Arisaka fan
Gunboards Super Premium Member
USA
395 Posts
Posted - 07/02/2006 : 7:55:40 PM Show Profile Send Arisaka fan a Private Message Reply with Quote
What got you into collecting Enfields? I wanted one since I was 10 and first saw the 2 movies the Immortal SGT and Battalion shortly after my Dad brought a Jungle Carbine From my uncle then he got a number 4 are collection grew but he got sick and we sold the first collection I did not get another Enfield after his death when I got a my Fire arms Id Card the first rifle I brought myself was a No4mkII witch I still have it needs a new Magazine I now have 5 enfields everytime I shoot them it is a trip down memory lane of me and my Father. I must say to me the enfield just has an eligance to them I can not find in other rifles I only wish they were not so much money around here
Coogan
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
USA
2532 Posts
Posted - 07/02/2006 : 8:58:07 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
Dude (when can I start using "mate"?), you need to use punctuation! Reading your post is like having ADD.
Anyway, I got into Enfields when I saw my first SMLE. Thought the bayonet boss was the muzzle, from the profile of course.
Semper Fi,
Mike
Sergeant, USMCR 2111
1997-2004
Looking for:
Australian Enfields (produced or marked)
Slovak marked vz.24
Persian 98/29 Mauser
Remington Mosin rifles or Mosin rifles built on Remington receivers
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Fightin Scot
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
USA
4002 Posts
Posted - 07/02/2006 : 9:51:15 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
I got into Enfield simply because I wanted one of every major milsurp out there. I now have 2 Enfields, a No1 Mk3 and a No4 Mk1, but I am always looking for nice examples to add.
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Clyde from Carolina
Gunboards.Com Silver Star Member
USA
857 Posts
Posted - 07/02/2006 : 10:02:34 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
I guess it started as a kid, being interested in history. My Dad got a couple of WWII encyclopedias in the mail as a trial offer and I read them cover to cover. That whetted my appetite for old small arms.
I also remember reading Garry James' articles in Guns & Ammo about Brit weapons and Enfields in particular. Guess that really set the hook.
Clyde from Carolina
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Edward Horton
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
USA
1906 Posts
Posted - 07/02/2006 : 10:15:44 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
quote:Originally posted by Arisaka fan
What got you into collecting Enfields? I wanted one since I was 10 and first saw the 2 movies the Immortal SGT and Battalion shortly after my Dad brought a Jungle Carbine From my uncle then he got a number 4 are collection grew but he got sick and we sold the first collection I did not get another Enfield after his death when I got a my Fire arms Id Card the first rifle I brought myself was a No4mkII witch I still have it needs a new Magazine I now have 5 enfields everytime I shoot them it is a trip down memory lane of me and my Father. I must say to me the enfield just has an eligance to them I can not find in other rifles I only wish they were not so much money around here
bigedp51
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03man
Moderator
USA
3839 Posts
Posted - 07/02/2006 : 10:39:52 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
Seeing a mail order ad about 1960, for No.1 MkIII rifles for $9.95. Finally talked my Dad into ordering it for me; still have it too.
03man
Edited by - 03man on 07/02/2006 10:40:27 PM
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Ray
Gunboards Super Premium Member
New Zealand
257 Posts
Posted - 07/02/2006 : 11:18:19 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
I blame john Sukey
I did my initial military training with SMLEs, my early deer shooting with a cut down one and quie frankly had no real interest in these old fashioned killing machines
In my later days I bought a GP Martini in 12 gauge and went on the internet to find out more about them
There was a martini site (Guns & Knives)but next to it was the L-E site (poor fools I used to think) but thanks to J S I got hooked and one thing and another lead to my quite extensive collection
Ray
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coop
Gunboards Super Premium Member
Australia
393 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 12:25:35 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
HI back in the late sixies, when public High Schools had Cadets, the first rifle we got to use was a no2 mkiv trainer then no1 mk111 and the Bren Gun when we where at camp at Singleton Army Base.
After parade at school you would bring your rifle home with you but without the bolt, walking through shopping centre back in those days no one looked twice at you,and just a few years ago i have started to collect them i wish i done this early when they where a lot cheaper,what great rifle and a great hobby
COOP
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FootDoc
Gunboards Super Premium Member
USA
374 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 12:51:10 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
Watching my son played the video game Call of Duty 2... I stood behind him for about ten minutes, watching him take down Nazis with the Enfield 4MK1. After a while, he turned around and said, "It is a nice rifle, Dad. You should get one for your collection." I had an all mosin collection, then.
Added a couple of Enfields soon after that.
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SFW516
Gunboards Premium Member
USA
236 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 01:40:59 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
After many years of being interested in military history I decided I wanted an M1 Garand rifle, my brother suggested that I get an Enfield and the more research I did the more I liked em. I never did get around to the M1 though I guess its way too much money to spend on one gun.
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richardwv
MH Forum Moderator
USA
1832 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 02:35:36 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
A little over Forty years ago my father's No.5 was the first high powered rifle I had ever shot. After picking my butt off the ground I was hooked. Also it didn't hurt that they were just about the best condition and least expensive MILSUP around at the time....at least in my neck of the woods. My first two had to be unissued and only $19.50 from S.Kline, at a time that their Garands were selling for $99.99 (something that I didn't add to my collection until the 1990s).
Rich in WV…..savoring life one cartridge at a time!
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Dr. Johnny Fever
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
USA
2065 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 03:15:39 AM Show Profile Visit Dr. Johnny Fever's Homepage Reply with Quote
The history of the British Empire is what drew me to Enfields, whether they were actually there at the time/place/battle or not.
