Let's Talk Lee-Enfield's

[u/Flat-Dark-Earth]

The Lee Enfield, a rifle that everyone is familiar with and many seem to own, yet somehow I never ended up adding one to the collection.

I'm playing catchup now and would like to pick up a Lee Enfield, the question is which one?

From my understanding there are 5-6 models of the rifle that evolved over it's ~60 years of military service.

For someone looking to buy their first, which examples should I be looking out for? Any to avoid? No.1? No.4? SMLE? Jungle carbine? Long Branch (Made in Canada?).

Also, there were a couple misconceptions surrounding this rifle that I had been told for years, the first was that these were $300-$400 rifles, that only appears to be the case for sporterized examples. Clean unbastardized examples seem to be going for $1,200-$1,800 at retailers today.

The second being that .303 ammo was "expensive" and hard to come by. Neither of these seem to be true as it’s priced comparable to 308 and I am seeing a ton in stock (PPU, S&B etc).

Edit: I think I have decided on a No.4 Mk 2 Long Branch.

[u/blogginsgod]

A few years ago they were $300 rifles. With the bans on most rifles the demand is higher so prices have gone up on pretty much everything left. Also the ammunition is crazy expensive as the military surplus has all been fired...

[u/Flat-Dark-Earth → u/blogginsgod]

The surplus may be gone but I'm seeing plenty of what I would consider cheap modern .303 from European brands. Not significantly different than 308, 6.5x55 etc.

[u/YYCWood → u/Flat-Dark-Earth]

A lot of people see $2/rd as way too expensive, and miss the good old days of $0.20/rd.

The catch is that most people here are only just realizing that their wages aren’t keeping up with the inflation that has hit everything, and are only now just realizing it has hit their hobby - that later stage capitalism means their pay gets them less and less every day, and that wages have been detached from productivity for fifty years.

[u/blogginsgod → u/YYCWood]

I'm lucky to live in a low cost of living area now with a pretty good gun community. The range though seams to be controlled by a few retirees who can complain. Although they also have valid points as i have watched younger shooters like myself purposely blow apart the target frames.

[u/Flat-Dark-Earth → u/YYCWood]

Yeah that’s fair. I have a bit of a warped sense of ammunition costs as most of my favourite calibers cost me $5 to $20 per round.

$2 I can live with and plink all day long.

[u/Q-Ball7 → u/Flat-Dark-Earth]

Note also that some of this is warped by local gun store prices and the 2020 Uncommon Cold; soft-point .303 will run you between 60-80 dollars there per box of 20 (and that's generally all they stock).

Honestly, PPU tends to be the MVP for older military calibers since they still make basically everything. Not really a surprise considering who's in the neighborhood buying from them (for whom ordering several million rounds of 7.5 French to keep a group of AA-52s running would be realistic) but still.

[u/mischling2543 → u/Flat-Dark-Earth]

$20 a round? Are you shooting .338 Lapua? And if so why are you hesitating about the cost of a Lee Enfield?

[u/Flat-Dark-Earth → u/mischling2543]

Not hesitating, just surprised.

458 WinMag, 416 Rigby etc.

[u/IGnuGnat → u/YYCWood]

This is exactly why one should collect military surplus: to protect ones net worth from inflation. That's right: buy old guns, in order to GROW your worth. This works better when the Liberals don't ban them. However, the more they ban, the more valuable my collection tends to become.

If you don't buy guns that the Liberals tend to ban, the Liberals have actually made you wealthier by making your guns worth more.

Thanks Trudeau. Thanks Gary! Thanks, Nathalie! The more you flap your lips the wealthier I get

I maintain that this is your fault: https://imgur.com/a/russian-contract-smith-wesson-no-3-second-model-revolver-2y496nG

better than CAD in the bank that's for sure