Thread: My mate has bought a Service Rifle, bugger!

Originally Posted by Jhon

Yeah had my shoulder done last August. Had my ole 303 out this week with some PPU 180gn factory loads. Not sure I want to shoot a comp with that against my shoulder "as issued"

So Enfields dominate the nationals because
- the shoot is a timed match so 10 rds is the best
- because it's kind of the historical default?
- because folk spend a lot of time setting them up for accuracy?
- because other options lack ladder/aperture sights?
- all the above?
- something else?

You can tell I don't know much about service match shooting. Is a smaller mag capacity going to be a serious disadvantage? If that's the case why don't they call it the "Enfield Service Match" ?

Congrats on the win!!

Cheers! Service rifle rules let you use a shoulder pad like from past or Caldwell. I can't do a 2 day comp without using one. That brass butt plate really leaves a mark.

10 round mag is an advantage, although since the law changes 5 round mags get a chance to reload. So you might have 5 exposures on a target where you need to fire 2 rounds. What happens is a longer break after the second exposure (2 rounds fired) so 5 round rifles can reload.

Enfields are very available.

Rear sight design on enfields is an advantage

Enfield action is very fast, an advantage in the timed matches, and you don't have to take your face away from the stock like you do with the Swiss k31s when cycling the action.

But, adjusting windage on enfields is a pain, and be aware of rim lock.

You can't modify the rifles so it's trade offs in design.