Rourke's Drift, Gundamuck, the Boxer Rebellion, the Somme, et al. I guess I assign a kind of romantic quality to the battles fought for the Crown, some might say wrongly so, but whatever. Enfields are way for me to go back in time, if only for 100 rounds or so...
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"As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Dr. Ron Paul tirelessly works for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies. Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution." Ron Paul for President - 2008!
Edited by - Dr. Johnny Fever on 07/03/2006 03:17:49 AM
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Lithyaddict
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
Australia
1130 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 04:24:21 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
The day that I got into Enfields was the day when our Prime Minister decided that everything else of Australian Military origins in the safe was too dangerous for a bloke like me to possess, unless it was converted into an expensive paperweight.
Twenty years of service and a Warrant count for nought in Oz. Bastards!
I suppose I should be thankful that they paid for them. Bastards!
Sorry, gripe over, please return to happier thoughts.
Edited for punctuation
"Was your court at the trial of Visser constituted like this and did you observe paragraph---- of section--- of the King's Regulations?"
"Was it like this? No, it wasn't quite so handsome. As to rules and sections, we had no Red Book and we we knew nothing of such. We were fighting Boers, not sitting comfortably behind barbed wire entanglements; we got them and shot them under Rule .303"
Edited by - Lithyaddict on 07/03/2006 04:26:29 AM
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pugs1970
Gunboards Super Premium Member
Australia
461 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 05:43:46 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
My grandfather served in britain during ww2 and my nan lost 1 brother in burma to the japs and another seved in the middle east, new guinea and my dads brother was in vietnam whilst the old man served in the reserves the first guns my brothers and i used were a BSA .22 ,winchester sngl brrl 12g and a lithgow 303-25 which has and still is in the family for about 30-40 yrs . And no my uncle won't sell or give it to me(i've tried) SO the SMLE has a bit of family history.
The battalion that seved in new guinea published a book called Stand Easy after the japs surrended and near the back pages there is a pic of the grand uncle watching landing craft comming ashore whilst holding what looks like a No.1 mk3 .
cheers pugs1970
More Lee's than the wife knows about and Less than I would like.
Ther're not mine anyway, I'm just holding them for my kids and Grandkids and great grandkids
skype. pugsgav
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lonerider
Gunboards Super Premium Member
Australia
378 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 05:48:31 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
back in the early '70's i think it was,i used to go with my dad and grandfather to the rifle range at stockton. [just north of newcastle] my ol grand dad was a 303, range shooter.after the days shoot and the range was clear i used to run the mile and collect the fmj projectiles from the mound.i think i was about 10yrs...bin hooked ever since.it was only in the last couple of yrs that i got my licence and the No1 MkIII* full sporter was the first enfield i baught [a dieing mate needed a good home for it and i couldnt let him down].next came the MkIII* full wood.next ..who knows
Sean.
the only good cat,is a dead cat !!
killem all and let god sort em out!
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Beelzebub
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
4535 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 05:55:25 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
I was interested in firearms from an early age. I was about 13 when my father gave me charge over his little BSA .22 bolt-action rifle. I doubt I ever fired more than 20 rounds through it, but it was kept scrupulously clean and lightly oiled.
When I started at college (age 13 – college has different meanings in other countries), I discovered that there was a compulsory school cadet scheme. This involved wearing brutally itchy woollen quasi-military uniforms that reeked of camphor in the height of summer and a lot of marching. However, we did learn a bit of bush-craft – and there was shooting. The shooting was on the Lee Enfield No 8 trainer on the 25 yard range on the school grounds and a trip to the local full-bore range where we would fire the No 4 Lee Enfield (Long Branch No 4 Mk I*s, to be specific) and the BREN GUN.
As the first time I fired a .303 approached, I received varying advice from the boys a year ahead of me. Some of them advised holding the rifle off the shoulder to allow the rifle to move before your shoulder took up the recoil: others recommended holding the rifle tight in the shoulder. Taking this conflicting advice into consideration as well as the credibility of those giving it, on the day I pulled the butt firmly into my shoulder – and no Lee Enfield has ever hurt me (that includes No 5s, for all the girly-men out there).
(Incidentally, if any of you ever get an opportunity to fire a Bren gun, do not decline it.)
I enjoyed the experience so much that, naturally, I applied for the school shooting teams. For some reason, I did not make it the first year, but qualified the next year and represented the school in national competitions for three years.
Shooting on the school range with the No 8s was fun – as well as the cool factor of walking across the school grounds from the armoury carrying at least one rifle. In the .303 team, I discovered the special atmosphere of a rifle range early in the morning. The tranquillity about to be shattered, the developing light, the smell of gun oil as the master in charge of the team opened the back of his car to unload the rifles… Ah, memories.
A few years ago, I was helping a friend doing some building. He produced a Ramset nail gun for attaching wooden framing to the steel girders. The first shot and my mouth involuntarily salivated and I could taste honey and walnut sandwiches. The Ramset is powered by a cartridge that is nothing more than a .22 blank – and when it was raining, the school .22 team would be transported across town to the veterans’ association building where they had an indoor range in the cellar. Sitting in the gloom, waiting my turn, I would eat honey and walnut sandwiches (we had a walnut tree) with the smell of .22 cartridges wafting past…
(Before anyone makes any comments about honey and walnut sandwiches, check carefully if you have ever heard of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Honey and walnut has WAY more class…)
So 99.999% of all my early shooting was on Lee Enfields. So, when some years later, a friend suggested we join a club that did military-style shooting with military rifles, did I rush out and buy a Mauser? The hell I did. I bought examples of the rifles used by British Empire and Commonwealth troops in the Boer War, WW I, WW II and Korea. Which basically boils down to the four rifles in the photo on the back cover of Skennerton’s “The Lee Enfield Story”.
