The greatest weapon tutorial and restoration I have ever watched on RU-vid, and I truly mean that. You are a master craftsmen sir and have a firm and intelligent understanding of this great rifle. Truly remarkable.
Great video mate.Loved it.My granda was in the Cameronian Highlanders and helped liberating Normandy,Belgium,Holland and latterly Germany.He was part of the British attachment that liberated Belsen.He used to wax lyrical about this rifle saying it could take down an elephant.He's long dead but he showed me his medals and his war wounds.The story of Belsen brought tears to his eyes still after 40 years.It really stayed with him for life.
I've acquired a Lee Enfield No4 Mk1 after I saw your video on the mummy wrapped rifle . Thanks for all your info. Your knowledge and experience gives me confidence to dive into my own restoration project. Thanks again.
I felt like I was watching a David Attenborough program about old rifles. I couldn't stop watching lol. Keep making videos not only is the history very interesting but I love doing my own work on my guns as well and these videos are a wealth of information when it comes to gun smithing.
Greetings from a very old U.S. Marine veteran. In addition to your skills as a gunsmith, I was very much impressed with your respect for and interest in the rifle and its history.
In a world where everyone claims that their rifle is a sniper rifle, I appreciate your diligence in authenticating its authenticity. I also appreciate the care you took in restoring it back into a servicable form. Thank you for bringing us on your journey.
The Lee Enfield Sniper Rifle Saved my father's life in 1951. He was a RN submariner trained as a marksman to shoot the detonator horns on floating sea mines. With this Rifle he was very accurate, so that in April 1951 the RN chose my Father Michael Barlow to represent them in an interservices marksman competition at Whale Island Portsmouth. To do this he needed to miss going out on a short war-games exercise. The submarine HMS Affray sank on that voyage, all hands lost!
Such a pleasure to watch someone do a job properly.. and to listen to someone who has taken the time to become knowledgeable on the subject. Thank you kindly sir.
Thank you ! As a CCF cadet we used Mk4s and I really loved the experience . On an indoor range we had MK4s with a .22 bore inside the original barrel , which made for an even heavier rifle , but there was a certain lack of kick ! If I lived in a place where ownership was allowed and necessity for a rifle was present I think I might still choose one of these beauties even today . They more than proved their worth in rough environments !
Nice video - you are a lucky man to own such a classic. The M47C stamping denotes that the original rifle was made at the Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) factory in England, a private company subcontracted in WW2 to make rifles for the British War Department. Some 22,000 standard issue rifles were converted at Holland & Holland in North London to be sniper rifles. The MK32 telescope was originally designed for use on the BREN British light machine gun.
A very nice job there sir, I dont think I would have been brave enough to use a drill but you obviously know what your doing and the result speaks for itself, its nice to see an old classic like this restored to full glory, it would be interesting to see how tight it will group with hand loads, thanks again for sharing
Thank you Robert, that was a beautiful job and you were quite informative. What caught my eye to watch your video is the sniper designation. My father was 29th Div 175th Reg Co C he was platoon sniper, he qualified on the same type off rifle you restored. I could have sworn he said they had 4x scopes on them, anyway the sand in the but could have been from the range they qualified on which for him was a beach with dunes, the targets were helmets placed on stakes in the sand which the shooter estimated and called out the range and then made the shot, the tester would confirm hit or miss and give the exact range. My father had exceptional vision grey blue eyes a true dead eye, the final target was estimated at 800yrds actual range 820yrds, his was a hit. All my life I watched him shoot, perfect breathing technique call the shot and place it. Fine weapon.
First of all that was the most enjoyable gun video I have watched in a while. I have just bought a No 4 MK 1 and now know a little bit more about my rifle and what I might need to do to it to make it safe and enjoyable to shoot. Sir, you own that rifle and have the right to do what ever you see fit to bring it back to its former glory. These clowns that sit behind computers and call people names is beyond me. Please ignore them and continue to make these very educational videos for us all to benefit from. By the way if you ever go into business in making those slings I will the first to purchase! Thank you....
A very nice"sympathetic" restoration, however! using a rotating wire brush in the barrel is not something that would do a lot to improve accuracy, why not use the conventional system of using straight in and out movement, that would preserve the edges of the rifling much better than the very damaging rotary brush, you had very god fortune finding the scope for this, I hope you get many hours of pleasure shooting it.
Thank you for helping me determine that I don't need a new bolt head on my 2A1, by explaining in detail what to look for as being right. I have a #1 and it is well fitted. Best lesson yet..again thank you.
Nice to see and hear the Lee Enfield again. My father and uncle (brothers) were both snipers on that rifle. They both past away a long time ago so this is bringing back memories. Thanks Robert
How can over half a million people watch this excellent video and yet the channel only has 7.4k subscribers? Some things in this world i will never understand 😞
Very nice rifle and a job well done Mr..i was given a jungle carbine that my pops gave me for my 10th birthday..he paid 110$ for it back then .always loved the Enfield and owning a jung.carbine as well as AFEW others ..i feel privileged as all get go..thanks for keeping them alive ..
