Enfeild .308 bolt action

Dirtautoguy · February 26, 2013

There is a enfeild .308 bolt action for $225 obo I don't know much about them but I looked it up and I kind of like it can someone give me some more info on these?

fm2176 · February 26, 2013

If it is chambered for .308 it may be built on an Indian Ishapore 2A receiver. I have a Gibb's No. 7 Jungle Carbine in .308 and it is one of the nicest "historical" guns I own. "Historical" because while it is supposedly based on an Australian design that was never put into production, it is still a newer production gun that combines some of the best features of the Enfield design (high rate of fire, ruggesdness) with certain improvements (.308 is more common than .303 British, and the infamous "wandering zero" of the original No. 5 Jungle Carbine is a nonissue).

I would check it out. If it is a rechambered No. 1 Mk. III or No. 4 Mk. I it may still be worth the money. If it is a Gibb's or other factory rifle I'd say go for it! I thought the Gibbs Rifle Company went out of business a number of years ago, but there is a website and it appears they are back in business. Their versions of the No. 5 and No. 7 are no longer in production, but for reference, you can check out their site: http://www.gibbsrifle.com/historical_remakes_.html

As for the Ishapore action, you can bet that it is a good twenty-plus years newer than most British surplus Enfield actions. Mine is stamped "1967", and when I first got it at age eighteen I pondered the history of such a unique rifle. Hey, it was clumped in with a bunch of old WWI and WWII rifles back when Roses carried them (for those of you wondering, Roses was/is a competitor to K-Mart and the like along the Mid-Atlantic, there are still a few stores struggling around Virginia, but most are out of business), this was before the internet had something about everything. I even wrote a story about it that I shared on a few now-defunct forums. When I get back home I can pull it off the hard drive and post it if anyone wants.

More on the 2A: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishapore_2A1_rifle

BlackZ71Silverado · March 4, 2013

Can't really go wrong with a .308 in any rifle. The .308 is a great round and will get the job done on any game animal in the country. You can also find steel cases ammo such as Hunters dirt cheap for plinking.

Dirtautoguy · March 4, 2013

How does it compare to the .223/5.56?

kstruckcountry · March 4, 2013

Bigger and accurate to MUCH further ranges.

BlackZ71Silverado · March 5, 2013

How does it compare to the .223/5.56?

It doesn't compare. Much more power, longer range, better in every way.

fm2176 · March 5, 2013

It doesn't compare. Much more power, longer range, better in every way.

The Army mainly switched to 5.56 (and later influenced NATO into adopting that round) due to its much lighter weight, controllability on full-auto, and potential to wound the enemy (thus taking at least two more off the battlefield when they evacuate their comrade). The funny thing is that 7.62x51mm NATO was itself originally considered an intermediate round of sorts--the Soviets had their 7.62x39, so the US basically took advantage of newer powders and shortened the .30-06. IIRC, 200 rounds of 5.56 weighs around 7 pounds, while only 100 rounds of 7.62 NATO weighs the same amount, so a rifleman can theoretically carry twice as much ammo. As a SAW Gunner in Baghdad I carried 1200 rounds. Our machine gunners spread that amount around their squad.

Dirtautoguy · March 6, 2013

Ok so how much is the gun worth?

BlackZ71Silverado · March 9, 2013

Ok so how much is the gun worth?

Depends on a number of things really. Got and pictures? Nobody can tell you how much a specific rifle is worth without seeing it's condition first. In reality, it's worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

Take AR15/M16/M4 magazines for example. For years a Magpul PMAG cost $11-$13 each and aluminum GI mags went for $9.00.

A few months ago the craziness started and the Magpul PMAGs are going for as much as $150.00 each with GI mags going for $30+ each. Prime example of it's worth whatever people are willing to pay.