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometime you just might find
You'll get what you need.
- The Glimmer Twins
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DocAV
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
Australia
3278 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 08:14:00 AM Show Profile Visit DocAV's Homepage Reply with Quote
Along with the other "Colonials" down Under, I shouldered my first No1 MkIII* back in 1963, aged 14, and fired 10 rounds of Mark VII at 100 yards, followed by 30 rounds from a Bren mark I at 25 yards. I was then hooked on....Bren guns and other Autos....( First cadet camp and Range day, August 1963);
I graduated to Arisakas,M1 carbines and Garands by age 18, and then some more SMLEs of my own, so that now, some 43 years later, I have over 200 Lee-Enfields of all types (Mostly SMLEs, Mostly Lithgows, and the majority are Movie Guns, but I do have a small Historical collection by Model): I also have several working Brens (Thanks to JWH, these were saved for Movie Work).
I still prefer the Bren Gun...even if regular use is with Movie Blanks, although......a nod's as good as a wink to a blind Horse.
regards, Doc AV
AV Ballistics Film Ordnance Services
Brisbane.
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Fazakerley_fella
Gunboards Premium Member
United Kingdom
203 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 08:52:04 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
3 reasons. History, I'm British and History.....(yea, I know)
Fullbore!
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para
Gunboards.Com Silver Star Member
Australia
772 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 08:52:15 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
I to have had the pleasure of firing a bren. In 303 and 7.62. We where still being issued the 7.62 version as an enemy weapon and also in the J up north. The L1A8 ?(correct me Doc on nomencleture)won the MG shoot at AASAM many a time. The choc's at the time didn't have or didn't bring the Mag 58 or M60 and dragged along the Bren. Used to make us reg's irate!!!
As they where withdrawn from frontline service by then (late 80's)
I LOved them old girls. My reciever body was dated Oct 43 then converted in 59 if I remeber correctly.
Had the same time travel trip when in Mortars. Whilst the in service mortar was 81mm we often used WW2 dated 3 inch ammo. Dated OCT 42. We caled them the Dave Sullivan round!!!! Try emergency rate with 3 inch ammo out the back of a carrier !!! Remember 3 inch is not bore safe.
Cheers
NED
Shoot straight you Bastards !!!
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Chargerclip
Gunboards.Com Silver Star Member
Australia
558 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 09:11:44 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
There only was one rifle to own. When I was a kid in the 1960s in London all of our dads and grandads had been in the Great War or the Second World War. They had all been issued and used Enfields. My grandad was in the Suffolk Regiment on the Somme and my dad was in REME in Burma. I had always wanted a Lee Enfield. Looked at de-acs but held off. Living in London limited my options, but now I live in Australia and my collection has grown. My first Enfield was given to me only 20 months ago. A 1944 Lithgow. It now has many "cousins" in the safes.
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geekay
Gunboards Super Premium Member
Australia
402 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 09:39:07 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
First fired one in '48 while in the Air Force cadets then from '50 as a Regimental cadet but was keen on the SMLE from '41 when I was hospitalised with an AIF bloke in North Queensland. Today I enjoy shooting my #4 Mk2 as much as I have any other 303 including Brens and Vickers. My son's #1 is fun to shoot too even though the rear sight is indistinct. If it wont get me barred from the forum I'll confess an affection for my MAS 36 too.
Shooting is FUN, winning is MORE fun but shooting IS fun. geekay
Edited by - geekay on 05/31/2007 09:02:16 AM
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Curator
Gunboards Member
USA
55 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 10:09:17 AM Show Profile Visit Curator's Homepage Reply with Quote
I got my first Enfield "fix" at 12 from Simpson-Sears in Guelph, Ontario at age 12. C$19.95 and it came with 100 rounds of ammo. '45 Longbranch probably unfired. I was hooked. Got a black & blue shoulder the first time I fired it on the farm. The disease spread and now I have 33 of them, .22 trainers, .303s, 7.62s even a couple of .577s and 577-450s. I have dedicated brass for all, bullet moulds, every kind of tool & die needed to keep them fed. There's no known cure from what I have seen.
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Edward Horton
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
USA
1906 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 10:33:39 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
Prior to December of 2005 I had never held or had any interest in an Enfield, and Mil-Surp was something that I put on my pancakes in the service. I was Christmas shopping with my wife of 29 years and bored to tears. We were at a shopping mall and I told my wife I was going to go to Dunham’s Sporting Goods and look around, she was to take her time, not to hurry and meet me inside when she was done.
At the back of the Dunham’s store the entire back wall is devoted to firearms, I started looking at new rifles on the left and worked my way to the right toward the old surplus junk (my thoughts at the time). When I got down to the military surplus end the Mitchell’s Mausers caught my eye, nope my old eyes couldn’t see the back sight. The salesman suggested I try an Enfield it had a peep sight, and thoughts of the Springfield 03-A3 I had in the 70s came to mind. While holding an Enfield my wife found me and I informed her I had my Christmas present in my hands.
As a side note this Enfield forum is very informative and our Commonwealth friends are a treasure trove of information for the American “Rebels”. One person caught my eye from the first day here as being very Enfield literate, well written and speaks with years of experience. This gentleman’s name is Beelzebub, and he puts pen to paper in a very informative manor, thanks for being here Beelzebub, Illegitimum non carborundum.
