddy’s where going and getting them hahaha after that i realized hell you know I haven’t ever missed a deer since I was 13 shooting a 243 in fact I hadn’t ever had to even go find one they all were within 20 yards of wherever I shot em so i smartened up then figured I’d be that guy at the hunting camp who always just used one of his old rifles every year this was when I was in my early 20s and I watched freinds and guys I’ve hunted with have different rifles every year are 2 the last 20 years now it’s been fun to see how there’s always a new hot cartridge and to hear the press release on em from the person who went and bought one like they invented it. Haha I’m sure there are better cartridges and some of the newer ones are probably great innovations but I just don’t have a problem with what I’ve had my whole life. Scopes are about same way though are golf clubs ,Boats , watches ,trucks,tires,etc hell some guys just enjoy showing off toys to other guys. It takes all kinds 😉 God bless brother
The .303 was always intended to be a smokeless cartridge, but the earliest marks were made BEFORE the British had discovered/invented a smokeless powder (i.e. nitrocellulose based) so they used a compressed blackpowder charge in the case as a temporary measure. The early cartridges used round nosed bullets, just like all their military contemporaries, and switched to spitzer bullets in the first decade of the 20th century (again, like most of their military contemporaries). The militaries of the world were eager to abandon the older .45+ caliber cartridges to get higher velocities and make lighter ammunition, but the technology to make what was then named "small bore" barrels (6mm to 8mm) was only reaching industrial factories in the 1880s. The discovery/invention of smokeless powders happened at just about the same time and combining the two was very obviously a good thing. Cordite is NOT shock sensitive and will not go off if you just drop a round (even an old round). Cordite is a mix of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine (what we would now call a dual-base powder) and it is formed in spaghetti-like strands. Like all other smokeless powders it can decay with age and poor storage conditions, but it is not substantially worse than other smokeless powders in this regard. In the .303 case the cordite strands are actually slightly compressed by the bullet during seating, thus requiring a firm crimp on the bullet. There were semi-auto adaptations made to the SMLE (the World War I-era model) made as experimental rifles in the inter-war years, but no mass conversions were ever attempted. The Lee-Enfield underwent a large design change in the late 1930's which evolved into the No4 rifles (like the one you have in the video) to improve the handling and especially the ease of manufacturing versus the older SMLE (No1 Mk3) rifles. The majority of the No4 rifles were made during WWII by Savage Arms (USA) and Long Branch (Canada). The last No4 rifles were made in England in 1955. The Indian arsenal at Ishapore continued making the No1 Mk3 style rifles until the 1970s. Rechambering to .45-70 makes getting ammunition for hunting MUCH easier for many folks who don't want to reload and you get a bolt action repeater, rather than a single shot or lever action as most purpose built .45-70s are. The .45-70 may be a better cartridge for some North American big game, too. The story that the better shooting LE's had "extra stars" is entirely made up. No such markings were ever done to the LEs to indicate accuracy (some English made wartime No4's which produced very good groups during test firing were selected for being modified into the No4 Mk1 (T) sniper rifle variants). The 1903 Springfield rifles in the inter-war years could be bought with "star-gauged" barrels which had small star stamp at the muzzle to show the barrel met a tighter tolerance- this didn't necessarily prove they were more accurate however. Otherwise I don't know where he's getting this "star = accuracy" story.... The British were hoping to abandon the LE and its .303 round in the first decade of the 20th century in favor a Mauser-style action using a rimless case with better ballistics and a 7mm (.276") bullet, having been very impressed with the performance of the 7mm Mauser rifles in the hands of the Boers. They had small numbers of test/trials rifles for this new system (the Pattern 1913) but the start of World War I in 1914 stopped any plans to switch over in the middle of the war. The .303 SMLE turned out to be a very good battle rifle and the British didn't seek to replace the basic action or ammo until after WWII. Of interest, the Pattern 1913 evolved into the Pattern 1914 which was chambered in the standard .303 and was produced in large numbers by American factories during WWI for the Brits. The Pattern 1914 was modified again into the American Model of 1917 to use the .30-'06 and was produced in huge numbers for the American army. The movie reference they were looking for is from "The Longest Day" where an allied soldier uses his "cricket" clicker to try to identify friends in the darkness, but somehow (and I can't imagine how this is anything more than made-up Hollywood drama) mistakes the sound from a German soldier cycling his Kar98k Mauser action as a friendly "cricket" being clicked. th-cam.com/video/sDLcKqV_WjA/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for clarifying some of those glaring errors. It was a bit painful to watch these guys bumbling around with errors and then barely getting to the point of title of the video.
idk why these guys come on here and recirculate gun myths and wives tales. Stars on the LEs are usually for parts of the design that are omitted, deemed unnecessary to speed up war time production like removing magazine cut-off and volley sights. also in terms of accuracy the no 4s are better they have a thicker barrel . they were plenty accurate for the time, also, accuracy out to 1000 + meters is unnecessary. all that was statistically relevant was rate of fire, which Enfields excelled at. most engagements were taking place at closer range (within 300 meters) and they didn't have scopes and optics to really take advantage of the extra range they got with those full powered cartridges. the high mag capacity and fact that you don't need to disturb your sight picture to work the action means you can reacquire target faster. the system has a lot going for it
My first centerfire rifle was a SMLE Mk ll with the ladder battle sight. I was 15, it was 1969, I had my lawnmower money and I walked out of a local gun store with that rifle a 440 rounds of spam can packed corrosive ammo for $65. The following year with 180gr Remington Core-Lokt ammo it accounted for a 6 point buck and 2 doe in the Adirondack mountains. It still resides in my safe and comes out with my M1 Garand and 1903 Springfield on the 4th of July for a little exercise and education with the grandkids. I still have all my stripper clips and full of my reloads at 68 I can still perform the "Mad Minute". The cartridge is great especially if your a reloader, my 123gr (7.62x39) SP bullets are deadly on Whitetails to this day cracking along at over 2700fps just for fun holding 2 moa and filling the freezer.
"Liberator pistol" "Sounds impractical" Well, when the goal is to arm as many people as possible, to give them a chance to take the enemies weapons to use for themselves, makes a lot of sense.
Happy New Year! The reason the soldiers used 5-round stripper clips was that (unlike the U.S.) these rifles were issued with ONLY ONE magazine, which had the same serial # as the rifle, and all resupply ammo was in stripper clips. The Mad Minute was 15 rounds @ a 12" square target @ 200 yds. The .303 is the land-to-land measurement and the real size is .311 which is the groove-to-groove measurement.
The .303 is the equivalent to 7.7 mm. The .308 is the civilian version of the 7.62 Nato cartridge. I used to use a pattern '14 Enfield which later was made as the pattern '17 in .30 '06 for the American Army during WW II.
The 'clicker' you're referring to appeared in "The Longest Day" and the soldier was played by Sal Mineo. I saw the premier of the movie sitting next to my neighbor, retired General Vandergrift (portrayed by John Wayne). And although you three agree that this cartridge had limited range, just remember the No.4, Mk 1-D was the British military's primary sniping rifle from WWI through until the early 2000s. And as for the modern "scouting rifle", I'll take my No. 5 anytime - a deer @ 176 yds iron sights (1973).
@@hardingdies7811 - Re: "The 'clicker' you're referring to appeared in "The Longest Day" and the soldier was played by Sal Mineo. I saw the premier of the movie sitting next to my neighbor, retired General Vandergrift (portrayed by John Wayne)." Forgive my being pedantic, but don't you mean Wayne's character in "The Longest Day," Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort? Col. Vandervoort was awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor during the D-Day invasion and its aftermath. "Vandergrift," on the other hand, was the last name of the famous U.S. Marine Corps General renowned for his command at Guadalcanal, namely Archer A. Vandergrift, later Commandant of the Marine Corps. Vandergrift also received the Medal of Honor... so maybe that was the source of the mix-up. Lee-Enfield Mk. V No. 1 rifles - a.k.a. "Jungle Carbines" - those were a pretty good design in some ways, but it is a shame that they weren't invented earlier and that they suffered the teething problems they did, the wandering zero and so on. By the time they were produced in numbers, the bolt-action was already marked as being on the way out as the standard British service rifle, in favor of the FN FAL/L1A1. They say up in Canada that more deer have been taken with surplus Lee-Enfield rifles than anything else. Sort of the Canadian version of the 30-30 cartridge here in the 'States.
That "clip" is actually called a charger. My regiment were still using the sniper version (No.4T) in 1978 with the close ops platoon in Northern Ireland.
Suggestion: 7.5 Swiss Another interesting aspect of the early black powder 303British loads was that they contained 70 grains of a very fine black powder; approximately the same amount used in a 45-70. Anyone who has tried to load black powder in a 303 case will know that only about 50 grains of ffg black powder will fit in a 303 case. What the brits did was load a precompressed black powder pellet into the case before the case was formed into the bottleneck shape thus allowing 70 grains of powder to be loaded. This practice was carried over into the cordite era of the 303 and 375H&H cartridges.
Made my first long range kill on a large eight point buck with a borrowed 303 in 1985 at 597yds with ten of my relatives betting 100dollars that I couldn't do it! I used the money to get an exact same rifle ! Have it and the antlers to this day ! From a surplus rifle to a priceless memory ! Open iron sights and stiff action with a 7pound trigger . Thank you for making my day with the memory of this truly wonderful rifle! Have a blessed new year !
The Canadian Rangers carried the Lee Enfield up until just a few years ago, it was replaced by a Colt Canada manufactured Tikka T3 Arctic with a deployment kit.
South African hunters refer to the lee enfield as the majuba kettie (majuba slingshot). It’s a great brush gun/cartridge. With a 150gr bullet it really is very similar to the 308. With the full wood stock, the rifle is very very pleasant to shoot, and if what ever you were shooting at is not quite expired, you can help it along with that brass plate on the buttstock
We still have rangers who still prefer carrying the 303 ...there seems to be problems with the new rifle like color leaching out of the stock and feeding issues when extremely cold that they didn't even with the brit
Hey guys, very interested to see your take on what is my favourite rifle (Lee Enfield) and what it shoots, the .303. Savage made these in the US, as well as Longbranch in Canada, what you have is a No4 made by these two as well as in the UK. Australia and India kept with the No1 MK III, stars were not allocated to indicate accuracy as was stated, they were allocated to indicate the modifications made to the rifle. A machine gun version was made by NZ called the Charlton, but most were lost when the stores burnt down in a fire. When the British first fitted magazines to their service rifles, they were for emergency use only and were not meant to be removed, but could be, they were held on to the rifle by a chain to avoid them getting lost. Even with the rifle you have there the No4, they were not designed to have detachable magazines for the purpose of carrying many magazines for what is now the standard reason. The stripper clips, allowed you to load 5 rounds at a time into the 10 round magazine, this was the way that the British and other Commonwealth countries loaded the magazine. .303 projectiles are normally about .311, if you are reloading you can put 123grain projectiles from 7.62x39 over the standard projectiles. Great book and DVD's from Ian Skennerton, and Ian from Forgotten Weapons has a few videos as well.
To add to this, early versions had a magazine cutout with the rifle intended to be loaded and fired one round at a time. For emergency use, the magazine cutout was moved out of the way enabling the contents of the magazine to be used for rapid fire.
The Savage and Longreach rifles were a No.4 Mk1* due to the different sight to the Mk1. The RAAF purchased No.4s but the Australian Army used the No.1 Mk3 only. .22LR training rifles existed and the No.4 T sniper rifles were rechambered to 7.62 NATO when that changed to be the standard cartridge.
@@k2svpete Hey Peter, I didnt know that we used any thing but variants of the No1MK111. Any idea of how many No4's the RAAF purchased and what happened to them, they would be great to have in a collection. cheers
@Shane Broomhall no, I'm not sure on the numbers they used, not many in the grand scheme of things. I used to have a mint condition No.4 Mk2 that was made just as the SLR came into service so it was never issued.
@@k2svpete I think the Australian army Electrical corps were issued with no.4s as well some RAAF units , a ship carrying them was supposed to dock in Singapore just before it fell to the Japs , so it changed routes to Australia I don't think they saw combat though and I don't think they had unit or issue marks ' same situation with no 5 Jungle carbine s issued to Aussis in the Malayan Emergency. R
Thanx guys ! Owned my '44 No.4 mrk1/2 for 12 years now, and love her. You got a few things really right and a few things a little off.. Until last year, the Canadian Rangers, the small force of indignienous scouts, were issued No.4 mrk2's. I think the Indians still produce them. Re. the mad minute. They used a special technice. They used the sling around their left arm to stabilize the rifle and keep it on target - and operated the bolt back and forth with with their right thumb - hand laying flat over the trigger, witch were operated by their pinkie finger. ( Sounds difficult, but after the first 200 shots, it makes sense, part of my usual routine on the rangedays) The books by Skinnerton are the best source of information about the Lee Enfields. All accounts i have read states that the round nose boat tail bullets are the most accurate. My girl likes Privi ammo best, S&E casings split in the chamber reguarly. Beutiful Long Branch there - it will last for the next 100 years. Thanks again from Denmark.
