enfield newb at the range today...

[tahunua001]

so today I was at the range shooting a couple guns to try and get them on paper before hunting season and there was a kid there, about mid 20s with his new enfield. I took note because very few people, especially younger people shoot milsurps in my area. well less than a minute after the range went hot I glanced over to see this poor kid trying to force his bolt shut with a round stuck in the mag. the two people he was shooting with offered him no help and it was obvious he didn't know what was going on or how to proceed. I walked up and introduced myself and asked if he had loaded it with a stripper clip to make sure it wasn't rim lock. he had loaded one round at a time and a look inside the action showed that he didn't have rim lock so I suggested he drop the magazine out. he did and the stuck round popped right out and he loaded it back up and started firing again.

well I went back to shooting and at the next cease fire while checking my targets I glanced over at his on the 25 yard line and the darned thing had holes all over the place, nothing even resembling a grouping, it looked like someone pumped the thing full of buck shot. I overheard one of the people he was with tell him that this was the best accuracy one could expect from these old rifles and it might be better once he took it home and cleaned itafter a while and a few more feeding issues I showed him how to lube up the gun so it would feed easier, but more than likely the issues were caused by the gigantic round nose bullets he was shooting, and gave him a bit of information about the rifle as he didn't seem to know much about it.

I really don't know what to think. seems like when I started getting into surplus rifles just a few years ago, there wasn't nearly as much ignorance about the level of accuracy, the necessary care, and just how the rifles worked in general. something tells me if I hadn't been there the poor kid would have probably thought he bought a piece of junk that couldn't shoot straight and didn't feed properly.

[joe sixgun]

You did the right thing trying to help him out. I assume you directed him to TFL for additional information. It's too bad more of our youth aren't taught by their dads or uncles and receive bad info from their shooting buddies that don't know any more than they do.

[eastbank]

we had a 15 year old come to one of our trap shoots with his grandad, we made the mistake of believing the grandad had instructed the boy on safe gun handleing, a big WRONG on our part. on the second or third shot on station 3 he inserted a shell in the pump gun and slammed the shotgun shut with his finger on the trigger and shot the trap house. the blast mark on the block trap house is still there circled in bright red paint to remind every one not to take gun handleing safe for granted. it was a lesson relearned, never to let your guard down when enjoying the shooting world. eastbank.

[James K]

I have several times been able to help "newbies" at the range, usually successfully. One point I would like to make is to ALWAYS check the shooter's gun and ammunition. In some cases, store clerks have sold customers the wrong ammo; in others the gun has been rebarreled or re-chambered and is no longer in its original (and marked) caliber.

But, conversely, be sure YOU are correct. Helping someone with a British Rifle No.4 Mk I* made by Savage won't help if you tell him it takes .303 Savage and they don't make it any more (as I heard one range officer tell a shooter.)

Jim

[Blindstitch]

Maybe the terms like Mosin Junk are getting the best of them. Kind of like how all Rubbermaids are storage containers but not all storage containers are Rubbermaids. Maybe they're spreading the Milsurp = Guns stock piled that nobody wants.

That's not my perspective. I don't have a Mosin but I had a pretty accurate #1 mark 3. I sold it because I already have a 1899 Remington Lee 30-40 krag and I think it's more accurate. I also have two pretty accurate Type 38 Arisaka's and an SKS. If you have a good bore the only problem I've had involving accuracy was fixed by reloading my own ammo.

I also tend to be one that helps people at the range. One good thing is the range I go to is staffed by mostly veterans. Most seem to be Pre M16 so they're good help with Milsurps.

[madmo44mag]

You did the right thing but I may not been able to so as well.
I love my LE’s more than any other milsurp I own.
I would have given him some basic pointers and them tried to buy the rifle on the cheap.
Yeah, yeah but I own more LE rifles than any other gun in my collection.
I do love those LE rifles!!