Another person that that inspired me was Jason, this low life commie pinko pervert (expletive deleted) rat bastard, had the audacity to tell me to “BUY BOOKS” when I first posted here and was asking about the doohickey connected to the thingamabob. Thanks Jason, the only book I need now is Skennerton’s Enfield Bible. (Hope you choke on a bowl of grits)
Question: Coogan, how was my sentence structure and punctuation ?
P.S. To the Australian mob, the only reason I’m an American and not from Oz is because my ancestors could run faster after "borrowing" the horse.
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bigedp51
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Coogan
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
USA
2532 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 11:39:52 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
It is acceptable. Now you must convert the English passages to Latin and vice versa.
Semper Fi,
Mike
Sergeant, USMCR 2111
1997-2004
Looking for:
Australian Enfields (produced or marked)
Slovak marked vz.24
Persian 98/29 Mauser
Remington Mosin rifles or Mosin rifles built on Remington receivers
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goo
Gunboards.Com Silver Star Member
USA
783 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 11:57:36 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
it was the old british guns.net forum...
...
upon reviewing the posts, i was flabergasted at all the ignorance, and lack of expertise, especially from vulture, sukey, geoffrey and several others...
i decided the forum could really benefit for my vast expertise,firearms wisdom and of course, humility...
i am pretty much solely responsibile for raising the level of awarness of the old timers around here, but it still takes a lot of work which is never appreciated.
the brithsh guns forum is gone, but all the neophytes here can still be thankful the old goo is still available to impart expertise, wisdom and advice in an an unassuming manner.
..
"Sheesh! i tell you people everything i know, and you still don't know nothing!"
...
http://static.flickr.com/30/64501296_c01a1e005b.jpg
ed flanagan
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303EnfieldAU
Gunboards.Com Silver Star Member
Australia
693 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 12:29:41 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
I grew up watching a lot of British War Movies and reading War Picture Library comic books (I was born in New Zealand in 1981, which might explain a few things!). My dad had a Firearms Licence, and by the time I was 16 I had quite the collection of air guns and BB guns.
Anyway, a family friend ran into some marital difficulties and had to dispose of his rifle- a SMLE Mk III*, complete with bayonet. No-one else he knew had a firearms licence, and I had a bit of spare cash as a result of an after-school job, so I offered him NZD$150 for the rifle and bayonet- which, amazingly, he accepted (SMLE rifles were, and are, amazingly common in NZ).
The rifle lived on my wall for nearly 3 years (sans bolt- Dad kept that somewhere else), and when we moved to Australia in 2000, the rifle was entrusted to another family friend for safekeeping, until such time as I could return and get the rifle.
In 2002 I finally got around to getting a Queensland Firearms Licence, and after buying a .22 to use at the range, I found a Lithgow SMLE Mk III* for sale cheaply at a local gunshop, and decided to grab it as a "Substitute" .303. Of course, little did I realise (at the time) that the "DP" markings on the rifle meant "Drill Purpose"- ie, not for shooting- and the Lithgow failed spectacularly at the range one day. The gunshop, to their eternal credit, gave me another gun (A Winchester Model 94) to make up for it, but it got me thinking that it was time to learn more about Lee-Enfields so I wouldn't make the same mistakes again.
In early 2004, my now-fiancee and I went back to NZ for my Aunty's wedding- and I decided to get the paperwork sorted out to bring my Lee-Enfield back with me.
Long story short, I got it sorted out, and once I had the rifle with me in Australia I realised it was a 1918 LSA Co SMLE Mk III* (H). Of course, I took it to the range and had a great time- and I was hooked!
I haven't looked back since the first time I fed a .303 round into the breech, sighted her up, and squeezed the trigger.
"He's always off installing a puppet government when I need him!"- Dilbert, on Dogbert.
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AWO425
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
Germany
1252 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 1:02:23 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
A good friend forced me to buy a new No4Mk2.
Since than I got me some more.
Great shooters and fun to collect!!!!!!!!!
Chris
Tradition is to keep the fire alive, not to adore the ashes!
Edited by - AWO425 on 07/03/2006 1:13:09 PM
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jsim
Gunboards Member
United Kingdom
41 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 2:07:42 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
Shooting a No4 (long since retired) as a 15 year old cadet on the 25yd range at RAF Ouston (long since given over to the army) while waiting my turn for a 30 min flight in a Chipmunk (long since retired).
Life was simple then, happy days indeed
John
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bones92
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
4200 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 2:51:06 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
$60 for a FTR'd No4 Mk1 at Roses in 1993. I got it because it was cheap and old.
Whatever happens, we have got
the Maxim gun, and they have not.
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Youngblood
Platinum Bullet Club
USA
5962 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 3:05:05 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
quote:Originally posted by Arisaka fan
What got you into collecting Enfields? ...
Curiosity, the price and a ready source of .303Brit (the latter dried up pretty quickly but not before I had a bit of a stockpile).
I now have 10(?) Nº4s, one Nº5 and a Nº3 that will be here soon (with Volley Sights intact ).
Still looking for a representative Nº1 in VG-EXC condition for a good price.