The 303 British was actually the model/parent of our first smokeless cartridge, the 30-40 Krag. It is so close in dimensions that you can reform 303 cases into 34-40. The neck will be a little short, but it works.
The position of the bolt handle means it can be closed and the trigger reached with the middle finger without letting go of the bolt. "Bloke On The Range" has several videos demonstrating how quickly he can blast through a mad minute using the technique to go through rounds faster (and still accurately) than he can with any other bolt rifle.
@@theprojectproject01 The P14 used a Mauser modified to cock on close which helps by not disturbing the sight picture as much. It does not have the speed of the Lee Enfield .
@@geoffroberts5641 I think we're talking past each other. I know "P14" as shorthand for "Lee-Enfield, Pattern of 1914." I suspect you are referring to the Rifle,1917, which was an Enfield design but manufactured in the US; known colloquially as the P-17. I'm pretty sure I know the difference.
@@theprojectproject01No that is incorrect. The Lee Enfields are Lee actioned with Enfield pattern rifling. I believe the correct description for the P14 is "Pattern 1914 Enfield". The standard British rifle of WW1 was the SMLE which stands for Short Magazine Lee Enfield . It was designated at the time as the SMLE MkIII but between the wars was renamed Rifle No 1. The P14 is a Mauser (not Lee)actioned rifle chambered .303 based on a experimental design the P13 (Pattern 1913 Enfield)which was chambered in 0.276 Enfield. The plans to adopt the P14 were overtaken by events (WW1) so to avoid disrupting SMLE production, the P14 was manufactured, in America only, for the British Army to address SMLE shortages for WW1. Between the wars it was renamed Rifle No 3. The M1917 is simply the P14 chambered in 30.06 and adopted by the US Army. Again to address shortages in service rifles in that case for the US Army model 1903. It was referred to as the "American Enfield" but it was not a LEE Enfield. It is believed that Alvin York was actually armed with a M1917 and not a Springfield when he won his Medal of Honor, a rifle of British design and American manufacture. www.worldwar1.com/dbc/dbrifle.htm
.303 British has probably taken more big game animals in Canada than every other cartridge combined, literally every rural household had or has one, along with a Cooey .22 rifle!
I jist killed a moose with mine northern saskatchewan yesterday still shoots like a charm id rather hunt with the 303 then anything else thats how much a trust the rifle been mt favorite because my grandfather only used 303 for big game hunting
.303 was originally intended to be a smokeless cartridge, but they temporary started it as blackpowder while they were looking for the best propellant to use.
Hi guys this is my first comment. The reason for the strange to us operating format during the “made minute” drill is faster recovery on the trigger. The bolt is lifted with the thumb and forefinger, the bolt is closed with the thumb the trigger is operated with the middle finger. This is the way I was taught while working with the Brits
Dude, no idea who taught you that! The bolt should be operated with the palm of the hand, same as you do with a stick-shift gear lever. Thumb and forefinger is far too slow, with the palm you can "rotate", it's much quicker.
That was described actually in one Australian ww2 manuals that we put out. Using your palm with them is a complete waste of time. Too slow compared to thumb and finger. It is the Australian guerrilla series written by ion idress who had served with the lighthorse in ww1 and was also a sniper and spotter at different times during the war. The series is still available in print and has some interesting information in it.
I reloaded the 303 for a friend years ago, I pulled a bullet on an old surplus round to show him the strings of cordite. The 303 is definitely a classic.
Comment Number two .The stars on a Lee Enfield are Modification marks to signify that a particular rifle had been upgraded at some point , Not because they were in anyway special just they had been upgraded for detailed info on this You need to watch the C&Rsenal Lee Enfield videos , certain individual Lee Enfields rifles which were proven to be slightly more accurate than normal (even modern rifles vary from rifle to rifle !) would be selected to be given to snipers and scopes of the day fitted as appropriate . You Really need to Watch C&Rsenal Othias & Mae have tons of info on a video devoted to just this sort of thing , as does Ian at Forgotten Weapons . Thanks Guys.
Some were amazingly accurate. In South Africa, when PMP was still operational there was a sponsered shooting competion, using PMP ammo. One year it was won by a woman shooting a no4mk1 303 with a scope. 7.7mm centre to center.
@@taysondynastyemperor5124 Pretoria Metal Pressing, was an ammo manufacturer in South Africa as a division of Denel. The company is now effectively defunct, folded due to mismanagement in the late 2010's. They Made more than 70% of the Allied forces 303 ammo during WW2
Ruger made a limited run of their beautiful Number 1 in 303 British, most of these came into Canada, and like a fool I never bought one, now they are selling for almost double their original value.
To bad they ruined the look with the 22" barrel. Woulda looked way better with 26". Remembering the English sporters tended to relatively long barrels.
.303 is possibly the most popular rifle here in New Zealand, I would say that is possibly one of the biggest deer killing rounds in the world. After WW2 and up until the 80s or so there was a government run deer culling operation where guys were sent out into the mountains for months at a time to hunt deer in the millions. Almost all of the cullers were armed with iron sited .303 rifles. Also as for a full auto Lee Enfield, there was one made in WW2 in New Zealand (and copied in Australia). My grandfather was the one who test fired it during development. He was given a few thousand rounds by the army and told to try to blow it up. It was basically made by putting a gas piston and cam track on the right side of the gun. Cheers for the video.
@finnmccool3079: Yes, you’re right here! It was the Charlton Automatic Rifle (C.A.R.) created in NZ by Philip Charlton in 1941 at his own engineering workshop at the Charlton Motor Works Company in Hastings, North Island, NZ 🇳🇿
They went from .577 to .455 to .311. I have a nice No 4 Mark 1. Shoots great. I’ve heard told regarding bolt guns brought into WWll, the Germans had a hunting rifle, the Americans had a target rifle, but the British actually had a combat rifle. This was used as you said in the Vickers which was a British take on the Maxim and the Lewis Gun LMG among others. There’s a video somewhere on the net of a British trooper during WWll demonstrating fast CQB with an Enfield and he’s shooting it so fast it sounds like a semi-auto.
My Dad bought a #4mk1* in 1958 for like $15.00 still in cosmolene and paper These were used wherever the British Empire was. A very rugged and well built rifle. Thanks
Love seeing the old war dog cartridges getting some air time. Suggestion: 8x57, 6.5x52, 7x57 (or just a video on Mausers and their plethora of chamberings. Edit: They made 45-70 Enfields, I’ve seen 410 chambered ones that the Indian government used by the police during the time Britain still had it as a colony. There’s also a 22lr trainer Enfield. There were 45-70 Mausers made for the Siamese.
I don't believe anyone made .45-70 Government chambered rifles except for the US Army. Many people converted their surplus Siamese Mausers into .45-70 because it's original caliber (8mm Siamese) was essentially unobtainable and the action was long enough and large enough to be converted to .45.-70. I would need to go back and check the numbers, but it's also likely that the bolt face for the 8mm Siamese rimmed cartridge was large enough to accommodate the .45-70's rimmed case with little/no modification.
@@kibbeystovall7546 The 45-70 versions of the Lee Enfields that I have seen were sold by Navy Arms in the US. They apparently had a lot of Lee Enfields and decided to market them in a number of ways. They also sold a lot of shortened versions of the Indian 7.62x51 Lee Enfields (Ishapore 2A and 2A1's) made to look like No 5 Jungle Carbines. For a while during periods from the late 1970's until the early 2000's, batches of Lee Endfields would show up on the US market at very low prices.
@@jfess1911 When the LE rifles were first imported in large numbers (1950-60s) they were very cheap but ammo was not plentiful so the importers (like Navy Arms) did convert many to more popular calibers and shorter configurations to make them more enticing to budget buyers. But these were all CIVILIAN conversions, not military conversions.
I used the 22lr version in the cadets . The original barrel held a 22 barrel inside . The weight of the extra metal made for one hefty rifle ! Very butch .22 though , lol !
My favourite hunting load in the 303 is 47gr of Hogdon BL-C2 behind the 150gr Hornady soft point, which gives close to 2800fps at low pressures. This is so close to a 308 as to make no difference and is perfectly safe in a Lee Enfield, which action us a little 'springy' but a lot stronger than it is often thought to be. Because of the spring it pays to only neck size fired cases until the point where one feels resistance on extracting or bolt closure (usually 4 or 5 reloads) at which point just barely 'bump' the body in the die. This way a lot of full power reloads can be obtained from each case (I am using Remington and Winchester brass) without risk of head separations which can occur quite quickly in a Lee if you full length size each time. These ballistics are quite a bit more than a 30-30 in fact and are deadly at any range that a 308 can reach. Modern powders and bullets make a big difference. Here in NZ in the past the 303 has killed more deer than all the other calibres combined... a bit like the 30-30 in the USA, but the 303 is a much better long range round due to better bullet selection available for it due to the box mag. It does need a near 30-06 length action though....
@@KathrynLiz1 And your experience with "you know... that thing... action spring" is pretty much the opposite of my experience after 50+ years of reloading, with a lot of that being for the .303 British for Service Rifle competition. Most people loading Lee Enfields do some version of neck size only to end up with fire formed cases - rather than full length resizing and repeated stretching cycles leading to short case life. It's the size of the chambers cut to accept any ammunition whether covered in trench mud or verdigris... not "the spring in the action" that is the issue. The arsenals manufacturing Lee Enfields for the military weren't concerned whether ejected empty cases would have case life after being salvaged for reloading. Some of us even prep new brass before first firing to ensure there is no real stretching on even the first firing in large military chambers intended to ensure almost any ammuntion will fire. In my case, that involves creating a false shoulder in the new case that ensures a light crush fit, and then continuing the reloading cycle. That's a one time operation. And nothing to do with "you know... that thing... spring". But... there ya go!
Stars were nothing to do with accuracy, they represented interim changes made to a version before they went to the next version number, those rifles that were particularly accurate we filtered out for conversion to sniper role and maked with with "(T)"
The stars were nothing to do with quality of the weapon, they relate to the level of updates applied to the rifle in manufacture. The magazine whilst technically removable, they were only removed for cleaning, ammo was delivered in 5 round clips and always loaded via the top clip guide (no second mag was issued with the rifle)
The stars were modifications or marks. If the changes were not big enough to warrent going up a mk, they would add a star. Gibbs in Austrailia were rebarrelling shot out 303 enfields in 45-70. Just for the fun of it. I seem to recall that they went up to 45-90.
Semantics. They're known as stripper clips just about everywhere except the U.K. The terms are used interchangeably in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
Oh lord. No the stars didn’t equate to quality. They were an indication of a minor update. Lee Enfields we’re manufactured by Savage in the US. The Longbranch plant was just west of Toronto in Ontario, Canada.
According to Othais of C&Rsenal the rim on the .303 British is an important part of the Lee-Enfield gas handling system: Use of the rimmed case was thought to diminish the need to build elaborate gas control paths into the bolt and receiver. Some writers have noted the rear locking Lee-Enfield bolt was subject to compression and resulting headspace creep. The quick fix to that was an easily replaceable bolt head, a selection of which, in various lengths, was stocked by battalion level armorers so that headspace could be returned to its proper dimension.
Smle's at least have small holes drilled in the left side of the chamber. What I have been told was that in the event of a case rupture, the gas vented out those holes.
Please guys, if you're gonna talk about the 303 and/or Enfield's in general, please learn the history. There was in fact several ways that was implemented toake them fully automatic (Charlton device) , the detachable magazine was strictly for cleaning , they were made in England , USA, Canada, Australia , India, Pakistan, and of course, kyber pass copies. The mad minute was designed to teach the average soldier to lay down a volley of accurate fire. They didn't use the palm of the hand, they pinched the bolt with thumb and index finger and fired with the middle finger. The striker stays back on the way forward, after it has been fired it will not spring back on its own. The Enfield is a very fascinating piece of industrial history as well. Just study the sights on the thing , that I a very in-depth history all in its own right. I'm not criticizing or making fun of y'all, I just happen to be an enfield junkie and really want the story straight for other that are not enthusiasts. Thank you
I love my 303 mk4. I've shot numerous NRA competitions with it and next year will be taking it to Afirica for a Wildebeast and Impala slam. Great video! I love the history yall discuss on these cartridges we all love.
