Thread: Rifle Help

Originally Posted by DVW

Fully disassemble, clean and properly reassemble the rifle. I don't know how many rifles I have fixed by doing that. Old and inaccurate rifles are almost always dirty, but often times I will find loose or missing hardware as well. Then there are the extremes where a guy in the past thought he could make it "better" and he buggered up the inside of the stock so that the action could never bed properly. Get a torque wrench and look up the specs for the mounting hardware. Also, make sure you reassemble it so that action to wood fit is correct. It could be a number of issues adding up.

Might do that. I dissembled it once before, but am not an expert.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

The last time you fired it, did you use the same ammo?
Was the rifle cleaned properly immediately after the last firing? And how did it shoot then.

Was the rifle free floated or is it factory free floated?

Assuming the barrel is good, stock and scope tight, it is probably the free floating. Accurized 303’s and factory models generally, are/were not free floated

Additionally, depending on when the rifle was made, during the war clear properly dried wood was in short supply, inferior wood used to get rifles out the door.


Look at the barrel, stock for shrinkage & tightness, switch ammo and check free floating.

4 MOA at 50yards is not great for a rifle. I have handguns that will hold an inch at 50, handheld, all day long.


“Just read up on copper fouling and cleaning it out. I do not think that thorough of a cleaning has ever been done on the rifle” ...

That’s too bad, surplus ammo is/was corrosive.

Yes I used the same ammo as last time (which did NOT work). I will first try to shoot some older ammo that worked before.
I use the bore snake right after shooting it every time (at the end of the day)- likely not a thorough enough cleaning.
I have no idea if the barrel was free floated at the factory or after, but I had a gun smith re-do all wooden parts 20 some years ago

On that 30-06 with 4 MOA, it is likely the ammo. It was shooting under 1 MOA last year with different ammo.

Originally Posted by CrescentCityRazors

At the muzzle, look for dings, cracks, chips, corrosion, etc. It could well be that you need to have the barrel crowned and prices for that are all over the chart, could be pretty reasonable, though, and less cost than the rifle is worth. The damage or wear would likely be visually noticeable to give you the accuracy issues that you have. I am voting for bore erosion or fouling. But the bedding of the action is somewhat critical, too and that could be the issue. You switched scopes so that's not the problem but that doesn't mean that maybe your scope mounting isn't at fault somehow.Try shooting through the iron sights and see what you get.

Give that bore a super good cleaning and punch a few more holes in the paper and see what you get. If it still won't shoot worth a darn, take it to a gunsmith and let him look it over. Cost should be minimal to just look it over and mike the barrel. Be aware that you will probably have to fill out BATF form number whatever-I-forgot to get your rifle back so if you have felonies, etc maybe skip the gunsmith.

NO more iron sights The peep had to be taken off to mount the scope (done professionally)
But if cleaning it doesn't work, perhaps taking it back to the gun smith is in order. They are just really behind and I have no felonies yet to be worried about. I still have other shooting options though

Thanks fellas,
I appreciate the suggestions. I don't know a ton of this stuff yet. Just what the Old man, and uncle have taught me. And that is just enough to hit a deer at 100 yards or so. I have never been a great shot, but I have not had trouble hitting my targets.

Cost me $150 (for background check and “fees”) and a year, to get back a pistol I had loan my dad 40 years ago. It was still registered to me. A nice 5 screw S/W 6” revolver.

My dad passed 2 years ago, my slime ball sister stole the gun from his house.

She turned it in to the police after, I threatened to file a police report and name her as the suspect, which I did. Of course, they did nothing but take a report.

Does not matter that the gun was stolen, still had to pay and wait and wait, they lost the paper work, but cashed the check. California…

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Cost me $150 (for background check and “fees”) and a year, to get back a pistol I had loan my dad 40 years ago. It was still registered to me. A nice 5 screw S/W 6” revolver.

My dad passed 2 years ago, my slime ball sister stole the gun from his house.

She turned it in to the police after, I threatened to file a police report and name her as the suspect, which I did. Of course, they did nothing but take a report.

Does not matter that the gun was stolen, still had to pay and wait and wait, they lost the paper work, but cashed the check. California…

Bummer. Glad I don't live on the Left Coast. That's a terrible way to treat a law abiding citizen who is just trying to do the right thing. Too bad your sister didn't just do the right thing and return it to you.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Cost me $150 (for background check and “fees”) and a year, to get back a pistol I had loan my dad 40 years ago. It was still registered to me. A nice 5 screw S/W 6” revolver.

My dad passed 2 years ago, my slime ball sister stole the gun from his house.

She turned it in to the police after, I threatened to file a police report and name her as the suspect, which I did. Of course, they did nothing but take a report.

Does not matter that the gun was stolen, still had to pay and wait and wait, they lost the paper work, but cashed the check. California…

Sorry about that.... Thankfully I don't live in California.
My sister also shoots. Hasn't started hunting yet. However, when my old man passes, we will have to divy up the firearms between us. We get along well so it will not be a big deal.

Just out of curiosity - which model Lee Enfield is it? I have a couple of .303s (they are quite common up here what with the empire and all that. ). One is a P14 (not a Lee Enfield, more of a Mauser type design) that is now well over a century old and is the most accurate rifle I own. The other is a sporterized Lee Enfield No. 4 Mk.1 (i.e. the WWII one) that is definitely more accurate than its shooter when I take it to the range.

Aside from curiosity, depending on what model it is, yours could also be over 100 years old. The SMLE was introduced in something like 1907, so surviving who knows how many owners and a couple of world wars maybe it's just a bunch of accumulated minor problems that together make it go a bit haywire?

That having been said, they are *really* nice rifles to shoot, and I hope you get your dialed in soon and without too much more hassle.

Originally Posted by Cangooner

Just out of curiosity - which model Lee Enfield is it? I have a couple of .303s (they are quite common up here what with the empire and all that. ). One is a P14 (not a Lee Enfield, more of a Mauser type design) that is now well over a century old and is the most accurate rifle I own. The other is a sporterized Lee Enfield No. 4 Mk.1 (i.e. the WWII one) that is definitely more accurate than its shooter when I take it to the range.

Aside from curiosity, depending on what model it is, yours could also be over 100 years old. The SMLE was introduced in something like 1907, so surviving who knows how many owners and a couple of world wars maybe it's just a bunch of accumulated minor problems that together make it go a bit haywire?

That having been said, they are *really* nice rifles to shoot, and I hope you get your dialed in soon and without too much more hassle.

Had to look it up.
NO. 4 MK I 1943

Lee Enfield rifles were used for sniping in both 303 and lastly in 308 cal. . Also many gents had custom heavy barrelled Lee Enfield target rifles in 308 made for long distance DCRA completions from 600 to 1000 yds.. The shorter ranges they covered with a Mauser action rifle. The point being that they can be made very accurate so the potential is there.

Besides all the good recommendation that have been made, I would check to make sure the action is properly bedded into the stock so as not to move on firing. You need a rock solid butt stock to action fit with no slop and the action rock solid in the fore end wood. As has been mentioned, make sure the barrel is really free floating with no contact with the fore end wood.

Bob