When you are at the range or shooting
ALWAYS WEAR SAFETY GLASSES!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** CETME and FR-8 Forum Expat **
Registered on Nov 23, 2001 12:07 pm
Total Classic Gunboards Posts: 1191
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John Sukey
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
USA
9613 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 3:19:27 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
Gunboards Super Premium Member
USA
395 Posts
Posted - 07/02/2006 : 7:55:40 PM Show Profile Send Arisaka fan a Private Message Reply with Quote
What got you into collecting Enfields? I wanted one since I was 10 and first saw the 2 movies the Immortal SGT and Battalion shortly after my Dad brought a Jungle Carbine From my uncle then he got a number 4 are collection grew but he got sick and we sold the first collection I did not get another Enfield after his death when I got a my Fire arms Id Card the first rifle I brought myself was a No4mkII witch I still have it needs a new Magazine I now have 5 enfields everytime I shoot them it is a trip down memory lane of me and my Father. I must say to me the enfield just has an eligance to them I can not find in other rifles I only wish they were not so much money around here
Coogan
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
USA
2532 Posts
Posted - 07/02/2006 : 8:58:07 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
Dude (when can I start using "mate"?), you need to use punctuation! Reading your post is like having ADD.
Anyway, I got into Enfields when I saw my first SMLE. Thought the bayonet boss was the muzzle, from the profile of course.
Semper Fi,
Mike
Sergeant, USMCR 2111
1997-2004
Looking for:
Australian Enfields (produced or marked)
Slovak marked vz.24
Persian 98/29 Mauser
Remington Mosin rifles or Mosin rifles built on Remington receivers
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Fightin Scot
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
USA
4002 Posts
Posted - 07/02/2006 : 9:51:15 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
I got into Enfield simply because I wanted one of every major milsurp out there. I now have 2 Enfields, a No1 Mk3 and a No4 Mk1, but I am always looking for nice examples to add.
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Clyde from Carolina
Gunboards.Com Silver Star Member
USA
857 Posts
Posted - 07/02/2006 : 10:02:34 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
I guess it started as a kid, being interested in history. My Dad got a couple of WWII encyclopedias in the mail as a trial offer and I read them cover to cover. That whetted my appetite for old small arms.
I also remember reading Garry James' articles in Guns & Ammo about Brit weapons and Enfields in particular. Guess that really set the hook.
Clyde from Carolina
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Edward Horton
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
USA
1906 Posts
Posted - 07/02/2006 : 10:15:44 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
quote:Originally posted by Arisaka fan
What got you into collecting Enfields? I wanted one since I was 10 and first saw the 2 movies the Immortal SGT and Battalion shortly after my Dad brought a Jungle Carbine From my uncle then he got a number 4 are collection grew but he got sick and we sold the first collection I did not get another Enfield after his death when I got a my Fire arms Id Card the first rifle I brought myself was a No4mkII witch I still have it needs a new Magazine I now have 5 enfields everytime I shoot them it is a trip down memory lane of me and my Father. I must say to me the enfield just has an eligance to them I can not find in other rifles I only wish they were not so much money around here
bigedp51
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03man
Moderator
USA
3839 Posts
Posted - 07/02/2006 : 10:39:52 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
Seeing a mail order ad about 1960, for No.1 MkIII rifles for $9.95. Finally talked my Dad into ordering it for me; still have it too.
03man
Edited by - 03man on 07/02/2006 10:40:27 PM
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Ray
Gunboards Super Premium Member
New Zealand
257 Posts
Posted - 07/02/2006 : 11:18:19 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
I blame john Sukey
I did my initial military training with SMLEs, my early deer shooting with a cut down one and quie frankly had no real interest in these old fashioned killing machines
In my later days I bought a GP Martini in 12 gauge and went on the internet to find out more about them
There was a martini site (Guns & Knives)but next to it was the L-E site (poor fools I used to think) but thanks to J S I got hooked and one thing and another lead to my quite extensive collection
Ray
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coop
Gunboards Super Premium Member
Australia
393 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 12:25:35 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
HI back in the late sixies, when public High Schools had Cadets, the first rifle we got to use was a no2 mkiv trainer then no1 mk111 and the Bren Gun when we where at camp at Singleton Army Base.
After parade at school you would bring your rifle home with you but without the bolt, walking through shopping centre back in those days no one looked twice at you,and just a few years ago i have started to collect them i wish i done this early when they where a lot cheaper,what great rifle and a great hobby
COOP
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FootDoc
Gunboards Super Premium Member
USA
374 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 12:51:10 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
Watching my son played the video game Call of Duty 2... I stood behind him for about ten minutes, watching him take down Nazis with the Enfield 4MK1. After a while, he turned around and said, "It is a nice rifle, Dad. You should get one for your collection." I had an all mosin collection, then.
Added a couple of Enfields soon after that.
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SFW516
Gunboards Premium Member
USA
236 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 01:40:59 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
After many years of being interested in military history I decided I wanted an M1 Garand rifle, my brother suggested that I get an Enfield and the more research I did the more I liked em. I never did get around to the M1 though I guess its way too much money to spend on one gun.
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richardwv
MH Forum Moderator
USA
1832 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 02:35:36 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
A little over Forty years ago my father's No.5 was the first high powered rifle I had ever shot. After picking my butt off the ground I was hooked. Also it didn't hurt that they were just about the best condition and least expensive MILSUP around at the time....at least in my neck of the woods. My first two had to be unissued and only $19.50 from S.Kline, at a time that their Garands were selling for $99.99 (something that I didn't add to my collection until the 1990s).
Rich in WV…..savoring life one cartridge at a time!
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Dr. Johnny Fever
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
USA
2065 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 03:15:39 AM Show Profile Visit Dr. Johnny Fever's Homepage Reply with Quote
The history of the British Empire is what drew me to Enfields, whether they were actually there at the time/place/battle or not.