Hi guys. Just wanted to say that I enjoyed watching this, as my dad fought in the Second World War in the RAF Regiment and I know he used a Lee-Enfield rifle. It brought back some memories and I remember when i was a kid, I had some of the old war memorabilia that he brought back with him including the clips that would feed into the Lee-Enfield. Anyway thanks again, for the 10 minute talk.
My next-door neighbor when I was a kid had an Enfield Jungle Carbine chambered in .303 British, he wound up giving it to my older brother who still has it. I only saw my brother fire it once, so I've actually shot it more than him. It is a cool looking little carbine. The movie you're talking about with the German soldier running the bolt on his Mauser was called 'The Longest Day' (D-Day Invasion).
Machine gun belt feeding with a rimmed cartridge requires a 2 stage feed where the cartridge is first pulled backwards out of the belt, dropped down and then pushed home into the chamber. It has its pros/cons over the single stage typically used with rimless but it's still in reliable service on many of the Russian 7.62x54r PK variants.
@@k2svpete No I beleive there were other changes, than just the sights. I think one of the main ones was hanging the trigger off the metal tang vs the wooden stock, also I think some receiver and bolt knob cuts to lighten the weight. And these are all British upgrades dones in their armories.
A note about the detachable mag vs the charger clip, there were numerous accounts of soldiers not liking the detachable mags because they were both heavy and cumbersome to carry multiples of. You could carry significantly more ammunition on charger clips in your pockets and pouches than you could in magazines.
Ahh, guys, any British rifle, including the mighty Lee Enfield, marked a with a star(*), DOES NOT mean it’s more accurate! It means it’s been updated with slight upgrade to a later mark, is all….
Yes there were machine gun conversions of the Enfield 0.303. Probably the best known is the Charlton in New Zealand - Forgotten Weapons channel has a video on it.
Cordite was particularly used in the Commonwealth ammo because it was particularly durable, stable and reliable in the hot tropics where other smokeless propellants were unsuitable at the time.
Mad minute. You held the bolt in the thumb and first finger. Your second finger dropped to the trigger and you flicked the trigger. Till the mag was dry - you never let go of the bolt. Then dumped 2 clips in and kept running. It was battle accurate. Enough to do military targets at short to long range. Short is out to 300 - in the late 70's - I had a WW1 Vet shooting a 30" target at 1000 yds. It was a 5 ft square target - I patched 30 inches across. Quite a shooter. Me - a grandson of a Canadian WW1 Vet.
The "Clickers" in the movie reference were known as Crickets. The movie was The Longest Day, starring John Wayne, Henry Fonda, and Robert Mitchum, made in 1969 and (surprisingly) rated G.
I was camping on the border of South Africa and Namibia (former German colony) and found an old .303 case on a mountain, did research on the headstamp and found that it was made in the late 1800s, most likely fired when South Africa invaded German South West Africa (Namibia) at the start of World War 1.
Interesting note: The Canadian Rangers were issued with the .303 Lee-Enfield No4 in 1947. The rifle and cartridge remained in service until it was replaced by the C19/T3 in 2015. Apparently, it was a well-liked rifle that worked really well in the arctic conditions.
The "mad minute" .303 shooters I've seen all manipulate the bolt with the thumb and index fingers, and fired with the little finger. I don't think the star has anything to do with accuracy. Don't quote me, but from memory it's a modification indication. Most SMLE's in Australian service were No.1 Mk3* for example.
Some homework needed here boys...stars denote upgrade modifications, not condition, usually found on an SMLE. My personal No 4 Lee Enfield is a mark 1 / 2, which denotes a major upgrade from mark 1 to a mark 2 by the Fazakerly armoury Liverpool done in 1951. . 303" is the diameter of the rifle groove, and the bullet diameter is .311'" (Movie was the Longest day) call me a smartass.
The film Jim mentioned with the clickers is The Longest Day, and it was shown in the UK over Christmas. Great film, sadly they don't make them like that anymore.
A few points of interest. The real "Pluskat" (in the Utah beach bunker) was one of the tech advisors on the film; the actor who played Major Howard (the C.O. of the raid on Pegasus Bridge) was ACTUALLY the Executive Officer on the real raid so that portrayal as well is as accurate as you can get. And the film had the largest cast of international stars in any film made.
2:48, the last of the police force Lee Enfield's have been re bored to 308 OR 4.10 which is where the 4.10 came from originally. 3:40. it look like you have modern or USA made rounds there, none look like Ball rounds. 3.56 only aftermarket round were smokeless powder. the British never used anything other than cordite. 6:21 black powder. correct, the pellet was inserted before the cartridge was necked down. 70 grain with 215 round nose projectile. 8:30, cordite didn't give any more velocity over black powder, initially. the first advancement was with the splizer bullet. then she hot 2K 1914 . 8:46, cordite is so unstable, sorry completely rubbish. the petroleum jelly which is more a wax, protected the charge from environmental issues, it was more resilient to heat than even modern powders. just look at the way it was made, violent extrusion. sorry you are repeating a modern myth! 11:12 there were a few Machine gun modification done on lee Enfield's, look at the New Zealand war museum Auckland for one. and before you start knocking the Kiwis, remember it was the Kiwis who trained and feed the marines so they could take Guadalcanal 11:30 what do you think a The M1917. 13:42 clip loading has advantages, not only with logistics, but a 5 round load is quicker with a clip and a 10 round load is just quicker. modern 20-30 round loads are obviously quicker today. the other advantage that with training, stripper clip loading was done with no eyes. 14.02 correct run the bolt with your palm, trigger finger is your second finger not you index finger. NB German comments at the battel of the Mons. 14:08, not as accurate as Springfield's. sorry not correct. for every bad shooting Springfield there is a bad shooting Lee and visa versa. the main American problem with this is the barrel bench. give that this was an American development it seems to have been forgotten when setting up a Mk4 lee. SLME and Long lees were different again and a Springfield would out shoot both of them. 15:31 more stars = sharpshooter. i fell off my chair laughing so much at that comment. more stars and depending on how long she was in service and where the stars are stamped, could be defects, defects fixed or two arrows that look like a star = sold out of service. Mat you more star comment is a cracker of foolishness. to add the Lee Enfield has been chambered in everything from .22 short to 7.65. even a bunch made in Australia in 7.62x39. but the American government got upset and confiscated them! oh i give up you guys need to really check some facts first, credibility = 0
You forgot to mention the different sight systems which are interesting! My original 2000 yard barrel sight was bent so I put a Williams receiver sight on mine and now have a peep sight better for my old eyes. Mine is sporterized and has good rifling and was a $200.00 pawn shop purchase! I’m happy to shoot it and am sorry you gentlemen didn’t talk about it’s ballistics. I intended to load up some blazing rounds but have lowered my expectations so it will serve another generation! John Russell used to carry a sporterized version of that Enfield in a 1950’s tv series about the adventures of an African Guide! I never forgot it! JWC
I watched another video about the Enfield and they stated a British army SGT managed to put 38 rounds on a 10 inch target at 300yrds in a minute, now that's a record to beat 😁
So many incorrect statements in this discussion! The STARS have nothing to do with the quality control or exceptional quality of the firearm technically. The Stars are there to indicate the model designation via a system of upgrading or deletions of small parts. Regarding the method of rapid fire for the Mad Minute. The Commonwealth Nations did not cycle the bolt with the palm of the hand, it was done using the fore finger and thumb on the bolt and the middle finger on the trigger. As for Accuracy vs the 1903 ... go take a look at the 1000 yard records at Bisley and then come back again! In future it pays to do real research on weapons before discussing them ... nothing good comes from bad information.
The official Mad Minute was 38 shots on a 12” target at 300 yards in 1914. Stars did not rate the quality of the Rifle it only indicated a modification with one star, maybe 2. The Spitfire Fighter Plane initially used .303 machine guns as well.
Great video! But it should be "The 308 basically a 303?" since the 303 predates the 308 by 60 years. The stamped star indicates the rifle has a different method of mounting the trigger.No4Mk1 * It's a 'charger' NOT a clip. The British soldier was not expected to remove the magazine except to clean it (as they would undoubtedly have lost it in the excitement of battle) The Japanese used the 7.7 round which was a copy of the 303 British .311 dia. In Australia post war there were few calibre options available to the hunter, so a great variety of wildcats were developed based on the 303 British. Several .224 calibre rounds from the 303/22 Wasp a very short case necked down to .224, up to the 303/22 Sprinter which was just a full sized 303 necked to .224. There were 303/243s, 303/25s, 303/270s, 303/35s and a straight walled 'pig buster' the 303/375 (I have several cases). The British understated many calibres: e.g. 303 = .311" 310 = .323" America overstates some calibres: e.g. 38 = .357" etc. The British were not 'sporting' about their ammo and when soft nose ammo was banned, they developed a bullet that was inherently unstable. A cone of Bakelite or aluminium was put inside the nose of the ball (FMJ) bullet that then made it base heavy and very likely to tumble after encountering the body of the enemy. I found this out to my dismay after throwing a pulled bullet into the lounge room fire and having it go bang as the molten lead was expelled through the hole in the base by the burnt bakelite. Mum was not happy with the burnt carpet.
Brought back a Martini Henry Mk IV and a MLE back from Afghanistan. The Brits were on the verge of abandoning the SMLE in 1913/1914 and were going to adopt the Pattern 1913 in .276 Enfield but war was declared, and they needed lots of rifles yesterday. The P13 was put into production instead in .303 and that's the Pattern 1914 which were made in the USA by Winchester, Remington and Eddystone. This rifle would later be rechambered for the .30-06 as the M1917
@jectproject01 P14 has a one piece stock. The MLE/SMLE series uses a different action that uses a 2 piece stock. The Enfield action was designed by James Paris Lee and first produced as the Remington Lee 1879 in .45-70
Good video. The 303 was used in Canada by the Canadian Rangers from 1947 till 2018. ( is a sub component of the Canadian army. ) Used in arctic patrols. Saying something about the reliability and performance of the round. Still used by many hunters for moose and deer hunting.
Great discussion. Another historical note. After GB moved on from the SMLE and like Mk. IV bolt rifles in the 1950s, they gave tooling and production machinery to India. The Indian arsenal at Ishapore then contined for many years producing the WWI traditional SMLE model but using higher quality / stronger steel for the receiver and chambering the rifles in NATO 7.62 /.308, often referred to as Ishapore Enfields. They are more afforadable now than a WWI - WWII era SMLEs but are fine rifles for target shooting, and 7.62 generally is cheaper than .303. Most were rode hard and put away wet and rearsenaled with ugly black paint - but they shoot, although the original SMLE sights are horrible and difficult to see for a 50 something like me.
India was producing Lee Enfield's prior to WW1, Pakistan got a lot of the No4 mk1 tooling to manufacture parts to refurbish (and possibly build new) guns. The stars were to indicate changes that weren't big enough to merit a new mark number. I do own Indian made Enfield's in .303, .410, and 7.62x51. Only the .410 is a conversion, it was converted from .303 in India.
@@robertlewis8295 Thanks! I much enjoy shotting my Ishapore in 7.62. I also have a Waw II era No. 4 Mk. 1 Savage made that is in really nice condition amd a great shooter - much better peep sight.
Another Canuck chiming in on this... first centerfire "hunting rifle" I owned was... .303 brit. Number of years used? Over 10. Animals taken? Rabbit, skunk, coyotes, wolves, Sitka deer, whitetail deer, mule deer, elk, moose, black bear. We still have a Enfield in the house... we bring it out every year and stretch its legs but we have other guns we hunt with now. But going out on a limb here I'd say that 95% of Canadians who started hunting prior to 2000 this was there first exposure and or first hunting cartridge.
I had an Enfield in .45ACP. You can ask why, I will say that it used 1911 magazines ( detachable) fired common, off the shelf ammo with subsonic results and yes, I fitted it with a silencer. Beautiful suppressed rifle. I wish I had kept it. I even hot loaded some rifle specific rounds that chrono'ed at 1200FPS.
Siamese Mausers were also rechambered for 45-70 gov. Another convert is 30-40krag like mine 😁. If I were to get another one I’d probably stick to the original 303. Also our Model 1917 rifles were originally based off the P14 Enfields made by **Winchester, Eddy stone, and Remington. Thank you comment below I was thinking too fast for myself or something.
