a few weeks ago i found a near mint no 4 1942 303 enfield in a pawn shop at a steal of a price and put it on layaway {i think i buy to many guns there} today i went in and picked it up and man oh man its even better than i thought it was. all matching and no import marks really no marks at all except the proof test on the barrel end and a 5 under the wood and the serial number.

as i was getting redy to leave he says "oh i bought something yesterday you may want to look at since you like enfields {did i say i bought to many guns there}

in the rack was a 1917 eddystone enfield 30 06 made in eddystone pa during WW1 it is in a fajen custom walnut stock and has had i believe the end of the barrel removed. it has been tapped and has a Stoeger 6x32 scope {anyone knbow anything about this scope?} with no original sights. it is a buet. the price was 209 but he quickly says ill let you have it for 190, i of course quickly said "whats wrong with it?" apperently the rifling looks good but it has some obvious very very very rough spots. long story short is i bought it. my thinking is if it shoots fair it shoots fair and it will fill the 30 06 void in my gunsafe my being a lifetime 303 fanatic. if its bad bad i will need to rebarrel it and wonder what you guys think about that. all suggestions wanted.

You can never have too many surplus arms. The Eddystone should be just fine. Let us know how it shoots. All the best...
Gil

if you hunted around a bit yopu could prolly still pick up a factroy replacement- ex surplus barrel for not many $$$.
Wilson prechambered are an option also

later
p

You know, I just gotta get to some used gun racks...you guys are killing me! I only own one used 1100, the rest I purchased new...Think I can find an M1 Garand for a couple hundred?
Keep it coming...

milsurps are great weapons usually at a reasonable price. anything american is normally alot more than tyhings not american.

right now 303 enfields, yugo SKS. 8mm mausra and some of the other WW2 firearms can be bought for under 200 dollars in fair to good condition. some have ammo hard to find and some need to be restored but for the price and the history i believe they are a better deal than most new guns.

i like 303 enfields made in canada, america, england. and austraila. i love my new/old 30 06 made in eddystone pa.

im not much of a 7.62x39 fan because i dont think they are upto big game hunting for anything larger than a yote {they do a excellent job on yote sized game and i own both a sks and a ak in this caliber.

the enfields in 303 are very close to 308/30 06 in both FPS and range and killability.

this eddystone is the first 06 ive owned and i think its a terriffic firearm for the looks and the history both.

yes there ugly and heavy, yes ammo can be hard to find unless you reload. yes they are 60-100 years old. but you can drop one off a mountain into a mud pit dig it out and it will still shoot 2 inch groups.

ill shoot my eddystone today hoping it shoots well enough to hit the paper at 100 yards. if it wont ill rebarrel it {its already been customized}

im still looking for a new barrel.

i personally do not believe in sporterizing milsurps but i sure love buying them that way.

Numrich lists a barrel for $125.95 for the M1917.

e-gunparts.com/product...ELD%201917

If that isn't what you'd like ER Shaw ( www.ershawbarrels.com ) also makes barrels for the M1917 they list them for in the white $135.00 or stainless steel for $200. I only here good things about them from people reveiwing them so they might be worth checking out.

You'd need to cut a new front sight cut if you did want to use them again though since I dont belive any barrel maker cuts thouse anyways.

Hope this helps.

Dimitri

thanks dimitri

i went out this am and shot the eddystone with 4 rounds a friend loaned me.

not knowing how the gun would shoot or how close the scope was i didnt have much hope of even hitting the paper. first shot was 3 inches left and a inch high the next 3 shots grouped 2 inches left and 3 inches high and were grouped at 1 inch not to bad for the first 4 shots from a gun i not only just bought but also a scope i had never used. a little polishing and i feel that the eddystone will be a terriffic shooter.

i was really suprised at the lack of recoil.

89 years old and shooting a 1 inch 3 shot group for under 200 dollars with very reasonable recoil and its also a enfield made in america. hard to beat with a stick.

Spacedone,

Goodshotting!

Dimitri

i dont shoot near as good as i did when i was much younger. i do most of my shooting sitting freehand off my knee. the difference is since i started reloading i do alot more shooting ie several hundred rounds a month. glasses and 30 years makes a big difference. ill never shoot like i did when i was 10-14 years old. if i place my shots into a 6 inch circle im tickled.

as dr ruth used to say about sex..... practice practice practice