A very authoritative and sensitive conservation of an important historical artefact, with some restoration (please note the difference... conservation preserves history, restoration writes it anew). My years in a large encyclopaedic museum were not wasted because I can recognize your good work, although my skills are in Medieval and Renaissance easel painting. I'm now enthusiastic about Lee-Enfield rifles. Of anything, that should be your greatest compliment. Please extend your reach. Thanks.
5 лет назад
Your grouping would still fell a soldier, 6 bullets within a six inches of the centre of the target, the soldier would not survive. A great gun and your skill has brought it back to life.
You're obviously a great engineer. It was very interesting to watch the way you went about improving the mechanics of the rifle. It now looks great too!
thank you for a clear and precise video. I used one of these during my school days in the Combined Cadet Force dated 1919 I believe. I am making a scale replica out of various scrap materials and find your video invaluable as a guide to shapes of barrel shrouds and bolt design. I plan to make the bold from hardwood ...that will be fun!
Thanks you for sharing. Another piece of history saved from oblivion. I really like the format of the vid it provides lots of information that I can use for many projects not just enfield things. Yesterday was a day of rememberance I think maybe in a couple of hundred years that piece of equipment will help to remind those generations of what the world state was, good, bad, but remembered.
Thank you. What an enjoyable video to watch. It was very informative. It brought back the memories of me going shooting with my father around the age of nine (when he stopped taking me as I beat him at target shooting!). He was a collector of military weapons and had a Lee Enfield, along with several pistols of WW1 and WW2 vintage. We used to fire them at Purfleet ranges in Essex. This would be about 1966-7. I joined the Territorial Army in 1976 and while we used the SLR, the Army Cadets still used the Lee Enfield.
Sir.... This is an incredible Video........!!!! I didn't know anything about the Lee-Enfield ........... And your ORATION of this Subject is fantastic........!!! Thank you for your video....!!!!!!
You have told me more about a lee Enfield than I have ever known in one video I inherited my dad's no4 mark2 which was the first rifle I ever shot except a 22 also had a new unissued one just like my dad's gave it to my brother my dad mail ordered it and back in the 50s it was common to sporterize them so he made a stock put on very nice set of lumens front and rear with a peep sight and at 1 hundred yards with iron sights I could shoot 2 in.groups all day but now I'm 65 and my vision is gone but for a gun that old it is accurate and smooth as silk herein the states you have to spend a lot of money to get a gun of the same quality it will be passed on to my family when I'm gone awesome gun thanks I will watch more of your videos for all your info and subscribe
what an absolutely amazing job! Wonderful work and this video was an absolute joy to watch! I love anything sniper and lately I'm really obsessed with WW1 sniper equipment so ya. this was right down my alley!!! Also I love that you restored the rifle but only cleaned up the stock and kept the original look rather than totally sanding down and re-staining it.
That's were some people go wrong as they overdo the restoration and lose the character of the weapon. I regard the history of the weapon as being a very important part and keep it as close as possible to a used one rather than a new/off the assembly line piece. This fellow has exercised a lot of patience to restore it and I admire him for that.
My father was a US Marine and a World War II veteran and left the Marines with an Expert Rifleman qualification. He used a .30-06 with and M1907 sling, and as you said, he kept the sling loose. He taught me to wrap the sling around my forearm and brace it outward and downward with my elbow to stabilize the rifle when shooting off hand or sitting. Thank you for this video.
I fired these guns, standard military, not sniper, when I was a kid and they are very smooth and accurate. I wish I had bought one then when Kline's was selling them for under $30 but I wish I was 20 again too. If the gun was manufactured in 1943 and you have sand and a rusty bolt that sounds like Normandy and not the desert. Impressive.
Much appreciated good Sir. Thanks for the video and thanks for not being too technical when explaining your restoration work. I especially liked the 'tool from hell' comment.
Nice video well presented on a fantastic rifle. I fired the Lee Enfield on the range in the Air Cadets 1280 sq full bore .303. Loved it, 250 yds five rounds in your own time commence firing, 46 years ago! Pirbright and Bisley and a number of other places normally RAF camps. Brought back some memories. Went through some rounds.
I'm thoroughly enjoying the restoration. I'm in the process of doing what I'd call, a sympathetic restoration (saving it from the scrap pile) of an 1861 Bridesberg contract rifle from the American Civil War. The gun had been "Sporterized" at some point in it's life. Some 7" was cut off the barrel along with every external part not absolutely required to fire the weapon. There was also over two feet cut from the stock and discarded. I've been working on the gun pretty steady for about 6 months. I'm very happy with the progress and watching your restoration and others on RU-vid made the work possible. Thank you
Beautiful. Will you be doing another rifle in the near future? I really enjoyed your restoration, camera work, and the unwrap video. Oh, by the way, the coffee stain wasn't half bad either. Enjoy!
Very nice video. I wish you might have added a few details about the stock restoration. I did my No. 1 a very similar job- steamed the worst dents with a damp towel and hot iron. Applied boiled linseed oil lightly. Your care and judgement are admirable and you deserve to be the custodian of that rifle.