The older Enfields have a cut off plate so you can load one round at a time. Only when ordered by an officer can you remove that plate and feed rounds from the magazine. This is ww1 era SMLE when the doctrine was we don't trust them silly squaddies to conserve ammunition that they don't pay for. "What what"
My grandpa had a 1908-ish (going by memory) Enfield lever action, made by Winchester in British .303. He was an American, bought a ranch in Canada in the late ‘50s (you could buy enormous amounts of land back then) and told me he bought it from an old WWII veteran. He said it was a “jungle gun” and mentioned he had to be extremely careful buying ammo because it was British .303 and not American .303. I was a little kid and didn’t understand that. One of my uncles picked it up after my grandfather passed away and all I have left is a handwritten note of the markings before he packed it off. He immediately sold it. But it was a beautiful lever gun, perfect sweep, smooth action. I wish I could show it to you gentlemen because I can’t find anything on it. It doesn’t seem to exist, I’m guessing a contracted rifle to spec for Burma? Which would explain the Winchester and the Enfield stamps (with the crown mark), just a heart breaker. He loved that rifle, one of my earliest memories was maybe 4years old in 300 Mile, British Columbia. Late 70s, and he dropped a moose with that gun. Right in its tracks. In 4’ of snow and it took the whole family all night to bring that moose in. Wish I had that rifle. Been looking for one ever since and like I mentioned it doesn’t seem to exist.
Wartime manufacturing is my only guess. But I’m not making this up. If anyone could help me identify this type of rifle I’d appreciate the help. It had a stamp of Enfield, by Winchester. British .303. Lever action. Something like 1908 to 1912 and it was supposedly made as a “jungle gun”. That was the comment, it was brought home from the war by a Canadian Burma soldier.
Also, I think cordite swells up in humidity and causes jambs. I’m like wrong as this is anecdotal , that’s from one of my uncles that was in Vietnam very early on and hated the original M-16. He said the early versions the bolt would rust up and the ammo powder was some type of stick powder and you couldn’t leave a round in the chamber for long as the powder would accumulate moisture, swell the brass and it would jamb. It’s funny because to this day I won’t use any rifle descended from Stoner, which is dumb but that’s a human reaction and how traditions get started. Right or wrong.
The stars designate a change within a given Mark....and has nothing to do with quality. Next, the original Lee patent rifle was in 45-70, which predates the Brits adoption of the action. Next, the .303 cartridge was designed as a smokeless round, but was briefly loaded in black powder pending the full development of cordite.
I shot these as a cadet back in the day. The full size was a beast. We also shot 22lr conversions which were lovely to shoot. I also shot a converted Martini which in my opinion sucked. Horrible balance but the 22 Enfield was fantastic. I even won a competition with it.
I had numerous Lee Enfiend's which have all been sold off but my favorite was my 303 Parker Hale with flip up sights and removable scope mount. Like an HD Scout Rifle. They rebarrelled these in 308, 30-06, and some Whelens.
I doubt they would have rebarreled the Lee Enfield in those calibers. It can't take the pressure. The P14 and M1917 Enfields on the other hand, have strength in spades for the job.
The current and recent world record Alaska Yukon moose was killed by an enfield shooting .303 in Yukon. The hunter was wearing plaid.
Probably more moose and bears killed with .303 in Canada than all other calibers combined.
Id agree with this. The 303 probably has put more game down here than any other cartridge. I love mine but ammo is expensive now and I reload mine.
The biggest deer I ever saw was shot with a .303 British. It was shot by my uncle's 78 year old father-in-law Kenneth. It was his first time deer hunting as he farmed and only raised daughters, he never took the time to go hunting. He bought the rifle as surplus in 1967 for $11. The deer is in the record books, it was a 12 pointer with a 26-1/2" inside spread and weighed 238 pounds 2 days after it was shot. It's body alone was a foot longer than any of the 200+ pound deer we shot that year. Several people shot at it including myself, all missed. It came running up by where Kenneth was standing on that drive and stood broadside 30 yards away. Because the head was even with the fence line, with his cataracts Kenneth couldn't see the horns, but knew he could shoot buck or doe and that this was an adult deer. The deer dropped dead with that first and only shot. Because the whole party was registered for the local big buck contest, he won a new rifle for the heaviest buck, and won his choice of any knife in the store because he had the widest rack. I was the person on the drive that scared it up, I look back fondly at that hunt and still am glad I missed it. It gave a 78 year old first time hunter the bragging rights of a lifetime. Kenneth is gone now, but his smile and laugh that day are memories that I will always cherish.
Gotta love stories like that. He had decades of missed hunting to catch up on and did it all at once!
One more comment, the next year was the last year he felt comfortable hunting with his failing eyesight. That next year, he shot another 12 pointer that was slightly over 200 pounds close to where he shot that first deer. At almost 80 years old, this slight of build man with the huge smile was the king of the deer hunting kingdom for a full two years! He was a young man again.
Moral of the story: if ya wanna have fun, and live life to the full, don't have daughters.
I have 3 daughters, some of my best hunting partners.
@@stevenschumacher2418 Congratulations, Steven. I was just having a bit of fun. My second daughter served in the Navy for twelve years. She was a crack shot to the point some of the men didn't want to go shooting with her.
Thanks guys. The .303 was the king of the Australian outback. It could take down camels, water buffalo, big crocodiles and up to the 70's, you could buy a surplus Aussie made Lithgow SMLE in good shape for $65.00. Bayonets were $5.00. That bolt action is fast and the rifles were accurate and well made. I wish I had bought a dozen of them when they were cheap.
Up to the early 90’s they were cheap and plentiful , and the 10 round mags
still have a 303 scrub rifle , cut down lithgow open sights , pig ugly but still drops skippy with no issues
Brought my first SMLE from a quaint inner suburban gun shop in Brisbane back 95 for $100. Hindsight been 20/20, shouldn't have been cheap and brought a couple. No4's were going for $150 which indicates how little Australians thought of SMLEs back in the day. Better rifle, but not much historical connection to Australia. These days 99% of lithgow made SMLEs sell for more than No4's . I suspect that's due to local historical connection.
And with hindsight, should've brought a cheap banger and stuffed that instead of cutting the thing down for a hunting rifle (first effort) then later turning the barrel down to 18 inches, fitting an A2 flash hinder, a Boyd's laminated stock and putting a XS scout rail with an Aimpoint M4 during the great scout rifle craze of the 2010s.
Bloody good bush gun for Sambar. ( especially pushing heavy slugs in thick country) but a waste of a good FTR'd 1928 Lithgow that would be worth more unmolested than most the other civilian rifles in the rack.
@@SnoopReddogg First 303 I shot was a No1 Mk3 that was in pretty rough condition and came from Carl Schultz gun shop on Waterworks Road back in the 80’s. There was no gun laws worth mentioning so it was no big deal to go in and pick up a Milsurp bolt action and a couple of packages of surplus ball ammo then head straight out and spend a weekend shooting roo’s.
ya it could still be that if you were making 7 an hour sounds like someone from the gun boards
You mentioned the Lee Enfield being retired from an Indian State Police in 2020, but it was retired from the Canadian Rangers at about the same time. The Canadian Rangers are a 5000-strong reserve unit in the Canadian North. Their main role is to act as guides, scouts and trainers in wilderness survival for other units. They were issued the Lee Enfield because it is dependable in any kind of weather and had a big enough bullet to stop a polar bear.
Ya beat me to it but you gotter
The RCMP used the P.14 .303 until the 90s!
And they replaced it with a Tikka in 308, that seems to have problems from the get go.
@HondoTrailside I have friends who are rangers and the colors are leaching off the laminated stocks 😢
I think the SMLE No. 4 Mark II Model - T is or may be still utilized as a basic infantry-unit’s sniper rifle, or else certainly for marksmanship training purposes, in some African Armed Forces & elsewhere.
In Britain, The re-chambered No 4 Mk2 (T) into 7.62 x 51 mm NATO Rounds, & then redesigned its description as the L42A1 model sniper rifle. It actually re-entered active Army service with the advent of the NI Troubles, mainly as a counter foil to the IRA’s sniper weapon of choice at the time, the ArmeLite, A.R. - 15, & which this relatively low-intensity conflict, consequently turned out to be the longest active deployment in the British Army’s history, some 38 years (1969 - 2007; Operation Banner), saw the army 🇬🇧 reintroduce this highly accurate & dependable sniper rifle back into service from 1970 upto 1993, when the more modern & updated Accuracy International (A.I.) sniper rifle, model L96 & subsequent versions too, superseded it.
7.62x39: I killed more people than any round in History!
303British: Slowly places pint glass down on table and stands up........
Every year that passes makes this more and more untrue haha
The stars ( * ) on British rifles do not have anything to do with an accuracy rating. They are indicators of minor updates made to the rifle or pattern of rifle. Ie the star on a no1 mkIII* would indicate the removed of the volley sights and magazine cutoff. Where the No1 MkIII would still have those parts deemed unnecessary.
Yes the mk111* was a First World War (1917) mod to try to reduce cost and increase production numbers. My father had one in the Grenadiers in WW2.
What do the stars on the top of the barrel mean i wonder if thats what he was talking about
The guy is just talking out the ass. Kind of cringe and really makes you not take anything else he says as factual
Didn't all the Savages get a star ?
@@SuperDanrobinson yes, along with the Long Branch No 4s. They got the star because it was a modified design.
In Australia after WWII it was a very popular rifle because so many were available, so almost every household had one. Many modifications were made from sporterizing the stock to necking down the cases to create the .22-303, .25-303, and even .270-303. The .25-303 was very popular for pigs, goats and kangaroo's throughout the 1950's and 60's, until more modern, faster calibres started to show up like the .243, .25-06 and .270. Most people though were happy to hunt with the old .303, it would knock over anything you hit it with out to 500 yards, and further if you were good enough.
Almost every house hold had one?.
No they didnt😂😂
Here in NZ 303 was and still is a very common deer cartridge. I still use my no4 to cull mobs of goats.
I got a No4 mk2 from my grandfather. He bought it back in 1970ish still in the mummy wrap. He really didn't shoot it a lot and just kept it in the safe until I got of age to get my license. Now I'm really spoiled to have a still original Lee Enfield in beautiful condition shooting 3/4 inch groups with handloaded Sierra match kings. It's a lovely rifle.
I found an unissued 1955 No4 Mk2 in an old gun store. Although it was out of its mummy wrap, it still had its original cosmoline in the action. I could never bring myself to shoot it and eventually traded it to a Lee Enfield collector.
The 308 is actually designed to mimic 303 performance
.75 inch groups my ass.
Maybe if you cheat and do 2 round groups
The Bren Gun was chambered in .303 british and it fed via a top mounted magazine. Loving the cartridge talks, thanks guys :)
Legendary light machine gun......
The mounted Vickers machine gun was also chambered in .303 British (and eventually a wide variety of other calibers)
Also had browning chambered in 303 ,had to be open bolt though
A "Squad light automatic".
Not forgetting the .303 chambered Browning's on the early Spitfires, Hurricanes and the turrets of Lancaster, Wellington, Halifax et all. And the Lewis Gun.
The “Clicker” scene was in The Longest Day. Which is a phenomenal WWII movie.
My Father-in-Law was in the Canadian Army and involved with D-Day. He would watch "The Longest Day" each year on the anniversary of the invasion.
This is the first video in the series I watched; i remember when the Enfields were so cheap and plentiful in the USA. An outstanding pedigree and also a story of innovation through incremental improvements vs starting completely over with new designs. Great video.
I remember my LGS back in the 90s selling SMLEs and Swede Mausers back in the 90s for 70 bucks each. They had big 55 gallon drums full of them. I kick myself for not buying several of each
Somewhere in the region of 7-8 Million Lee Enfields were made.
The only thing that wasn't really mentioned is how popular Enfield's (both the No1 MK3 and No4 Mk1) became in Canada and the USA post WW2. These rifles were often sporterized and because prolific deer rifles shooting good ol 303.
I'm so glad y'all finally covered it!......now on to 7Rem Mag.
I'm actually very interested to hear Ryan discuss the 7mm Rem Mag. Mainly because he's hinted at his distain for the cartridge repeatedly. I'm kind of interested to hear his logic behind that. I know it has been over hyped, at times, but what cartridge hasn't?
@@willrowell3218 it is strange since 7rem mag is a excellent cartridge… I mean I don’t own one but I almost have a couple times I have a 270win and 30/06 and 300 win mag that I never use haha I figured the 7mm rem mag would end up the same way as the 300 .. so decided to pass but been tempted it’s a excellent choice .
For me though 270 win is just right easy to find ammo and I’ve never not been pleased when using the old gun. By far most accurate gun I’ve ever owned it’s remarkably accurate to where within 200 yards on paper you can barely tell more than one shot went through the same hole.
