Help w/ Buying a Lee Enfield Mk III

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>>31631407
What ammo is it? British? At that price you arent getting much of a deal. CTD had 480 rounds of Greek HXP for 90 bucks for a while but then again that was about a year ago. Also a good way to tell if an Enfield has good rifling still is when you stick a round in the muzzle. If you cant really see the bullet its doesnt have very good rifling. Got any pics of it?

Milsurp .303 is best avoided. Most of it is Indian, highly corrosive, and generally just shit.

>>31631438
Actually if its 450 rounds of British 303 for 150 then it is a deal but if its Paki or Greek its not

>>31631438
Unfortunately no pics, but I am going to try the round in the muzzle and see who made the ammo. I might just get the rifle if it's in good shape for $300.

>>31631481
Just asked the guy if he could tell me what it says on the ammo headstamps. It says "PPU 303 BRIT". I'm guessing these must be reloaded PPU shells, since he said they're all in a big ammo can. Worth?

>>31631923
id say go for it

>>31631407
If it's all original that's a good price even if the bolt is a different serial number I would do it depending on the condition. Milsurp 303 is usually steel so you want to avoid that. Bring a magnet and if it attracts don't get it. You can find soft points for a reasonable price online.

>>31632006
>Milsurp 303 is usually steel
Pretty much the only steel in .303 is found in the AP bullets.
The Brits and others used things like lead and aluminium.

>>31631923
I use ppu soft points in the blue box and they're good. theyre also like 17$ for 20 online so that might be a good deal. Don't think they make steel but bring the magnet just in case

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>>31631923
PPU 303 isnt Military surplus, seems like a good deal for that ammo tho. If its sporterized dont pay more then 125 for it. You might want to get a pic of it my dude

>>31632027
Just warning op since I was a dumby and bought a bunch of milsurp ammo with my first enfield that turned out to be a bunch of steel trash that I still have to this day because I don't want to blow my barrel out

>>31632144
Post some pics?
Actual .303 military rifle ammo was never steel jacketed.

>>31632231
I can when I get home in 6 hours. It has the date stamped on it i remember, pretty sure it says 1942

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>>31632109
Had the guy email me some pix, here is one. It's made in 1917. If PPU ammo is new that would be awesome, but it might be reloaded. Would you buy reloads without knowing what's in them?

>>31632406
Stocks been refinished thats at-least 50 bucks off. And no. I wouldn't trust someone elses reloads

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>>31632406
Another of the bolt

>>31632430
did he take a pic of the stock band marking?

>>31632406
>>31632430
stock looks new

>>31632470
Did not, just sent me a few of these and a pretty low res overall pic. Don't wanna bug him for anymore since it's already late. From what I was told it's a 1917 MK III* (I guess that's No. 1 SMLE? Not sure)

>>31632560
No. 1 Mark III* The Star means it doesnt have the grenade sights and or no magazine cutoff. But that stock definitely looks refinished.

>>31632598
Volley sights for massed infantry firing, not meant for use with grenades.
There were other changes made to speed up production in addition to removal of the magazine cutoff.

>>31631923
Don't ever shoot a stranger's reloads. If it's actual factory loaded .303 PPU then that's a steal.

>>31633738
Any easy way to tell if ammo was reloaded or not? These all just come dumped in a box, but have PPU headstamps.

>>31633867
PPU should have a brass coloured primer, of course so could reloads. But probably the easiest way to tell would be the case. Virtually all Enfields will stretch the case wall just above the head, google fired .303 cases if you haven't seen one. It should be clear enough to tell in real life, maybe even if they've been full length sized. Also look at the neck, see if it looks factory or not; PPU has a light annealing colour. You might also be able to tell if it's been trimmed and chamfered. Factory will probably have a duller surface than a reloaded and tumbled piece of brass, or a more uniform dull look.

You could possibly tell by the bullet and seating depth. Easiest way would be to ask the guy, but if you get it you could also pull a few rounds and compare to PPU.

