Thread: Sporterised Lee Enfields - accuracy ??

The best performance I have ever got from a sporterised SMLE was a vertically strung 5-shot group, 19mm x 36mm at 100 yards with late '50s CAC Mk VII ball (probably the best .303 ammo ever made). The vertical stringing was because of the light barrel that I had removed all the iron sights from and fitted a 4x32 'Stalker' scope That was my own rifle that I got as a present for my 16th birthday as a new, fully-wooded, FTR'd BSA from Ian Ballinger's shop in 1963. I hunted with it for about 18 months in its as-issued condition before I relented and sporterised it. I got third place in the NZDA 100 yards champs with it (1st and 2nd were both .222's). I went on to use that rifle when professionally shooting in Marlborough in 1966 so it racked up a lot of kills. In my collection I have two Parker Hale standard sporters (SMLE and No.4) that are in brand new condition in every respect. I can't focus clearly on iron sights these days but it would be nice to find out how they shoot.