Hell I shot a fly at 100 yards a year are two now I was at range with a buddy and he spotted it on paper while we were both taking turns checking zeros and I for fun out cross hairs over the fly and you could see the little fly guts on edge of the hole on paper we both talk about that like every time we see each other it was one of those moments haha. Target acquired .. Fly Down
@@JoeWayne84 I think Ryan's problem with the 7mm Remmy comes from the general lack luster results when chrono graphing the cartridge. In reality your .270 is MUCH closer to the "Big" 7 than most people are willing to admit to. Truth be told a 150 grain, .277 diameter bullet at 2850-2925 fps is going to preform very closely to a 160 grain, .284 diameter bullet of similar velocity. I chronographed a popular factory load in a friend Tikka 7 Mag, 150 gr bullet gave us roughly 2750 fps average of five shots. Probably could have handloaded a 7mm-08 and gotten better velocities. The .270 will give very similar results and will give them with less recoil and with a shorter barrel. Not to mention the .270 will have a longer barrel life. I'm told that some people are getting 3200 fps from a 160 gr bullet in the 7 Mag, until I see the chronograph test I'm not going to believe it. The big problem with the 7 is case design and bullet diameter. The smaller diameter the bullet, the more barrel length is needed to reliably burn the powder in the case. In reality the cartridge needs a 28 inch barrel, to get the full potential, but most of the time its handicapped with a 24, though Browning and Winchester offer 26". The Big 7 will do virtually everything you need it to do in the country, and I've often said that if I could only have one rifle it would be a 7 Rem Mag or a .30-06, but it does leave a lot to be desired. Keep in mind that Les Bowman invented the 280/338 Bowman? (which became the 7mm Rem Mag) to give .30-06 knock down and recoil at .270 trajectories. This it does very well. Any rifle that is MOF (Minute of Fly) sounds like a keeper. LOL. God Bless.
@@willrowell3218 very good
Points , if I got I got into reloading and chronograph and load development, as a hobby I’ve tried to many times I have a press and reloading dyes and some brass powder and bullets in a closet somewhere if my wife hasn’t thrown it away yet. When I was younger I bought a bunch of that stuff and I just worked to much golfed fished and hunted to much haha wasn’t ever time and I lost interest .
But yes I’m sure a lot of the stated velocity’s would not live up to the stated velocity’s for most guns and ammo. My grandad gave me his 30/06 when I was like 17 it’s a old Stevens model , then later on my Dad gave me his Ruger m77 270 that he bought when he was younger his favorite gun and it’s ended up being mine of course I went and got the 300 mag when I was 19 I think had to have it it was all the talk everyone had have it or the weatherby and sadly it was never better than my grandads old gun and like I say I almost got the 7mag it was super popular all my hunting buddy’s where going and getting them hahaha after that i realized hell you know I haven’t ever missed a deer since I was 13 shooting a 243 in fact I hadn’t ever had to even go find one they all were within 20 yards of wherever I shot em so i smartened up then figured I’d be that guy at the hunting camp who always just used one of his old rifles every year this was when I was in my early 20s and I watched freinds and guys I’ve hunted with have different rifles every year are 2 the last 20 years now it’s been fun to see how there’s always a new hot cartridge and to hear the press release on em from the person who went and bought one like they invented it. Haha
I’m sure there are better cartridges and some of the newer ones are probably great innovations but I just don’t have a problem with what I’ve had my whole life. Scopes are about same way though are golf clubs ,Boats , watches ,trucks,tires,etc hell some guys just enjoy showing off toys to other guys.
It takes all kinds 😉
God bless brother
Yes we had Santa Fe and Parker & Hale selling them in the USA
The .303 was always intended to be a smokeless cartridge, but the earliest marks were made BEFORE the British had discovered/invented a smokeless powder (i.e. nitrocellulose based) so they used a compressed blackpowder charge in the case as a temporary measure. The early cartridges used round nosed bullets, just like all their military contemporaries, and switched to spitzer bullets in the first decade of the 20th century (again, like most of their military contemporaries).
The militaries of the world were eager to abandon the older .45+ caliber cartridges to get higher velocities and make lighter ammunition, but the technology to make what was then named "small bore" barrels (6mm to 8mm) was only reaching industrial factories in the 1880s. The discovery/invention of smokeless powders happened at just about the same time and combining the two was very obviously a good thing.
Cordite is NOT shock sensitive and will not go off if you just drop a round (even an old round). Cordite is a mix of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine (what we would now call a dual-base powder) and it is formed in spaghetti-like strands. Like all other smokeless powders it can decay with age and poor storage conditions, but it is not substantially worse than other smokeless powders in this regard. In the .303 case the cordite strands are actually slightly compressed by the bullet during seating, thus requiring a firm crimp on the bullet.
There were semi-auto adaptations made to the SMLE (the World War I-era model) made as experimental rifles in the inter-war years, but no mass conversions were ever attempted.
The Lee-Enfield underwent a large design change in the late 1930's which evolved into the No4 rifles (like the one you have in the video) to improve the handling and especially the ease of manufacturing versus the older SMLE (No1 Mk3) rifles. The majority of the No4 rifles were made during WWII by Savage Arms (USA) and Long Branch (Canada). The last No4 rifles were made in England in 1955. The Indian arsenal at Ishapore continued making the No1 Mk3 style rifles until the 1970s.
Rechambering to .45-70 makes getting ammunition for hunting MUCH easier for many folks who don't want to reload and you get a bolt action repeater, rather than a single shot or lever action as most purpose built .45-70s are. The .45-70 may be a better cartridge for some North American big game, too.
The story that the better shooting LE's had "extra stars" is entirely made up. No such markings were ever done to the LEs to indicate accuracy (some English made wartime No4's which produced very good groups during test firing were selected for being modified into the No4 Mk1 (T) sniper rifle variants). The 1903 Springfield rifles in the inter-war years could be bought with "star-gauged" barrels which had small star stamp at the muzzle to show the barrel met a tighter tolerance- this didn't necessarily prove they were more accurate however. Otherwise I don't know where he's getting this "star = accuracy" story....
The British were hoping to abandon the LE and its .303 round in the first decade of the 20th century in favor a Mauser-style action using a rimless case with better ballistics and a 7mm (.276") bullet, having been very impressed with the performance of the 7mm Mauser rifles in the hands of the Boers. They had small numbers of test/trials rifles for this new system (the Pattern 1913) but the start of World War I in 1914 stopped any plans to switch over in the middle of the war. The .303 SMLE turned out to be a very good battle rifle and the British didn't seek to replace the basic action or ammo until after WWII. Of interest, the Pattern 1913 evolved into the Pattern 1914 which was chambered in the standard .303 and was produced in large numbers by American factories during WWI for the Brits. The Pattern 1914 was modified again into the American Model of 1917 to use the .30-'06 and was produced in huge numbers for the American army.
The movie reference they were looking for is from "The Longest Day" where an allied soldier uses his "cricket" clicker to try to identify friends in the darkness, but somehow (and I can't imagine how this is anything more than made-up Hollywood drama) mistakes the sound from a German soldier cycling his Kar98k Mauser action as a friendly "cricket" being clicked.
th-cam.com/video/sDLcKqV_WjA/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for clarifying some of those glaring errors. It was a bit painful to watch these guys bumbling around with errors and then barely getting to the point of title of the video.
idk why these guys come on here and recirculate gun myths and wives tales. Stars on the LEs are usually for parts of the design that are omitted, deemed unnecessary to speed up war time production like removing magazine cut-off and volley sights. also in terms of accuracy the no 4s are better they have a thicker barrel . they were plenty accurate for the time, also, accuracy out to 1000 + meters is unnecessary. all that was statistically relevant was rate of fire, which Enfields excelled at. most engagements were taking place at closer range (within 300 meters) and they didn't have scopes and optics to really take advantage of the extra range they got with those full powered cartridges. the high mag capacity and fact that you don't need to disturb your sight picture to work the action means you can reacquire target faster. the system has a lot going for it
My first centerfire rifle was a SMLE Mk ll with the ladder battle sight. I was 15, it was 1969, I had my lawnmower money and I walked out of a local gun store with that rifle a 440 rounds of spam can packed corrosive ammo for $65. The following year with 180gr Remington Core-Lokt ammo it accounted for a 6 point buck and 2 doe in the Adirondack mountains. It still resides in my safe and comes out with my M1 Garand and 1903 Springfield on the 4th of July for a little exercise and education with the grandkids. I still have all my stripper clips and full of my reloads at 68 I can still perform the "Mad Minute". The cartridge is great especially if your a reloader, my 123gr (7.62x39) SP bullets are deadly on Whitetails to this day cracking along at over 2700fps just for fun holding 2 moa and filling the freezer.
"Liberator pistol"
"Sounds impractical"
Well, when the goal is to arm as many people as possible, to give them a chance to take the enemies weapons to use for themselves, makes a lot of sense.
Happy New Year! The reason the soldiers used 5-round stripper clips was that (unlike the U.S.) these rifles were issued with ONLY ONE magazine, which had the same serial # as the rifle, and all resupply ammo was in stripper clips. The Mad Minute was 15 rounds @ a 12" square target @ 200 yds. The .303 is the land-to-land measurement and the real size is .311 which is the groove-to-groove measurement.
The .303 is the equivalent to 7.7 mm.
The .308 is the civilian version of the 7.62 Nato cartridge.
I used to use a pattern '14 Enfield which later was made as the pattern '17 in .30 '06 for the American Army during WW II.
i thought it was because Americans could not count past 5? correct 3.11 - 3.12. and 3.1 - 3.11 for the Medford
The 'clicker' you're referring to appeared in "The Longest Day" and the soldier was played by Sal Mineo. I saw the premier of the movie sitting next to my neighbor, retired General Vandergrift (portrayed by John Wayne). And although you three agree that this cartridge had limited range, just remember the No.4, Mk 1-D was the British military's primary sniping rifle from WWI through until the early 2000s.
And as for the modern "scouting rifle", I'll take my No. 5 anytime - a deer @ 176 yds iron sights (1973).
@@hardingdies7811 - Re: "The 'clicker' you're referring to appeared in "The Longest Day" and the soldier was played by Sal Mineo. I saw the premier of the movie sitting next to my neighbor, retired General Vandergrift (portrayed by John Wayne)."
Forgive my being pedantic, but don't you mean Wayne's character in "The Longest Day," Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort? Col. Vandervoort was awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor during the D-Day invasion and its aftermath. "Vandergrift," on the other hand, was the last name of the famous U.S. Marine Corps General renowned for his command at Guadalcanal, namely Archer A. Vandergrift, later Commandant of the Marine Corps. Vandergrift also received the Medal of Honor... so maybe that was the source of the mix-up.
Lee-Enfield Mk. V No. 1 rifles - a.k.a. "Jungle Carbines" - those were a pretty good design in some ways, but it is a shame that they weren't invented earlier and that they suffered the teething problems they did, the wandering zero and so on. By the time they were produced in numbers, the bolt-action was already marked as being on the way out as the standard British service rifle, in favor of the FN FAL/L1A1.
They say up in Canada that more deer have been taken with surplus Lee-Enfield rifles than anything else. Sort of the Canadian version of the 30-30 cartridge here in the 'States.
And for deer hunting, I took one @176 yds off-hand with my iron-sighted Jungle Carbine (the real scout rifle BEFORE that became an 'in' concept).
That "clip" is actually called a charger. My regiment were still using the sniper version (No.4T) in 1978 with the close ops platoon in Northern Ireland.
Surely the L42?
Or the P.14 T WW1 sniper, previously the experimental .276 P.13.
That’s just the British term. The Americans call it a clip.
You may call it both. No difference.
No you weren't. 😂
Suggestion: 7.5 Swiss
Another interesting aspect of the early black powder 303British loads was that they contained 70 grains of a very fine black powder; approximately the same amount used in a 45-70. Anyone who has tried to load black powder in a 303 case will know that only about 50 grains of ffg black powder will fit in a 303 case. What the brits did was load a precompressed black powder pellet into the case before the case was formed into the bottleneck shape thus allowing 70 grains of powder to be loaded. This practice was carried over into the cordite era of the 303 and 375H&H cartridges.
Made my first long range kill on a large eight point buck with a borrowed 303 in 1985 at 597yds with ten of my relatives betting 100dollars that I couldn't do it! I used the money to get an exact same rifle ! Have it and the antlers to this day ! From a surplus rifle to a priceless memory ! Open iron sights and stiff action with a 7pound trigger . Thank you for making my day with the memory of this truly wonderful rifle! Have a blessed new year !
