Lee-Enfield (Series)

[m24]

Source: http://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarm ... rms_id=128

Many Lee-Enfields of early production runs were later modified to accept the .22 rimfire cartridge making these ideal and cost-effective weapons for use in rifle training of new recruits.

Is this statement correct?? If so are these guns still available in the market, that also in India??

Regards

[Tai Ahom]

They were in NCC (Junior) wing. Fired a lot of them. Breech loading. No magazines

Bhaskar

[m24]

Any idea if they would be available in the market??

Regards

[eljefe]

Nope.Would be great to get these with an after market IOF 22 magazine though...

[xl_target]

Those have been used for years. I remember using them in the early 70's in the NCC. I wonder how many hundreds of thousands of rounds have gone through those guns? I wonder if those barrels would be totally shot out?

[TwoRivers]

Those have been used for years. I remember using them in the early 70's in the NCC. I wonder how many hundreds of thousands of rounds have gone through those guns? I wonder if those barrels would be totally shot out?

You can't "shoot out" a .22 RF. You can wear them out through improper cleaning, or ruin them otherwise through the use of corrosive ammo and neglect. But no lead bullet, at the low velocity and pressure involved, can wear out a steel barrel.

[xl_target]

Thanks Two Rivers,
After our squads would shoot the .22's they were racked and I can only assume that someone cleaned them. No idea who or how as we never saw anyone touch them.
Those .22's were in service for a very long time and some might still be in service today.

[Vikram]

I shot plenty with the converted .22s during my NCC days.The magazines are hollowed out and retained to catch the empties.I was a part of the shooting team too.We religiously cleaned our rifles,before and after nge time. The Enfield rifles were like the day they were taken out of the factory.Where as the Brno rifles used to train Girl Cadets are so used and worn, many would fire while closing the bolt,magazine springs very limp and not to speak of the hair triggers.But, they were still very accurate.

Best-
Vikram

[cottage cheese]

These are not as yet (or ever) available for civilian distribution.

Funny thing is right now I'm in a funny place with access to some interesting non-civilian hardware...a rack full of which are indeed SMLEs converted to .22LR... they are in this case marked No2Mk4. If I remember clearly, they are RFI made. I'll try to photograph them today.

As Vikram mentions correctly, they are single shot and 'magazines' are de-gutted .303 ones. They serve to collect empties.

regards,
cc

[cottage cheese]

Ok...as promised, I photographed the .22LR No2Mk4 Rifle...Please be aware that its not a personal gun nor is it owned by any one I know- I was just very kindly allowed by the cops to photograph it .

All the ones I'd checked in the locker were RFI No2Mk4s, and most of these were made in 1954.... here goes...

The last picture is a comparison of the muzzles of the RFI No2Mk4 22LR and the elder brother RFI No1Mk3 .303 rifle.













Also note one way to quickly identify RFI SMLE pattern rifles (well at least the post independence ones) is by the squared off fore sight protecting blades and muzzle pieces. The original Lee-Enfields had rounded ears.

regards,
cc

[Vikram]

Very nice,CC.Thank you for the pictures and the tidbits.

Best-
Vikram

[pandeymitul]

i always thought that the lee enfield (emily) was in .303 and 7.62 models. am i right?????

[cottage cheese]

i always thought that the lee enfield (emily) was in .303 and 7.62 models. am i right?????

Wrong.


...as you can see they were made in .22LR and .410 as well...

[pandeymitul]

thnx.

[MoA]

I quite dont get the mystique behind the Lee Enflied. Manufactured to varying tolerances, with varying quality, other than being the primary weapon for the Brits for about 50 years... what is the point.

The worst K31 is better in quality than the best SMLE, lets not get started on the crappy Mosins..