[T. O'Heir]

"...if you tell him it takes .303 Savage..." Or that it's a Savage .303. A great deal depends on which "Enfield" it was too. The word 'Enfield' means something different to an American cousin than it does to me. Never means Pattern 13 or 17 to me. snicker.
"...people he was shooting with..." Quite likely didn't know either.
"...had holes all over the place..." Not only caused gigantic round nose bullets. (What brand? Just curious. Don't think anybody loads gigantic round nose bullets.) Even though gigantic round nose bullets were normal prior to 1910. Lot of 215's killed a lot of moose up here too. Far more likely to be a bullet diameter to barrel ID issue or recoil.
In any case, helping a new shooter is what old shooters do. Nice one.

[DavidAGO]

I hate to say it, and hate to admit it even to myself, but more often than not when someone who turns out to be someone new with a firearm at the range I frequent, I just pack up and go home. We have a city-owned range nearby, no one on duty, so it can get to be a bit strange at times.

I went one day and there was what appeared to be a big pool of blood behind the shooting benches. someone fired while another shooter was downrange setting up his target., he took exception to the shooting and hit the guy in the face with the butt of his own rifle.

I have watched as a grandfather was showing his grandchildren how to shoot a snub nose, he did not have any hearing protection for any of them. I offered some of the foam plugs, I have several spares, but he said they did not need them, they were only going to shoot a few rounds.

I did question one young couple when the guy handed his girlfriend a .44 magnum to shoot, she had already said she had never shot anything before. He gave me a dirty look, she decided not to shoot it.

I have often seen someone with a new rifle there to "sight it in" when it was obvious they knew nothing about safe handling.

People are so sensitive to anything they decide is criticism that I am just not going to be in the position of possibly insulting someone I do not know who has a weapon in their hands. I wish it was not that way. but at our city range, there is no one in authority to enforce proper behavior. Unfortunately, in this day and age, a lot of people have to have someone to enforce proper behavior upon them in public. A sense of responsibility is lacking in many people today.

David

[BoogieMan]

My wife's uncle sold me an old British rifle that was a 30-06. I traded him a set of bull horns and $100 for it. That's how I got my second Enfield. Savage in the normal 303. According to some people there are only a dozen or so gages and cartridges (they see on tv) and the rest are obsolete.

[tahunua001]

it was an FTR number 4 (no *)so no chance of the savage 303 mix up. I didn't look too closely at the boxes but I think the kid may have even sprang for Lapua ammo based on the color of the boxes. to me, anything more than the standard HXP fmj is gigantic. my little brother regularly hunts with his sporter log branch and some remington 180s I gave him which are more than I'm used to but if I had to guestimate he was shooting at least 200s and probably more closer to 220.

[g.willikers]

You could just have agreed with his misinformed pals and offered to buy that old clunk for a pittance.
You know, just to do him a favor so he could go buy something newer.

[tahunua001]

I thought about it but I've already got one and I've got other guns on the wish list.

[deerslayer303]

The most common (stocked locally) round available for an Enfield (303 Brit) is Remington core lokt 180 grain round nose. This round is a whitetail hammer of thor. But it doesn't feed well at all. The nose of the bullet will hang up on the feed ramp every time. But if you load one by one they put a hurting on deer. I don't use them since I can reload my own. The Enfield likes a spire point bullet.

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[44 AMP]

I got a 1917 dated SMLE (no1 MkIII??) from a buddy, who said it had a bent barrel, and gave me another barrel along with it.

Shot some Remington Cor-Lokt 180gr RN, no feeding issues at all. Also, the rifle cut a 5 shot 1.5" group at 60yds from a kneeling position (all I could do at the time), so I figured the barrel was ok.

Not all the old relics are used up, and sometimes the only real problem is that the kids don't (yet) know how to shoot well.

[deerslayer303]

The Remmys don't do well in my No. 4 but I can MAKE em feed by being forceful on the bolt shaving half the nose of the bullet off while chambering them. But loading them one by one the rifle shot them well.

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[Dragonflydf]

I did something similar with a guy who got took at the gunstore with a AR-15. The "salesman" convinced him that he need a scope and threw something on without doing anything else. The buyer, who had no AR experience was saying his rifle was a POS and couldn't hit anything. I asked if he needed some help and proceeded to give him a lesson on field stripping and cleaning, I then taught him how to bore sight the scope and got it printing on paper. For my troubles I got a 30 cal ammo can full of the brass he had shot while trying to sort out his rifle.