You really think people would do that? Just go on the internet and tell lies?
The Canadian Rangers carried the Lee Enfield up until just a few years ago, it was replaced by a Colt Canada manufactured Tikka T3 Arctic with a deployment kit.
Is the Tikka still chambered in .303 though? Or are they utilizing a more modern cartridge?
@@YaketyYakDontTalkBack they are chambered in .308. But I heard some of them say they miss the old .303
South African hunters refer to the lee enfield as the majuba kettie (majuba slingshot).
It’s a great brush gun/cartridge. With a 150gr bullet it really is very similar to the 308. With the full wood stock, the rifle is very very pleasant to shoot, and if what ever you were shooting at is not quite expired, you can help it along with that brass plate on the buttstock
We still have rangers who still prefer carrying the 303 ...there seems to be problems with the new rifle like color leaching out of the stock and feeding issues when extremely cold that they didn't even with the brit
A Colt manufactured Tikka T3? That's like Yugo building Maseratis under contract 🤦
Hey guys, very interested to see your take on what is my favourite rifle (Lee Enfield) and what it shoots, the .303. Savage made these in the US, as well as Longbranch in Canada, what you have is a No4 made by these two as well as in the UK. Australia and India kept with the No1 MK III, stars were not allocated to indicate accuracy as was stated, they were allocated to indicate the modifications made to the rifle. A machine gun version was made by NZ called the Charlton, but most were lost when the stores burnt down in a fire. When the British first fitted magazines to their service rifles, they were for emergency use only and were not meant to be removed, but could be, they were held on to the rifle by a chain to avoid them getting lost. Even with the rifle you have there the No4, they were not designed to have detachable magazines for the purpose of carrying many magazines for what is now the standard reason. The stripper clips, allowed you to load 5 rounds at a time into the 10 round magazine, this was the way that the British and other Commonwealth countries loaded the magazine. .303 projectiles are normally about .311, if you are reloading you can put 123grain projectiles from 7.62x39 over the standard projectiles. Great book and DVD's from Ian Skennerton, and Ian from Forgotten Weapons has a few videos as well.
To add to this, early versions had a magazine cutout with the rifle intended to be loaded and fired one round at a time. For emergency use, the magazine cutout was moved out of the way enabling the contents of the magazine to be used for rapid fire.
The Savage and Longreach rifles were a No.4 Mk1* due to the different sight to the Mk1.
The RAAF purchased No.4s but the Australian Army used the No.1 Mk3 only.
.22LR training rifles existed and the No.4 T sniper rifles were rechambered to 7.62 NATO when that changed to be the standard cartridge.
@@k2svpete Hey Peter, I didnt know that we used any thing but variants of the No1MK111. Any idea of how many No4's the RAAF purchased and what happened to them, they would be great to have in a collection. cheers
@Shane Broomhall no, I'm not sure on the numbers they used, not many in the grand scheme of things. I used to have a mint condition No.4 Mk2 that was made just as the SLR came into service so it was never issued.
@@k2svpete I think the Australian army Electrical corps were issued with no.4s as well some RAAF units , a ship carrying them was supposed to dock in Singapore just before it fell to the Japs , so it changed routes to Australia I don't think they saw combat though and I don't think they had unit or issue marks ' same situation with no 5 Jungle carbine s issued to Aussis in the Malayan Emergency. R
Thanx guys ! Owned my '44 No.4 mrk1/2 for 12 years now, and love her. You got a few things really right and a few things a little off.. Until last year, the Canadian Rangers, the small force of indignienous scouts, were issued No.4 mrk2's. I think the Indians still produce them.
Re. the mad minute. They used a special technice. They used the sling around their left arm to stabilize the rifle and keep it on target - and operated the bolt back and forth with with their right thumb - hand laying flat over the trigger, witch were operated by their pinkie finger. ( Sounds difficult, but after the first 200 shots, it makes sense, part of my usual routine on the rangedays)
The books by Skinnerton are the best source of information about the Lee Enfields.
All accounts i have read states that the round nose boat tail bullets are the most accurate.
My girl likes Privi ammo best, S&E casings split in the chamber reguarly.
Beutiful Long Branch there - it will last for the next 100 years.
Thanks again from Denmark.
Absolutely love how you guys are coming at us rapid fire with the cartridge talks.
The UK army refurbished no.4 Lee Enfields into 7.62 L1A1 sniper rifles and used them in the Falklands conflict
The 303 British was actually the model/parent of our first smokeless cartridge, the 30-40 Krag. It is so close in dimensions that you can reform 303 cases into 34-40. The neck will be a little short, but it works.
The position of the bolt handle means it can be closed and the trigger reached with the middle finger without letting go of the bolt. "Bloke On The Range" has several videos demonstrating how quickly he can blast through a mad minute using the technique to go through rounds faster (and still accurately) than he can with any other bolt rifle.
Aaaaaahhhh
I always wondered about the technique that gave the P14 its reputation for speed. Thank you!
@@theprojectproject01 The P14 used a Mauser modified to cock on close which helps by not disturbing the sight picture as much. It does not have the speed of the Lee Enfield .
@@geoffroberts5641 I think we're talking past each other. I know "P14" as shorthand for "Lee-Enfield, Pattern of 1914." I suspect you are referring to the Rifle,1917, which was an Enfield design but manufactured in the US; known colloquially as the P-17.
I'm pretty sure I know the difference.
@@theprojectproject01No that is incorrect. The Lee Enfields are Lee actioned with Enfield pattern rifling. I believe the correct description for the P14 is "Pattern 1914 Enfield". The standard British rifle of WW1 was the SMLE which stands for Short Magazine Lee Enfield . It was designated at the time as the SMLE MkIII but between the wars was renamed Rifle No 1. The P14 is a Mauser (not Lee)actioned rifle chambered .303 based on a experimental design the P13 (Pattern 1913 Enfield)which was chambered in 0.276 Enfield. The plans to adopt the P14 were overtaken by events (WW1) so to avoid disrupting SMLE production, the P14 was manufactured, in America only, for the British Army to address SMLE shortages for WW1. Between the wars it was renamed Rifle No 3. The M1917 is simply the P14 chambered in 30.06 and adopted by the US Army. Again to address shortages in service rifles in that case for the US Army model 1903. It was referred to as the "American Enfield" but it was not a LEE Enfield. It is believed that Alvin York was actually armed with a M1917 and not a Springfield when he won his Medal of Honor, a rifle of British design and American manufacture. www.worldwar1.com/dbc/dbrifle.htm
@@geoffroberts5641
Sure
Why not
.303 British has probably taken more big game animals in Canada than every other cartridge combined, literally every rural household had or has one, along with a Cooey .22 rifle!
And very often a Cooey model 84 shotgun.
I jist killed a moose with mine northern saskatchewan yesterday still shoots like a charm id rather hunt with the 303 then anything else thats how much a trust the rifle been mt favorite because my grandfather only used 303 for big game hunting
Agree
It isn’t just Canada, the brits shot more African dangerous game with a mle and smle
I bet not one person on this thread can tell me why its measured at .303 when it actually isn’t .303 of an inch! Anyone know why??
.303 was originally intended to be a smokeless cartridge, but they temporary started it as blackpowder while they were looking for the best propellant to use.
I was dumbfounded to learn that. And more than a little surprised that they chose a compound that was so erosive to rifle bores.
The lee Medford was the first version to use 303 the Metford rifaling worked with black powder but was warn away by the modern powders
@@eloiseharbeson2483 metallurgy wasn't fully up to snuff
Was the .303 ever a rimfire cartridge?
@@20chocsaday no
In Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels the Bren gun scene demonstrates the most formidable use of the .303 British as I have ever seen LOL.
Hi guys this is my first comment. The reason for the strange to us operating format during the “made minute” drill is faster recovery on the trigger. The bolt is lifted with the thumb and forefinger, the bolt is closed with the thumb the trigger is operated with the middle finger. This is the way I was taught while working with the Brits
Dude, no idea who taught you that! The bolt should be operated with the palm of the hand, same as you do with a stick-shift gear lever. Thumb and forefinger is far too slow, with the palm you can "rotate", it's much quicker.
That was described actually in one Australian ww2 manuals that we put out. Using your palm with them is a complete waste of time. Too slow compared to thumb and finger.
It is the Australian guerrilla series written by ion idress who had served with the lighthorse in ww1 and was also a sniper and spotter at different times during the war. The series is still available in print and has some interesting information in it.
The stars are slight variations on current model IE No4 MkI* which Long Branch models were. Never heard of more stars the better.
I reloaded the 303 for a friend years ago, I pulled a bullet on an old surplus round to show him the strings of cordite.
The 303 is definitely a classic.
Comment Number two .The stars on a Lee Enfield are Modification marks to signify that a particular rifle had been upgraded at some point , Not because they were in anyway special just they had been upgraded for detailed info on this You need to watch the C&Rsenal Lee Enfield videos , certain individual Lee Enfields rifles which were proven to be slightly more accurate than normal (even modern rifles vary from rifle to rifle !) would be selected to be given to snipers and scopes of the day fitted as appropriate . You Really need to Watch C&Rsenal Othias & Mae have tons of info on a video devoted to just this sort of thing , as does Ian at Forgotten Weapons . Thanks Guys.
Pin & highlight the above comment.
Also look up “Bloke On the Range”; he’s YT’s resident .303 & Enfield expert
@@isaacanderson6806 Absolutely , I don't know why I had somehow neglected to mention this outstanding channel .
Some were amazingly accurate. In South Africa, when PMP was still operational there was a sponsered shooting competion, using PMP ammo. One year it was won by a woman shooting a no4mk1 303 with a scope. 7.7mm centre to center.
Forgive my ignorance, but PMP?
@@taysondynastyemperor5124 Pretoria Metal Pressing, was an ammo manufacturer in South Africa as a division of Denel. The company is now effectively defunct, folded due to mismanagement in the late 2010's. They Made more than 70% of the Allied forces 303 ammo during WW2
Ruger made a limited run of their beautiful Number 1 in 303 British, most of these came into Canada, and like a fool I never bought one, now they are selling for almost double their original value.
One is for sale here in Queensland. I wondered about the unusual chambering.
To bad they ruined the look with the 22" barrel. Woulda looked way better with 26". Remembering the English sporters tended to relatively long barrels.
.303 is possibly the most popular rifle here in New Zealand, I would say that is possibly one of the biggest deer killing rounds in the world. After WW2 and up until the 80s or so there was a government run deer culling operation where guys were sent out into the mountains for months at a time to hunt deer in the millions. Almost all of the cullers were armed with iron sited .303 rifles.
Also as for a full auto Lee Enfield, there was one made in WW2 in New Zealand (and copied in Australia). My grandfather was the one who test fired it during development. He was given a few thousand rounds by the army and told to try to blow it up. It was basically made by putting a gas piston and cam track on the right side of the gun.
Cheers for the video.
@finnmccool3079: Yes, you’re right here! It was the Charlton Automatic Rifle (C.A.R.) created in NZ by Philip Charlton in 1941 at his own engineering workshop at the Charlton Motor Works Company in Hastings, North Island, NZ 🇳🇿
They went from .577 to .455 to .311. I have a nice No 4 Mark 1. Shoots great. I’ve heard told regarding bolt guns brought into WWll, the Germans had a hunting rifle, the Americans had a target rifle, but the British actually had a combat rifle. This was used as you said in the Vickers which was a British take on the Maxim and the Lewis Gun LMG among others. There’s a video somewhere on the net of a British trooper during WWll demonstrating fast CQB with an Enfield and he’s shooting it so fast it sounds like a semi-auto.
US brought a combat rifle to the II World War. They call it the M-1 Garand. Nothing else came close.
My Dad bought a #4mk1* in 1958 for like $15.00 still in cosmolene and paper These were used wherever the British Empire was. A very rugged and well built rifle. Thanks
Love seeing the old war dog cartridges getting some air time. Suggestion: 8x57, 6.5x52, 7x57 (or just a video on Mausers and their plethora of chamberings.
Edit: They made 45-70 Enfields, I’ve seen 410 chambered ones that the Indian government used by the police during the time Britain still had it as a colony. There’s also a 22lr trainer Enfield. There were 45-70 Mausers made for the Siamese.
I don't believe anyone made .45-70 Government chambered rifles except for the US Army. Many people converted their surplus Siamese Mausers into .45-70 because it's original caliber (8mm Siamese) was essentially unobtainable and the action was long enough and large enough to be converted to .45.-70. I would need to go back and check the numbers, but it's also likely that the bolt face for the 8mm Siamese rimmed cartridge was large enough to accommodate the .45-70's rimmed case with little/no modification.
