First range day with Lee Enfield No.4 |
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Donald303
Groupie Joined: September 27 2018 Location: Tennessee Status: Offline Points: 85 |
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Posted: January 05 2019 at 1:32pm |
he!!o again guys. Well, after several weeks with rotten weather today turned out sunny and warmer. So I grabbed my Lee and went to the range to fire it for the first time. I had to use the 25 yard range because the 100 was under mud. That didn't matter as all I wanted to do for this first day out was to see how well the gun operated and attempt to just hit the target. :-).
Both objectives were met with flying colors!! I posted a photo of the target as it appeared after I became more familiar with where the rifle was actually firing. I had never fired the gun before and have no idea how long ago it had been fired. Once I saw where the rounds were printing I drew a circle with a pen (lower right) and shot some more rounds at that. All of the rounds fired hit very near the bulls-eye and those are the ones you can see right there. Obviously some adjustments are in order but am happy that at least the rounds are consistent. Had an eject problem with a jam-up (photo) but found it was less when I became a bit more aggressive with the bolt. Some of the cases came out with a curious dimple (photo) but I realized that the slug end might be getting thrown against the side of the bolt housing. All in all very happy with the rifle first day out. Will go to 100 yard range when it dries out a little. Donald
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You can lead a horse to water but a bullet must be lead...
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Donald303
Groupie Joined: September 27 2018 Location: Tennessee Status: Offline Points: 85 |
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You can lead a horse to water but a bullet must be lead...
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42rocker
Senior Member Joined: October 07 2018 Location: Tampa area,Fla Status: Offline Points: 458 |
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Looks like you had a good time at the range. Enjoy. Later 42rocker
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Donald303
Groupie Joined: September 27 2018 Location: Tennessee Status: Offline Points: 85 |
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Great time! The rifle drew some attention while I was there. People wanted to know the history of it. I know precious little and sometimes wish that the rifle could talk.
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You can lead a horse to water but a bullet must be lead...
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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The rifle does talk. 100 years plus and still hitting paper and harvesting wild game.
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Pukka Bundook
Senior Member Joined: February 02 2015 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 1369 |
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Congrats on getting out it in the fresh air, Donald!
It will all get better the more you get to know each other. Good start, and the a very nice looking rifle. :-) All the best, Richard.
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A square 10
Special Member Donating Member Joined: December 12 2006 Location: MN , USA Status: Offline Points: 14452 |
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congrats - you got a great rifle there ,
if they could talk .......well the stories would be well worth hearing , all of us would love to hear the stories our rifles might tell , some would be inspirational and many would bring us to tears i am sure , we hold these dear for all that they saw and served , we preserve them for the memories that are lost , we hold them dear for where they have been -who held them-and because if we dont history will be lost ,
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Donald303
Groupie Joined: September 27 2018 Location: Tennessee Status: Offline Points: 85 |
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A Square 10, you are so correct. My brother had this rifle stored away for several decades. He originally received it in trade from his father-in-law for doing some home improvement jobs but never fired it. And that was at least three decades ago. I had given my brother an old Mauser many years ago and asked that if he weren't using it that he might consider sending it back to me to see if it could be returned to service. He assured me that the Mauser was not salvageable but had this Lee that he would never use. BY DAMN, I asked how fast he could get it out to me! After receiving it I knew I had something special. I cleaned it very well and have it in a case and due to good weather was finally able to get it out today. I am so proud to be able to own this beautiful piece of history. I am sure that once I get it sighted in correctly it will be a very accurate gun.
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You can lead a horse to water but a bullet must be lead...
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A square 10
Special Member Donating Member Joined: December 12 2006 Location: MN , USA Status: Offline Points: 14452 |
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you have a great rifle , keep it safe and pass it on when neccessary but hold it dear , i would like to see a thread on the particulars of that rifle , you might be suprised to see what you could find out about it simply from the markings on this old girl , we have a lot of info and resources here to fill in the gaps , it is a complete rifle from what i see in your photo ,
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Goosic
Senior Member Joined: September 12 2017 Location: Phoenix Arizona Status: Offline Points: 8792 |
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I love the color of the wood. I will always love the sound of a .303 when that trigger is squeezed as well. No other rifle sounds just like it. Nice shooting...
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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The bolt is supposed to be used "briskly" (fast & fully) because the L-E doesn't use the ejector to eject fired cases (odd as that is) the ejector only ejects LOADED bullets. Fired cases are ejected by friction with the left side receiver wall. If this doesn't happen frequently think about replacing the extractor spring because that is what applies pressure forcing the case rim against the left side wall.
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Zed
Special Member Donating Member Joined: May 01 2012 Location: France Status: Online Points: 5586 |
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Please to hear that you had a good day at the range Donald. It is quite easy to set the front blade for the windage error. Calculate the required adjustment and drift the blade across. To calculate the adjustment: Multiply the distance between POA and POI on the target, by the distabce between the front and rear sights. Then divide the result by the distance between the barrel end and the target. Use the same scale for all measurements. Example: (2" error X 27" sight radius) / 900" = 0.060" So in this case the front blade would require 60 thousandth's of an inch drift to correct a 2" error at 25 yards (900 inches)
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It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice!
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britrifles
Senior Member Joined: February 03 2018 Location: Atlanta, GA Status: Offline Points: 6539 |
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Donald, your No. 4 has the Mk 1 aperture sight, which is the best of the 4 marks that were made for the No. 4 rifle. It has 1 MOA (i.e. 1 inch at 100 yards) click elevation adjustments. The 25 yard zero setting should not be too far off for shooting at 100 yards. You can get the rifle to regulate to the range settings on the rear sight by finding a front sight of the correct height, but that will change with different loads, so not really necessary. Taking a 6:00 hold (front sight at the bottom of the target black aiming mark) makes a clearer sight picture for consistent aiming. You can easily make up a tool for the front sight screw from an old screw driver, grind off the end of it and grind an appropriate width slot for the screw head.
Your extractor spring may be weak not allowing the case to eject prior reaching the ejector screw. These are pretty cheap from places like Numerich.
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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If that rifle has the "reversed screw" locking the front sight for windage your local car parts store has the correct screwdriver for it! Ask them for a "Schrader valve tool".
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Donald303
Groupie Joined: September 27 2018 Location: Tennessee Status: Offline Points: 85 |
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Hey guys, thanks so much for for the replies!! And the sight adjustment methods are just what I was going to ask about next. I have been scouring YouTube and on line sources for just how to make the adjustment so this input is very timely. One forum I happened upon shows a special clamp like tool that can be bought. But on the same thread an expert armourer said that one simply needs a small brass punch and a small hammer to make the front sight adjustment. Wanted to check in with my friends here to verify that that is ok. I believe I can use a small punch and hammer without mucking up the side of the sight.
Thanks for the info on the "driver". If I can't find it I will make one.
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You can lead a horse to water but a bullet must be lead...
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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Nylon punches work well also.
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