Interesting and informative. You clearly have a depth of knowledge and skills, I hope you will share more content. Also, a lovey slow paced video, it's quite calming to listen to an expert explain the range of issues and solution in detail, slowly. Bravo.
This was fantastic! Thank you, Robert. I am quite new to firearms and recently bought a Lee Enfield No. 1 Mk 3 that needs a little restoration. This video was very inspiring.
Well done Robert and thank you for taking the time to make and post the video. I served in the U.S. Marines from 1961-1965 and had the good fortune to be stationed near one of the largest international military surplus firearms dealers in the country (Arlington, Virginia area). In 1963 I visited one of their outlet stores and purchased 2 Lee Enfield and and 2 1903 Springfield rifles. The outlet sold all of their rifles for the same price ($29.95 each). Dirt cheap to be sure but when our pay was $78.00 a month even that amount put a huge dent in our funds. By the time I got out I had sold the Lee Enfields and one of the Springfields. The weapons were like new and the Springfield I kept had been rebarreled in 1942 for WWII. When I think back of the warehouse full of these rifles selling for that price it makes me very sad that I did not attempt to find investors to assist in buying the entire warehouse.
Fine look at detailed restoration and accurization. Thanks. Good basic demonstration of high power shooting with a proper sling. In a combat area, armourers had to work fast to return weapons to service. They worked tired and they worked at some speed. Maybe that accounts for some of the shortcuts and so on in maintaining this weapon.
I quite enjoyed watching your video. I especially appreciated your explanation of each problem your rifle had, and your method of solving it. I was fortunate to be able to buy in the 1990s a Lee-Enfield no 4 mark 2 (Fazakerly), and a Lithgow no 1 mark 3, both rifles in new condition. These are rifles that mean a lot to me.
I had a 7.62mm Argentina Mauser at one time. It had one heck of a kick for the recoil! Unfortunately I had to sell it. I still miss that old rifle, it was spot on at a 100 yards using iron sites.
Astounding piece of work as for cleaning the barrel issue it fired perfectly the accuracy was bang on just goes to show this gentleman knows his guns enough said. 👌
Sir: I have watched this video 4 times now. Each time I see something that escaped me before! A truly excellent video about a excellent rifle bestowed upon us by a most excellent gentleman. Please bring us more!
Nice work my friend... good to see you didn't "over do it"... I am jealous.... decent #4s are like rocking horse droppings here in NZ..... So glad you restored it to shoot with it....it's be a shame to 'safe queen' such a fine rifle..... it's just one year younger than I am..... Great video....
when i first started watching your video, i thought well just another bla bla video. boy was i wrong! you know your stuff and you did and excellent job on the restoration! i have restored 4 Enfield's also. please do more videos,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
It is lovely to see a rifle being treated with the professional care it needed, and it is also excellent to see that we still have some real craftsmen working. Don't forget to get an apprentice trained up, your knowledge needs to be preserved.
When you finally acquired the scope and attached it onto the rifle, I felt so much relief and joy in your restoration. I do leatherwork and that scope protector was quite ingenious. As for the leather strap, I don't put my arm into the strap, I just simply "wrap" the strap around my forearm. But every shooter is different. Excellent video sir!
I have to agree. It did everything a good bolt action battle rifle should do. Not just acceptably, or good, but perfectly. Accurate, tough, reliable, has a great trigger, holds a lot of bullets.. just a fantastic firearm.
This video is such a pleasure. Despite the bad sound and other shortcomings, Robert Houston dazzles with his passion and knowledge. I just wish there were more of these to watch, but I'll re-watch this one before long!
Robert what a fantastic video of an amazing restoration. I am a huge fan of the Lee Enfield rifles as they were what I used when I served. I am very jealous of your beautiful rifle!!
Thank you Robert! So many things that you explained were either a mystery to me or I was simply uninformed. Now I understand clearly after so many years. Ha, I wish you were my neighbour. Northern Ontario, Canada. :)
I signed onto you tube just so I could thank you! Super video! Very informative! Has inspired me to fully strip down my mark 3. You are very skilled and meticulous, and your attention to details and clues to look for, all were very helpful to watch! I enjoyed and learned much from both enfield videos!
This is one of the best RU-vid video’s i’ve ever seen on weaponry! Very thorough! A seldom trait these days! Have you ever thought about being Primeminister? 🤣
Thanks Robert for greatly informative video, especially on the operation of the sling as an aiming aide. My 1903A1 (Remington 1942) has this exact sling but i never knew about the quick release loosening design built in.
Great video Robert and very informative. I have three LE 303s. One is a 1918 Enfield with a spot on bore, a Savage No.4 Mk1* with excellent bore, A Lithgow 1941 III* the wood is as issued from the factory, blueing is perfect and bore is mint, bolt face is perfect and it appears that it has never been fired or issued to any military unit. The third is a 1946 No5 Fasarkly carbine with a 85% bore. I was given the 1941 Lithgow by a friend in Florida who insisted that the rifle, being unfired and perfect in all other areas, should go home to where it was made. I brought it back to Queensland where it reigns as the queen of my large gunsafe.