@@kibbeystovall7546 The 45-70 versions of the Lee Enfields that I have seen were sold by Navy Arms in the US. They apparently had a lot of Lee Enfields and decided to market them in a number of ways. They also sold a lot of shortened versions of the Indian 7.62x51 Lee Enfields (Ishapore 2A and 2A1's) made to look like No 5 Jungle Carbines. For a while during periods from the late 1970's until the early 2000's, batches of Lee Endfields would show up on the US market at very low prices.
@@jfess1911 When the LE rifles were first imported in large numbers (1950-60s) they were very cheap but ammo was not plentiful so the importers (like Navy Arms) did convert many to more popular calibers and shorter configurations to make them more enticing to budget buyers. But these were all CIVILIAN conversions, not military conversions.
I used the 22lr version in the cadets . The original barrel held a 22 barrel inside . The weight of the extra metal made for one hefty rifle ! Very butch .22 though , lol !
And the No.4 sniper rifles were also converted to 7.62 NATO when .303 was replaced as the standard cartridge.
Ryan is correct on many things, and he continues to be so with his recommendation of Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
Good movie
The only 2 Centre fire rifles I have a both 303. I sold the rest but the 303 is family.
My favourite hunting load in the 303 is 47gr of Hogdon BL-C2 behind the 150gr Hornady soft point, which gives close to 2800fps at low pressures. This is so close to a 308 as to make no difference and is perfectly safe in a Lee Enfield, which action us a little 'springy' but a lot stronger than it is often thought to be. Because of the spring it pays to only neck size fired cases until the point where one feels resistance on extracting or bolt closure (usually 4 or 5 reloads) at which point just barely 'bump' the body in the die. This way a lot of full power reloads can be obtained from each case (I am using Remington and Winchester brass) without risk of head separations which can occur quite quickly in a Lee if you full length size each time.
These ballistics are quite a bit more than a 30-30 in fact and are deadly at any range that a 308 can reach. Modern powders and bullets make a big difference. Here in NZ in the past the 303 has killed more deer than all the other calibres combined... a bit like the 30-30 in the USA, but the 303 is a much better long range round due to better bullet selection available for it due to the box mag. It does need a near 30-06 length action though....
"Because of the spring" has exactly ZERO to do with why neck sizing/collet sizing/ crush fit full length sizing is better for maximum case life.
@@AirborneMOC031 Not my experience.... but there ya go... 🙂
@@KathrynLiz1 And your experience with "you know... that thing... action spring" is pretty much the opposite of my experience after 50+ years of reloading, with a lot of that being for the .303 British for Service Rifle competition.
Most people loading Lee Enfields do some version of neck size only to end up with fire formed cases - rather than full length resizing and repeated stretching cycles leading to short case life.
It's the size of the chambers cut to accept any ammunition whether covered in trench mud or verdigris... not "the spring in the action" that is the issue. The arsenals manufacturing Lee Enfields for the military weren't concerned whether ejected empty cases would have case life after being salvaged for reloading.
Some of us even prep new brass before first firing to ensure there is no real stretching on even the first firing in large military chambers intended to ensure almost any ammuntion will fire.
In my case, that involves creating a false shoulder in the new case that ensures a light crush fit, and then continuing the reloading cycle. That's a one time operation.
And nothing to do with "you know... that thing... spring".
But... there ya go!
Stars were nothing to do with accuracy, they represented interim changes made to a version before they went to the next version number, those rifles that were particularly accurate we filtered out for conversion to sniper role and maked with with "(T)"
Gun experts creating yet another gun myth to cover lack of knowledge kind of hurt your soul, don't they?
Cordite is nitrocellulose (guncotton). It is double-based smokeless powder that contains nitroglycerine (NG)/nitroglycol (EGDN).
The stars were nothing to do with quality of the weapon, they relate to the level of updates applied to the rifle in manufacture.
The magazine whilst technically removable, they were only removed for cleaning, ammo was delivered in 5 round clips and always loaded via the top clip guide (no second mag was issued with the rifle)
You may or may not know that that cartridge armed the Spitfire and the Hurricane with eight 303 machine guns in the wings.
The stars were modifications or marks. If the changes were not big enough to warrent going up a mk, they would add a star.
Gibbs in Austrailia were rebarrelling shot out 303 enfields in 45-70. Just for the fun of it. I seem to recall that they went up to 45-90.
Gentlemen they are not clips, they are chargers. Yours faithfully, a UK historic competition shooter.
Semantics. They're known as stripper clips just about everywhere except the U.K. The terms are used interchangeably in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
@@georgesakellaropoulos8162 Keep your hair on old bean! Was just a bit of British humour. Btw, they're still chargers 😛
@@VulpesGBR At 60, it's a little late for that lol.
@@georgesakellaropoulos8162 It's never too late good sir.
@@VulpesGBR I'm afraid I've missed the boat as far as keeping my hair on is concerned, not figuratively, but literally.
Oh lord. No the stars didn’t equate to quality. They were an indication of a minor update. Lee Enfields we’re manufactured by Savage in the US. The Longbranch plant was just west of Toronto in Ontario, Canada.
According to Othais of C&Rsenal the rim on the .303 British is an important part of the Lee-Enfield gas handling system: Use of the rimmed case was thought to diminish the need to build elaborate gas control paths into the bolt and receiver.
Some writers have noted the rear locking Lee-Enfield bolt was subject to compression and resulting headspace creep. The quick fix to that was an easily replaceable bolt head, a selection of which, in various lengths, was stocked by battalion level armorers so that headspace could be returned to its proper dimension.
Smle's at least have small holes drilled in the left side of the chamber. What I have been told was that in the event of a case rupture, the gas vented out those holes.
Sarco carried the different bolt heads.
Please guys, if you're gonna talk about the 303 and/or Enfield's in general, please learn the history. There was in fact several ways that was implemented toake them fully automatic (Charlton device) , the detachable magazine was strictly for cleaning , they were made in England , USA, Canada, Australia , India, Pakistan, and of course, kyber pass copies. The mad minute was designed to teach the average soldier to lay down a volley of accurate fire. They didn't use the palm of the hand, they pinched the bolt with thumb and index finger and fired with the middle finger. The striker stays back on the way forward, after it has been fired it will not spring back on its own. The Enfield is a very fascinating piece of industrial history as well. Just study the sights on the thing , that I a very in-depth history all in its own right. I'm not criticizing or making fun of y'all, I just happen to be an enfield junkie and really want the story straight for other that are not enthusiasts. Thank you
I love my 303 mk4. I've shot numerous NRA competitions with it and next year will be taking it to Afirica for a Wildebeast and Impala slam. Great video! I love the history yall discuss on these cartridges we all love.
Hi guys. Just wanted to say that I enjoyed watching this, as my dad fought in the Second World War in the RAF Regiment and I know he used a Lee-Enfield rifle. It brought back some memories and I remember when i was a kid, I had some of the old war memorabilia that he brought back with him including the clips that would feed into the Lee-Enfield. Anyway thanks again, for the 10 minute talk.
My next-door neighbor when I was a kid had an Enfield Jungle Carbine chambered in .303 British, he wound up giving it to my older brother who still has it. I only saw my brother fire it once, so I've actually shot it more than him. It is a cool looking little carbine. The movie you're talking about with the German soldier running the bolt on his Mauser was called 'The Longest Day' (D-Day Invasion).
Those Jungle Carbines are neat little things, a lot of them were made at The Factory not far from where I live in Liverpool.
Machine gun belt feeding with a rimmed cartridge requires a 2 stage feed where the cartridge is first pulled backwards out of the belt, dropped down and then pushed home into the chamber. It has its pros/cons over the single stage typically used with rimless but it's still in reliable service on many of the Russian 7.62x54r PK variants.
Not sure what he was saying about putting more stars on them if they shot well. I believe a No4 Mk1* means a factory retrofit of an older model.
It denoted a different sight and only exists with the North American models.
@@k2svpete No I beleive there were other changes, than just the sights. I think one of the main ones was hanging the trigger off the metal tang vs the wooden stock, also I think some receiver and bolt knob cuts to lighten the weight. And these are all British upgrades dones in their armories.
A note about the detachable mag vs the charger clip, there were numerous accounts of soldiers not liking the detachable mags because they were both heavy and cumbersome to carry multiples of. You could carry significantly more ammunition on charger clips in your pockets and pouches than you could in magazines.
Most popular rifle in Canada. And I’m concerned we can not buy ammo for them. Even spitfires used them in their machine guns.
Ahh, guys, any British rifle, including the mighty Lee Enfield, marked a with a star(*), DOES NOT mean it’s more accurate! It means it’s been updated with slight upgrade to a later mark, is all….
Yes there were machine gun conversions of the Enfield 0.303. Probably the best known is the Charlton in New Zealand - Forgotten Weapons channel has a video on it.
Cordite was particularly used in the Commonwealth ammo because it was particularly durable, stable and reliable in the hot tropics where other smokeless propellants were unsuitable at the time.
A great cartridge and certain models were very accurate sniper rounds. It's hard, even now, to find a better bolt action and round feed.
Mad minute. You held the bolt in the thumb and first finger. Your second finger dropped to the trigger and you flicked the trigger. Till the mag was dry - you never let go of the bolt. Then dumped 2 clips in and kept running. It was battle accurate. Enough to do military targets at short to long range. Short is out to 300 - in the late 70's - I had a WW1 Vet shooting a 30" target at 1000 yds. It was a 5 ft square target - I patched 30 inches across. Quite a shooter.
Me - a grandson of a Canadian WW1 Vet.
Funny.
These could be actually 10 minutes if you knew anything about the item in question.
Never listened to a podcast and seen 10 minutes with a 30 minute video and was skeptical but you were intelligent and entertaining. Very well done.
The "Clickers" in the movie reference were known as Crickets. The movie was The Longest Day, starring John Wayne, Henry Fonda, and Robert Mitchum, made in 1969 and (surprisingly) rated G.
These "clickers" can still be purchased, in the UK, from the original manufacturers, produced on the original machinery.
@@clivedunning4317 Well, if you really want to be shot in the head...
@@20chocsaday Well . . . It was only the americans that used them !
They were a sometime "Crackef Jack" prize/premium.
Sarco had some.@@clivedunning4317
I was camping on the border of South Africa and Namibia (former German colony) and found an old .303 case on a mountain, did research on the headstamp and found that it was made in the late 1800s, most likely fired when South Africa invaded German South West Africa (Namibia) at the start of World War 1.
Actually the SADF when they invaded SWA were mostly using 20,000 Portuguese Mausers in 6.5 x 58..
It could have been fired during the second Boer war
Throwing 256 Winchester Magnum in for a throwback episode attempt #2!
Love the caliber talks guys!
Interesting note: The Canadian Rangers were issued with the .303 Lee-Enfield No4 in 1947. The rifle and cartridge remained in service until it was replaced by the C19/T3 in 2015. Apparently, it was a well-liked rifle that worked really well in the arctic conditions.
The "mad minute" .303 shooters I've seen all manipulate the bolt with the thumb and index fingers, and fired with the little finger. I don't think the star has anything to do with accuracy. Don't quote me, but from memory it's a modification indication. Most SMLE's in Australian service were No.1 Mk3* for example.
We used the thru to Korea. We never adopted the no4.
Some homework needed here boys...stars denote upgrade modifications, not condition, usually found on an SMLE. My personal No 4 Lee Enfield is a mark 1 / 2, which denotes a major upgrade from mark 1 to a mark 2 by the Fazakerly armoury Liverpool done in 1951. . 303" is the diameter of the rifle groove, and the bullet diameter is .311'"
(Movie was the Longest day) call me a smartass.
The film Jim mentioned with the clickers is The Longest Day, and it was shown in the UK over Christmas. Great film, sadly they don't make them like that anymore.
Because we don't have the same number of vets
A few points of interest. The real "Pluskat" (in the Utah beach bunker) was one of the tech advisors on the film; the actor who played Major Howard (the C.O. of the raid on Pegasus Bridge) was ACTUALLY the Executive Officer on the real raid so that portrayal as well is as accurate as you can get. And the film had the largest cast of international stars in any film made.