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>>31632231
>>31632286
1945 and 1929 stamped on. Not positive if it was used for military or not actually just assumed because of the dates.

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>>31632231
>>31634433
i just realized that some of the steel colored ones are dated from 1929-1942 but all the copper jacketed steel ones have 1945

>>31634467
The 'steel coloured' bullets are cupro-nickel. To the best of my knowledge British .303 was never steel jacketed.

It was used to free up supplies of copper for more sensitive electrical and mechanical production.

>>31634433
What boxes did they come in?
The W1 marked ones are steel core AP while the 7s are simply lead and aluminium
Both are perfectly safe to fire out of any Enfield rifle.

>>31634506
Steel jacketed .303 was the MkVIII Vickers ammo. Higher pressure and different bullet meant rapid wear of the barrel and extra stress on the action.

>>31634520
I'll have to read up about it. I've not come across Mk8 much if at all in real life. As far as I know the Mk8 ammo wasn't officially approved for rifles because it was boat tailed. The regular flat base cordite Mk7 eroded throats quickly and you would experience gas blowby with a boat tail, significantly accelerating wear to the rest of the bore. Or at least that's what they reckoned.

I've never heard stress of the action being part of it, Mk7 unofficially varied a bit in what pressures it was actually generating and the No4 was known to be strong enough to handle the Mk8.

>>31634514
They came in plain white cardboard boxes. I dont think it was the original packaging

>>31634514
I was told you shouldnt fire too many steel rounds to reduce bore wear or is that a myth?

>>31634506
Interesting, thanks for the info.

>>31632144
>bunch of steel trash that I still have to this day because I don't want to blow my barrel out

what does the headstamp say?

>>31634216
Thanks a ton for all the info. Not looking to travelling 6 hours round trip to look at this rifle, but it might turn out to be a good deal. Not many non-sporterized Enfields get posted around my area, so this is a rare opportunity (the ones that do usually run around $500)! I'll let you guys know the outcome.

>>31634783
See
>>31634433

>>31631407
One thing you should do is take a .303 snap cap or an empty shell, load it and then see how it ejects. Some Lee enfields have this really cunty issue (usually ones with a mismatched bolt) where the pressure from the extractor pushing the rim sideways can cause the bolt to bind up really badly. Mine has this issue, it's action is meant to be one of the fastest and slickest actions out there and should be a joy to shoot, but instead its a massive pain in the ass to shoot, its like sticky bolt on a mosin only its not caused by cosmoline and i cant fix it.

>>31634979

wow never heard of that, sounds shitty. another reason why rimless cartridges are superior i guess. maybe playing around with new extractors could help?

I've not long bought one myself, in Australia though so I'm yet to lay hands on it. Plenty of issue accessories floating around like the pull through, oil bottle and issue sling. 1907 pattern bayonets tend to almost go for what you'll pay for the rifle if you're fussy about condition

>>31635027
the lee enfield has an interesting way of extracting, the extractor pushes the rim to the left, the rim drags along the side of the receiver which has a little scoop bit cut out of it, the rim catches along there and flips itself out. Works well, only it seems to be what causes the bolt to bind up on some rifles.

The rifle in this video has the same issues as mine, mine is extremely smooth when cycling empty, but does this even with unfired rounds.
https://youtu.be/FF6EH3Srrwc

>>31635575
Actually the extractor wants to pull the rim and case to the right, creating a pivot where the extractor hugs the rim against the bolt face. The only thing stopping this as the bolt is pulled back is the chamber walls. Once the empty case mouth is clear of the chamber it starts pivoting out to the right, and just at this time the bolt has brought it far enough back that the left of the rim hits the solid extractor screw in the left side of the receiver. This kicks the case out the the right, where the extractor is naturally pulling it, and slips the right side of the rim out from under the extractor as the case is ejected out of the rifle.

That video shows difficulty extracting, for whatever reason the case is sticking in the chamber. I've never seen an extractor bind up on a case or pressure it like what you described, but I guess one that's out of spec could push it too far to the left.