Rourke's Drift, Gundamuck, the Boxer Rebellion, the Somme, et al. I guess I assign a kind of romantic quality to the battles fought for the Crown, some might say wrongly so, but whatever. Enfields are way for me to go back in time, if only for 100 rounds or so...
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"As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Dr. Ron Paul tirelessly works for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies. Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution." Ron Paul for President - 2008!
Edited by - Dr. Johnny Fever on 07/03/2006 03:17:49 AM
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Lithyaddict
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
Australia
1130 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 04:24:21 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
The day that I got into Enfields was the day when our Prime Minister decided that everything else of Australian Military origins in the safe was too dangerous for a bloke like me to possess, unless it was converted into an expensive paperweight.
Twenty years of service and a Warrant count for nought in Oz. Bastards!
I suppose I should be thankful that they paid for them. Bastards!
Sorry, gripe over, please return to happier thoughts.
Edited for punctuation
"Was your court at the trial of Visser constituted like this and did you observe paragraph---- of section--- of the King's Regulations?"
"Was it like this? No, it wasn't quite so handsome. As to rules and sections, we had no Red Book and we we knew nothing of such. We were fighting Boers, not sitting comfortably behind barbed wire entanglements; we got them and shot them under Rule .303"
Edited by - Lithyaddict on 07/03/2006 04:26:29 AM
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pugs1970
Gunboards Super Premium Member
Australia
461 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 05:43:46 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
My grandfather served in britain during ww2 and my nan lost 1 brother in burma to the japs and another seved in the middle east, new guinea and my dads brother was in vietnam whilst the old man served in the reserves the first guns my brothers and i used were a BSA .22 ,winchester sngl brrl 12g and a lithgow 303-25 which has and still is in the family for about 30-40 yrs . And no my uncle won't sell or give it to me(i've tried) SO the SMLE has a bit of family history.
The battalion that seved in new guinea published a book called Stand Easy after the japs surrended and near the back pages there is a pic of the grand uncle watching landing craft comming ashore whilst holding what looks like a No.1 mk3 .
cheers pugs1970
More Lee's than the wife knows about and Less than I would like.
Ther're not mine anyway, I'm just holding them for my kids and Grandkids and great grandkids
skype. pugsgav
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lonerider
Gunboards Super Premium Member
Australia
378 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 05:48:31 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
back in the early '70's i think it was,i used to go with my dad and grandfather to the rifle range at stockton. [just north of newcastle] my ol grand dad was a 303, range shooter.after the days shoot and the range was clear i used to run the mile and collect the fmj projectiles from the mound.i think i was about 10yrs...bin hooked ever since.it was only in the last couple of yrs that i got my licence and the No1 MkIII* full sporter was the first enfield i baught [a dieing mate needed a good home for it and i couldnt let him down].next came the MkIII* full wood.next ..who knows
Sean.
the only good cat,is a dead cat !!
killem all and let god sort em out!
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Beelzebub
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
4535 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 05:55:25 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
I was interested in firearms from an early age. I was about 13 when my father gave me charge over his little BSA .22 bolt-action rifle. I doubt I ever fired more than 20 rounds through it, but it was kept scrupulously clean and lightly oiled.
When I started at college (age 13 – college has different meanings in other countries), I discovered that there was a compulsory school cadet scheme. This involved wearing brutally itchy woollen quasi-military uniforms that reeked of camphor in the height of summer and a lot of marching. However, we did learn a bit of bush-craft – and there was shooting. The shooting was on the Lee Enfield No 8 trainer on the 25 yard range on the school grounds and a trip to the local full-bore range where we would fire the No 4 Lee Enfield (Long Branch No 4 Mk I*s, to be specific) and the BREN GUN.
As the first time I fired a .303 approached, I received varying advice from the boys a year ahead of me. Some of them advised holding the rifle off the shoulder to allow the rifle to move before your shoulder took up the recoil: others recommended holding the rifle tight in the shoulder. Taking this conflicting advice into consideration as well as the credibility of those giving it, on the day I pulled the butt firmly into my shoulder – and no Lee Enfield has ever hurt me (that includes No 5s, for all the girly-men out there).
(Incidentally, if any of you ever get an opportunity to fire a Bren gun, do not decline it.)
I enjoyed the experience so much that, naturally, I applied for the school shooting teams. For some reason, I did not make it the first year, but qualified the next year and represented the school in national competitions for three years.
Shooting on the school range with the No 8s was fun – as well as the cool factor of walking across the school grounds from the armoury carrying at least one rifle. In the .303 team, I discovered the special atmosphere of a rifle range early in the morning. The tranquillity about to be shattered, the developing light, the smell of gun oil as the master in charge of the team opened the back of his car to unload the rifles… Ah, memories.
A few years ago, I was helping a friend doing some building. He produced a Ramset nail gun for attaching wooden framing to the steel girders. The first shot and my mouth involuntarily salivated and I could taste honey and walnut sandwiches. The Ramset is powered by a cartridge that is nothing more than a .22 blank – and when it was raining, the school .22 team would be transported across town to the veterans’ association building where they had an indoor range in the cellar. Sitting in the gloom, waiting my turn, I would eat honey and walnut sandwiches (we had a walnut tree) with the smell of .22 cartridges wafting past…
(Before anyone makes any comments about honey and walnut sandwiches, check carefully if you have ever heard of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Honey and walnut has WAY more class…)
So 99.999% of all my early shooting was on Lee Enfields. So, when some years later, a friend suggested we join a club that did military-style shooting with military rifles, did I rush out and buy a Mauser? The hell I did. I bought examples of the rifles used by British Empire and Commonwealth troops in the Boer War, WW I, WW II and Korea. Which basically boils down to the four rifles in the photo on the back cover of Skennerton’s “The Lee Enfield Story”.