2:48, the last of the police force Lee Enfield's have been re bored to 308 OR 4.10 which is where the 4.10 came from originally. 3:40. it look like you have modern or USA made rounds there, none look like Ball rounds. 3.56 only aftermarket round were smokeless powder. the British never used anything other than cordite. 6:21 black powder. correct, the pellet was inserted before the cartridge was necked down. 70 grain with 215 round nose projectile. 8:30, cordite didn't give any more velocity over black powder, initially. the first advancement was with the splizer bullet. then she hot 2K 1914 . 8:46, cordite is so unstable, sorry completely rubbish. the petroleum jelly which is more a wax, protected the charge from environmental issues, it was more resilient to heat than even modern powders. just look at the way it was made, violent extrusion. sorry you are repeating a modern myth! 11:12 there were a few Machine gun modification done on lee Enfield's, look at the New Zealand war museum Auckland for one. and before you start knocking the Kiwis, remember it was the Kiwis who trained and feed the marines so they could take Guadalcanal 11:30 what do you think a The M1917. 13:42 clip loading has advantages, not only with logistics, but a 5 round load is quicker with a clip and a 10 round load is just quicker. modern 20-30 round loads are obviously quicker today. the other advantage that with training, stripper clip loading was done with no eyes. 14.02 correct run the bolt with your palm, trigger finger is your second finger not you index finger. NB German comments at the battel of the Mons. 14:08, not as accurate as Springfield's. sorry not correct. for every bad shooting Springfield there is a bad shooting Lee and visa versa. the main American problem with this is the barrel bench. give that this was an American development it seems to have been forgotten when setting up a Mk4 lee. SLME and Long lees were different again and a Springfield would out shoot both of them. 15:31 more stars = sharpshooter. i fell off my chair laughing so much at that comment. more stars and depending on how long she was in service and where the stars are stamped, could be defects, defects fixed or two arrows that look like a star = sold out of service. Mat you more star comment is a cracker of foolishness. to add the Lee Enfield has been chambered in everything from .22 short to 7.65. even a bunch made in Australia in 7.62x39. but the American government got upset and confiscated them! oh i give up you guys need to really check some facts first, credibility = 0
You forgot to mention the different sight systems which are interesting!
My original 2000 yard barrel sight was bent so I put a Williams receiver sight on mine and now have a peep sight better for my old eyes. Mine is sporterized and has good rifling and was a $200.00 pawn shop purchase! I’m happy to shoot it and am sorry you gentlemen didn’t talk about it’s ballistics. I intended to load up some blazing rounds but have lowered my expectations so it will serve another generation!
John Russell used to carry a sporterized version of that Enfield in a 1950’s tv series about the adventures of an African Guide! I never forgot it!
JWC
You can still load the .303 in black powder for the .303 Martini. Works well.
I watched another video about the Enfield and they stated a British army SGT managed to put 38 rounds on a 10 inch target at 300yrds in a minute, now that's a record to beat 😁
You added an extra 12 rounds and 100 yards to the actual record. But that probably helped get you the number of thumbs up you got.
@@AirborneMOC031 just wrote what the video stated. I'll find the link and post it 👍
Hope you guys had a Merry Christmas. Love the longer podcasts.
I love these cartridge talks.
Can you please discuss the 9.3x62 and the 6xc some time.
Stars was not condition, it was revision, each star was an update
So many incorrect statements in this discussion! The STARS have nothing to do with the quality control or exceptional quality of the firearm technically. The Stars are there to indicate the model designation via a system of upgrading or deletions of small parts. Regarding the method of rapid fire for the Mad Minute. The Commonwealth Nations did not cycle the bolt with the palm of the hand, it was done using the fore finger and thumb on the bolt and the middle finger on the trigger. As for Accuracy vs the 1903 ... go take a look at the 1000 yard records at Bisley and then come back again! In future it pays to do real research on weapons before discussing them ... nothing good comes from bad information.
The official Mad Minute was 38 shots on a 12” target at 300 yards in 1914. Stars did not rate the quality of the Rifle it only indicated a modification with one star, maybe 2. The Spitfire Fighter Plane initially used .303 machine guns as well.
Absolutely love .303 Brit. It's easy to reload and Enfields rock.
Except they usually case head separate on second firing because of generous head space.
I purchased one for pig shooting trips 30 years ago for $80 open sights, really accurate, cheap ex military ammo still a great rifle.
Great video!
But it should be "The 308 basically a 303?" since the 303 predates the 308 by 60 years.
The stamped star indicates the rifle has a different method of mounting the trigger.No4Mk1 *
It's a 'charger' NOT a clip.
The British soldier was not expected to remove the magazine except to clean it (as they would undoubtedly have lost it in the excitement of battle)
The Japanese used the 7.7 round which was a copy of the 303 British .311 dia.
In Australia post war there were few calibre options available to the hunter, so a great variety of wildcats were developed based on the 303 British.
Several .224 calibre rounds from the 303/22 Wasp a very short case necked down to .224, up to the 303/22 Sprinter which was just a full sized 303 necked to .224.
There were 303/243s, 303/25s, 303/270s, 303/35s and a straight walled 'pig buster' the 303/375 (I have several cases).
The British understated many calibres: e.g. 303 = .311" 310 = .323" America overstates some calibres: e.g. 38 = .357" etc.
The British were not 'sporting' about their ammo and when soft nose ammo was banned, they developed a bullet that was inherently unstable.
A cone of Bakelite or aluminium was put inside the nose of the ball (FMJ) bullet that then made it base heavy and very likely to tumble after encountering the body of the enemy.
I found this out to my dismay after throwing a pulled bullet into the lounge room fire and having it go bang as the molten lead was expelled through the hole in the base by the burnt bakelite.
Mum was not happy with the burnt carpet.
Brought back a Martini Henry Mk IV and a MLE back from Afghanistan. The Brits were on the verge of abandoning the SMLE in 1913/1914 and were going to adopt the Pattern 1913 in .276 Enfield but war was declared, and they needed lots of rifles yesterday. The P13 was put into production instead in .303 and that's the Pattern 1914 which were made in the USA by Winchester, Remington and Eddystone. This rifle would later be rechambered for the .30-06 as the M1917
I'm fairly sure the P14 and the P17 are quite different receivers.
@@theprojectproject01 Minute changes from rimmed to rimmless cartridge. Basically, same gun except for chambering and volley sights.
@@chlebowg Then why does the 14 have a 2-piece stock and the 17 a 1-piece?
@jectproject01 P14 has a one piece stock. The MLE/SMLE series uses a different action that uses a 2 piece stock. The Enfield action was designed by James Paris Lee and first produced as the Remington Lee 1879 in .45-70
Good video.
The 303 was used in Canada by the Canadian Rangers from 1947 till 2018. ( is a sub component of the Canadian army. )
Used in arctic patrols.
Saying something about the reliability and performance of the round.
Still used by many hunters for moose and deer hunting.
Great discussion. Another historical note. After GB moved on from the SMLE and like Mk. IV bolt rifles in the 1950s, they gave tooling and production machinery to India. The Indian arsenal at Ishapore then contined for many years producing the WWI traditional SMLE model but using higher quality / stronger steel for the receiver and chambering the rifles in NATO 7.62 /.308, often referred to as Ishapore Enfields. They are more afforadable now than a WWI - WWII era SMLEs but are fine rifles for target shooting, and 7.62 generally is cheaper than .303. Most were rode hard and put away wet and rearsenaled with ugly black paint - but they shoot, although the original SMLE sights are horrible and difficult to see for a 50 something like me.
India was producing Lee Enfield's prior to WW1, Pakistan got a lot of the No4 mk1 tooling to manufacture parts to refurbish (and possibly build new) guns.
The stars were to indicate changes that weren't big enough to merit a new mark number.
I do own Indian made Enfield's in .303, .410, and 7.62x51. Only the .410 is a conversion, it was converted from .303 in India.
@@robertlewis8295 Thanks! I much enjoy shotting my Ishapore in 7.62. I also have a Waw II era No. 4 Mk. 1 Savage made that is in really nice condition amd a great shooter - much better peep sight.
Another Canuck chiming in on this... first centerfire "hunting rifle" I owned was... .303 brit. Number of years used? Over 10. Animals taken? Rabbit, skunk, coyotes, wolves, Sitka deer, whitetail deer, mule deer, elk, moose, black bear. We still have a Enfield in the house... we bring it out every year and stretch its legs but we have other guns we hunt with now. But going out on a limb here I'd say that 95% of Canadians who started hunting prior to 2000 this was there first exposure and or first hunting cartridge.
The film with the clickers in was The Longest Day. I fired this round as a 17 year old cadet. Straight as a die, with a good kick.
I had an Enfield in .45ACP. You can ask why, I will say that it used 1911 magazines ( detachable) fired common, off the shelf ammo with subsonic results and yes, I fitted it with a silencer. Beautiful suppressed rifle. I wish I had kept it. I even hot loaded some rifle specific rounds that chrono'ed at 1200FPS.
I remember the ads in Shotgun News.
Siamese Mausers were also rechambered for 45-70 gov. Another convert is 30-40krag like mine 😁. If I were to get another one I’d probably stick to the original 303.
Also our Model 1917 rifles were originally based off the P14 Enfields made by **Winchester, Eddy stone, and Remington.
Thank you comment below I was thinking too fast for myself or something.
Savage made SMLEs. Remington, Eddystone and Winchester made both the P14 and M1917s
The older Enfields have a cut off plate so you can load one round at a time. Only when ordered by an officer can you remove that plate and feed rounds from the magazine. This is ww1 era SMLE when the doctrine was we don't trust them silly squaddies to conserve ammunition that they don't pay for. "What what"
Good to finally hear about the 303, still crossing my fingers and hoping to get an episode about the 35 Remington
My grandpa had a 1908-ish (going by memory) Enfield lever action, made by Winchester in British .303.
He was an American, bought a ranch in Canada in the late ‘50s (you could buy enormous amounts of land back then) and told me he bought it from an old WWII veteran. He said it was a “jungle gun” and mentioned he had to be extremely careful buying ammo because it was British .303 and not American .303.
I was a little kid and didn’t understand that. One of my uncles picked it up after my grandfather passed away and all I have left is a handwritten note of the markings before he packed it off. He immediately sold it. But it was a beautiful lever gun, perfect sweep, smooth action.
I wish I could show it to you gentlemen because I can’t find anything on it. It doesn’t seem to exist, I’m guessing a contracted rifle to spec for Burma? Which would explain the Winchester and the Enfield stamps (with the crown mark), just a heart breaker.
He loved that rifle, one of my earliest memories was maybe 4years old in 300 Mile, British Columbia. Late 70s, and he dropped a moose with that gun. Right in its tracks. In 4’ of snow and it took the whole family all night to bring that moose in. Wish I had that rifle. Been looking for one ever since and like I mentioned it doesn’t seem to exist.
Wartime manufacturing is my only guess. But I’m not making this up. If anyone could help me identify this type of rifle I’d appreciate the help. It had a stamp of Enfield, by Winchester. British .303. Lever action. Something like 1908 to 1912 and it was supposedly made as a “jungle gun”. That was the comment, it was brought home from the war by a Canadian Burma soldier.
Also, I think cordite swells up in humidity and causes jambs. I’m like wrong as this is anecdotal , that’s from one of my uncles that was in Vietnam very early on and hated the original M-16.
He said the early versions the bolt would rust up and the ammo powder was some type of stick powder and you couldn’t leave a round in the chamber for long as the powder would accumulate moisture, swell the brass and it would jamb. It’s funny because to this day I won’t use any rifle descended from Stoner, which is dumb but that’s a human reaction and how traditions get started. Right or wrong.
Perhaps it is a Winchester 1895? That model was chambered in .303 British.
@@barryj388 thanks for the tip, I’ll look into that. There had to have been a few thousand made, I’ll find one.
The stars designate a change within a given Mark....and has nothing to do with quality. Next, the original Lee patent rifle was in 45-70, which predates the Brits adoption of the action. Next, the .303 cartridge was designed as a smokeless round, but was briefly loaded in black powder pending the full development of cordite.
A .303 Enfield was used in Crocodile Dundee and in the British TV show Wild at Heart.
Love these videos! Would love to see 6.8 Western and 7mm PRC.
I think they've technically already done 6.8 Western as part of a full podcast about the resurgence of 6.8mm.
I shot these as a cadet back in the day. The full size was a beast. We also shot 22lr conversions which were lovely to shoot. I also shot a converted Martini which in my opinion sucked. Horrible balance but the 22 Enfield was fantastic. I even won a competition with it.
I had numerous Lee Enfiend's which have all been sold off but my favorite was my 303 Parker Hale with flip up sights and removable scope mount. Like an HD Scout Rifle.
They rebarrelled these in 308, 30-06, and some Whelens.
I doubt they would have rebarreled the Lee Enfield in those calibers. It can't take the pressure.
The P14 and M1917 Enfields on the other hand, have strength in spades for the job.
Hey, you did the 303! Cool!
Glad you mentioned the Martini action - terrific single-shot action.