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/joe_canadian]

Other people have already nailed the actual buying of the Lee Enfield, so I won't say anything about that. Here's my Lee Enfield story.

I had $400 and was at the now defunct Pickering Gun Show. A guy had a Yugo M48 BO with a Syrian Crest and a Lee Enfield No.5 Mk.1 (Jungle Carbine). I went to get cash and told him I'd decide on my way to and from which one I'd grab. I took the Yugo. I'm not disappointed in my decision, but the sky rocketing prices of the Lee Enfield made it hurt a bit. At the time Syrian Crested Yugo Mausers were selling for $600 on the US Market, Jungle Carbines were $500-$600 here in Canada.