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometime you just might find
You'll get what you need.
- The Glimmer Twins
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DocAV
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
Australia
3278 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 08:14:00 AM Show Profile Visit DocAV's Homepage Reply with Quote
Along with the other "Colonials" down Under, I shouldered my first No1 MkIII* back in 1963, aged 14, and fired 10 rounds of Mark VII at 100 yards, followed by 30 rounds from a Bren mark I at 25 yards. I was then hooked on....Bren guns and other Autos....( First cadet camp and Range day, August 1963);
I graduated to Arisakas,M1 carbines and Garands by age 18, and then some more SMLEs of my own, so that now, some 43 years later, I have over 200 Lee-Enfields of all types (Mostly SMLEs, Mostly Lithgows, and the majority are Movie Guns, but I do have a small Historical collection by Model): I also have several working Brens (Thanks to JWH, these were saved for Movie Work).
I still prefer the Bren Gun...even if regular use is with Movie Blanks, although......a nod's as good as a wink to a blind Horse.
regards, Doc AV
AV Ballistics Film Ordnance Services
Brisbane.
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Fazakerley_fella
Gunboards Premium Member
United Kingdom
203 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 08:52:04 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
3 reasons. History, I'm British and History.....(yea, I know)
Fullbore!
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para
Gunboards.Com Silver Star Member
Australia
772 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 08:52:15 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
I to have had the pleasure of firing a bren. In 303 and 7.62. We where still being issued the 7.62 version as an enemy weapon and also in the J up north. The L1A8 ?(correct me Doc on nomencleture)won the MG shoot at AASAM many a time. The choc's at the time didn't have or didn't bring the Mag 58 or M60 and dragged along the Bren. Used to make us reg's irate!!!
As they where withdrawn from frontline service by then (late 80's)
I LOved them old girls. My reciever body was dated Oct 43 then converted in 59 if I remeber correctly.
Had the same time travel trip when in Mortars. Whilst the in service mortar was 81mm we often used WW2 dated 3 inch ammo. Dated OCT 42. We caled them the Dave Sullivan round!!!! Try emergency rate with 3 inch ammo out the back of a carrier !!! Remember 3 inch is not bore safe.
Cheers
NED
Shoot straight you Bastards !!!
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Chargerclip
Gunboards.Com Silver Star Member
Australia
558 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 09:11:44 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
There only was one rifle to own. When I was a kid in the 1960s in London all of our dads and grandads had been in the Great War or the Second World War. They had all been issued and used Enfields. My grandad was in the Suffolk Regiment on the Somme and my dad was in REME in Burma. I had always wanted a Lee Enfield. Looked at de-acs but held off. Living in London limited my options, but now I live in Australia and my collection has grown. My first Enfield was given to me only 20 months ago. A 1944 Lithgow. It now has many "cousins" in the safes.
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geekay
Gunboards Super Premium Member
Australia
402 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 09:39:07 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
First fired one in '48 while in the Air Force cadets then from '50 as a Regimental cadet but was keen on the SMLE from '41 when I was hospitalised with an AIF bloke in North Queensland. Today I enjoy shooting my #4 Mk2 as much as I have any other 303 including Brens and Vickers. My son's #1 is fun to shoot too even though the rear sight is indistinct. If it wont get me barred from the forum I'll confess an affection for my MAS 36 too.
Shooting is FUN, winning is MORE fun but shooting IS fun. geekay
Edited by - geekay on 05/31/2007 09:02:16 AM
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Curator
Gunboards Member
USA
55 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 10:09:17 AM Show Profile Visit Curator's Homepage Reply with Quote
I got my first Enfield "fix" at 12 from Simpson-Sears in Guelph, Ontario at age 12. C$19.95 and it came with 100 rounds of ammo. '45 Longbranch probably unfired. I was hooked. Got a black & blue shoulder the first time I fired it on the farm. The disease spread and now I have 33 of them, .22 trainers, .303s, 7.62s even a couple of .577s and 577-450s. I have dedicated brass for all, bullet moulds, every kind of tool & die needed to keep them fed. There's no known cure from what I have seen.
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Edward Horton
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
USA
1906 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 10:33:39 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
Prior to December of 2005 I had never held or had any interest in an Enfield, and Mil-Surp was something that I put on my pancakes in the service. I was Christmas shopping with my wife of 29 years and bored to tears. We were at a shopping mall and I told my wife I was going to go to Dunham’s Sporting Goods and look around, she was to take her time, not to hurry and meet me inside when she was done.
At the back of the Dunham’s store the entire back wall is devoted to firearms, I started looking at new rifles on the left and worked my way to the right toward the old surplus junk (my thoughts at the time). When I got down to the military surplus end the Mitchell’s Mausers caught my eye, nope my old eyes couldn’t see the back sight. The salesman suggested I try an Enfield it had a peep sight, and thoughts of the Springfield 03-A3 I had in the 70s came to mind. While holding an Enfield my wife found me and I informed her I had my Christmas present in my hands.
As a side note this Enfield forum is very informative and our Commonwealth friends are a treasure trove of information for the American “Rebels”. One person caught my eye from the first day here as being very Enfield literate, well written and speaks with years of experience. This gentleman’s name is Beelzebub, and he puts pen to paper in a very informative manor, thanks for being here Beelzebub, Illegitimum non carborundum.
