What is your opinion of a British Enfield as a hunting rifle?

Question

Thsi particular enfield was produced in 1960-I bought a kit-scoped it out-getting a 5 inch group at 100 yards.

Answer 1

Sounds about average with the ones I've shot, keep your shots under 150 yds. and go hunting. They have suitable power for that range up to elk if you are carefull about shot placement { no texas heart shots}.

Answer 2

Enfields CAN be excellent hunters....however with any surplus rifle you need to be aware of muzzle wear.

Some of these puppies were 'range guns' that had hundreds of rounds fired through them daily for years....and some sat in a warehouse their entire service lives and were hardly used.

I have a few No. 1s and No. 4s and an old, beat to heck WWI era No. 1 is the best shooter....go figure.

Try a variety of ammo and do some shooting to see what works best. I know some guys that will "slug" the barrel to find out the exact bore size, then reload according to what they find, not what the factory specs are. This is the way to really achieve the best accuracy.

I love the bolt on the Brit guns, which many feel are the best bolts ever made.

Answer 3

Then I would keep it to a maximum of 150 yards. I've owned about a dozen Lee Enfields over the years. Some more accurate than others. There are books that help make it more accurate. A trigger job and some stock work usually help immensely. Try a couple of different brands of ammo also. Rifles usually favor one load over another.

Answer 4

The once much-vaunted long-range accuracy of the Enfield was a matter of massed volleys against concentrations of enemy infantry, it never could compete with the average Springfield or Mauser one-on-one. That said, the .303 is comparable to the forgotten but effective .300 Savage, and is thus suitable for deer-size game out to perhaps 250 yards, which is as far as I would expect useable accuracy from a service-grade Enfield anyway. Nice to have 10 rounds in the box in case of rampaging bear!

Answer 5

I have owned a few and was very succesful with em,one was a newer verson with a Monty Carlo stock and another , both were good . Shot one moose with one shot across a small pond and up the side of a hill at aprox. 400 yards pluss a bunch of other long distance shots as well. Using a Remington 400 BDL for some years now .If you had a Canadian dollar (looney) for every animal taken down with one of them you would be set for life.~~Edit --gotta agree with D J especally about the bolt ,I have never seen another bolt that slides like it or an other function of it.

Answer 6

Needs work. The vital area on a deer is about 4",. so I fail to understand the "keep it under 150 yards" stuff, which makes no sense. If you're getting 5" groups at 100 yards at the bench, you'll want to keep your shots under 75 yards, and that's plain as the nose on your face.

Answer 7

I've only shot 2 or 3. Out of those I shot it has to be the biggest piece of garbage I ever put my hands on. Granted I've heard stories of men shooting that gun (.303) 1000 yards open sights but still. I hated the feel. I hated the balance. Even with a 2x scope it was so unreliable at holding a group I would not feel comfortable making more than a 40 yard shot with it. But keep in mind that these ones I tried were not taken care of all that well. I never shot a half decent one that was in good condition. But heck for 20 or 30 bucks you can't go wrong.

Answer 8

Well the Lee Enfield is pretty powerful... it's Muzzle velocity is 2,440 ft/s (744 m/s) and Effective range is 1,000 yards (914 m) so I would say it is pretty capable for deer hunting..... im looking to get one myself..... they are pretty cheap.....

Answer 9

That or my 30-30 is what I use, took my deer this year with the .303

Answer 10

Great Rifle and caliber.** Some Hunters have even harvested Elephants with them.** You are good to go.**