Olde Skool Iron Sights - .303 British

Olde Skool Iron Sights - .303 British



en.wikipedia.org...

.303 British, or 7.7x56mmR, is a .311 inch calibre rifle and machine gun cartridge first developed in Britain as a blackpowder round put into service in December 1888 for the Lee-Metford rifle, later adapted to use cordite and then smokeless powder propellant. It was the standard British and Commonwealth military cartridge from 1889 until the 1950s when it was replaced by the 7.62x51mm NATO.
The measurement .303-inch (7.7 mm) is the nominal size of the bore measured between the lands which follows the older blackpowder nomenclature. Measured between the grooves, the nominal size of the bore is .311-inch (7.9 mm). Bores for many .303 military surplus rifles are often found ranging from around .309-inch (7.8 mm) up to .318-inch (8.1 mm). Recommended bullet diameter for standard .303 cartridges is .312-inch (7.9 mm).[2]
This cartridge has seen much sporting use with surplus military rifles, especially in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and to a lesser extent, in the United States and South Africa. In Canada, it was found to be adequate for any game except the great bears. In Australia, it was common for military rifles to be re-barreled in .303/25 and .303/22. In South Africa .303 British Lee Enfield rifles captured by the Boers during the Boer War were adapted for sporting purposes and became popular with many hunters of non-dangerous game, being regarded as adequate for anything from the relatively small impala, to the massive eland and kudu.[3]

An older friend had one of these when I was growing up [14-15 or so], his father's or grandfather's [with the barrel stock cut down :shk:], but still one of the most accurate and lethal long range 'meat guns' I've ever or since come across .... even moreso than a .308

iron sights all the way, and a rather heavy carry, no doubt, but lay your aim true and dinner was as good as on the table...

... even out to 800+ yards/meters.

A buddy of mine picked up an old SMLE years ago from somewhere...it had obviously been in storage for a very long time, very used but in good shape, packed in the waxy storage compound.

So, he started disassembling it piece by piece, taking every pin and screw out and hitting them with gunscrubber. He got down to the buttplate, took it off and under the metal plate there was what was obviously very old dried blood and what looked like a big clump of matted human hair.

You have to speculate what sorts of battles that rifle had seen, and who had the misfortune of having their skull cracked with the butt of that old rifle.

I still think he has that rifle.

This is what me and my friends use for hunting. Nothing really beats the old Lee-Enfield in the extreme Canadian wilderness.

As my buddy says, "I was going to put a scope on this but the sights are deadly accurate"

reply to post by 12m8keall2c


My dad owns a surplus .303 British sniper rifle. That thing is dead accurate at 300 yards with the iron sights. I would love to have one of my own, but right now it isn't in the cards.

My brother took it hunting years ago. He bagged a white tail across a 450 yard field. Again he was using nothing but the iron sights. He claimed he was less than two inches from where he wanted to hit.

For some cool information look at the ammo the British devised to get around limits on expanding bullets. They made some truly diabolical rounds.

reply to post by MikeNice81


Wow. A 450-yard shot on a whitetail deer with an iron-sighted surplus rifle.

That's quite a feat.

reply to post by MMPI2


Not really. In a recent issue of American Rifleman they have a more jaw dropping feat. They have an article about a former marine/FBI agent/ Olympic shooter. That guy shot a perfect score at something like 1,000 yards with iron sights on an American military rifle.

The main limit to distance shooting is between the shooter's ears. Most people psych themselves out of the shot before tehy ever try.

reply to post by MikeNice81


Palma match shooters do it pretty routinely.

Still quite a feat.

There's no rifle I'm more familiar with than the .303 Lee Enfield. The sights are perfect for that 500 yard shot, they're reliable in all kinds of weather, they're a simple breakdown and when shooting and do occasionally jam, I can use a spare round to fix that in a jiff. What you need for cleaning fits in the stock and your shirt pocket.

All that, and if your truck gets stuck, you can lever it out with that sturdy rifle. They're bloody heavy, but oh so reliable.

The Canadian Rangers, who are the eyes on our Arctic shores, prefer the old Lee Enfield over any other.

Heres a little factoid ya'll probably already know.

With its 'forward' bolt the Enfield is considered to be the fastest bolt action rifle ever produced. At least that I have ever read about.

I love the .303.. First rifle I ever fired.. kicked the crap outta my shoulder, but after a few shots got the knack of it. later on when I joined the forces, got to fire it's more modern counterpart the L42A1 bold action sniper rifle. Was a very accurate weapon with Iron Sights, even more so with a scope and a big round to do big damage, definately 1 one shot 1 kill weapon...


Peace

Rock Ape