Another person that that inspired me was Jason, this low life commie pinko pervert (expletive deleted) rat bastard, had the audacity to tell me to “BUY BOOKS” when I first posted here and was asking about the doohickey connected to the thingamabob. Thanks Jason, the only book I need now is Skennerton’s Enfield Bible. (Hope you choke on a bowl of grits)
Question: Coogan, how was my sentence structure and punctuation ?
P.S. To the Australian mob, the only reason I’m an American and not from Oz is because my ancestors could run faster after "borrowing" the horse.
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bigedp51
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Coogan
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
USA
2532 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 11:39:52 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
It is acceptable. Now you must convert the English passages to Latin and vice versa.
Semper Fi,
Mike
Sergeant, USMCR 2111
1997-2004
Looking for:
Australian Enfields (produced or marked)
Slovak marked vz.24
Persian 98/29 Mauser
Remington Mosin rifles or Mosin rifles built on Remington receivers
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goo
Gunboards.Com Silver Star Member
USA
783 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 11:57:36 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote
it was the old british guns.net forum...
...
upon reviewing the posts, i was flabergasted at all the ignorance, and lack of expertise, especially from vulture, sukey, geoffrey and several others...
i decided the forum could really benefit for my vast expertise,firearms wisdom and of course, humility...
i am pretty much solely responsibile for raising the level of awarness of the old timers around here, but it still takes a lot of work which is never appreciated.
the brithsh guns forum is gone, but all the neophytes here can still be thankful the old goo is still available to impart expertise, wisdom and advice in an an unassuming manner.
..
"Sheesh! i tell you people everything i know, and you still don't know nothing!"
...
http://static.flickr.com/30/64501296_c01a1e005b.jpg
ed flanagan
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303EnfieldAU
Gunboards.Com Silver Star Member
Australia
693 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 12:29:41 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
I grew up watching a lot of British War Movies and reading War Picture Library comic books (I was born in New Zealand in 1981, which might explain a few things!). My dad had a Firearms Licence, and by the time I was 16 I had quite the collection of air guns and BB guns.
Anyway, a family friend ran into some marital difficulties and had to dispose of his rifle- a SMLE Mk III*, complete with bayonet. No-one else he knew had a firearms licence, and I had a bit of spare cash as a result of an after-school job, so I offered him NZD$150 for the rifle and bayonet- which, amazingly, he accepted (SMLE rifles were, and are, amazingly common in NZ).
The rifle lived on my wall for nearly 3 years (sans bolt- Dad kept that somewhere else), and when we moved to Australia in 2000, the rifle was entrusted to another family friend for safekeeping, until such time as I could return and get the rifle.
In 2002 I finally got around to getting a Queensland Firearms Licence, and after buying a .22 to use at the range, I found a Lithgow SMLE Mk III* for sale cheaply at a local gunshop, and decided to grab it as a "Substitute" .303. Of course, little did I realise (at the time) that the "DP" markings on the rifle meant "Drill Purpose"- ie, not for shooting- and the Lithgow failed spectacularly at the range one day. The gunshop, to their eternal credit, gave me another gun (A Winchester Model 94) to make up for it, but it got me thinking that it was time to learn more about Lee-Enfields so I wouldn't make the same mistakes again.
In early 2004, my now-fiancee and I went back to NZ for my Aunty's wedding- and I decided to get the paperwork sorted out to bring my Lee-Enfield back with me.
Long story short, I got it sorted out, and once I had the rifle with me in Australia I realised it was a 1918 LSA Co SMLE Mk III* (H). Of course, I took it to the range and had a great time- and I was hooked!
I haven't looked back since the first time I fed a .303 round into the breech, sighted her up, and squeezed the trigger.
"He's always off installing a puppet government when I need him!"- Dilbert, on Dogbert.
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AWO425
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
Germany
1252 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 1:02:23 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
A good friend forced me to buy a new No4Mk2.
Since than I got me some more.
Great shooters and fun to collect!!!!!!!!!
Chris
Tradition is to keep the fire alive, not to adore the ashes!
Edited by - AWO425 on 07/03/2006 1:13:09 PM
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jsim
Gunboards Member
United Kingdom
41 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 2:07:42 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
Shooting a No4 (long since retired) as a 15 year old cadet on the 25yd range at RAF Ouston (long since given over to the army) while waiting my turn for a 30 min flight in a Chipmunk (long since retired).
Life was simple then, happy days indeed
John
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bones92
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
4200 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 2:51:06 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
$60 for a FTR'd No4 Mk1 at Roses in 1993. I got it because it was cheap and old.
Whatever happens, we have got
the Maxim gun, and they have not.
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Youngblood
Platinum Bullet Club
USA
5962 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 3:05:05 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
quote:Originally posted by Arisaka fan
What got you into collecting Enfields? ...
Curiosity, the price and a ready source of .303Brit (the latter dried up pretty quickly but not before I had a bit of a stockpile).
I now have 10(?) Nº4s, one Nº5 and a Nº3 that will be here soon (with Volley Sights intact ).
Still looking for a representative Nº1 in VG-EXC condition for a good price.
When you are at the range or shooting
ALWAYS WEAR SAFETY GLASSES!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** CETME and FR-8 Forum Expat **
Registered on Nov 23, 2001 12:07 pm
Total Classic Gunboards Posts: 1191
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John Sukey
Gunboards.Com Gold Star Member
USA
9613 Posts
Posted - 07/03/2006 : 3:19:27 PM Show Profile Reply with Quote
