I have an old British .303 (1942 I think) that I've been thinking about "Modernizing" a little.

Any Ideas on Making it lighter? More user friendly? I may just put a new stock on it and try and re-blue the metal and put a scope on it.

Any suggestions welcome.

You will probably end up spending more money on it than you could buy a good rifle for.

Don't remember where, but somebody sells a scope mount for the .303 that doesn't require any gunsmithing. Unless you're just wanting a pretty rifle (which the Enfield ain't), I'd just put a lighter stock on it, scope it, and sight it in. My first deer rifle was a No.1 Mk IV, and it took its share of deer, and with mil sights, no less.

Don't get me wrong about the Enfield; it's a stout action, and if you've got qa good one, it will serve you very well. What it lacks in finesse, it makes up for in brute strength.

I've got one that was my own first hunting rifle back when I was 17 and I'm now 63 and still have it.

When I first got it the rifle was in it's original military configuration and I used it that way to take several deer and turkeys, and then I went off to war, (Uncle Sam let me use an M16) and when I got back home I couldn't put the old war horse out to pasture just yet so I took it down to a local gunsmith and had the barrel chopped down and re crowned and had a scope mount installed and I did the chop job on the wood stock forend myself.

That year I took three deer with my new scoped rifle and one was a running shot. Gotta remember I had just gotten out of the service, but it has over the years done what it was supposed to do, and never let me down.

I retired it several years back, and take it out every now and then and take a deer with it, and have just recently loaded some cast lead bullets over some Trailboss powder and made a fun sub sonic plinker, and small game rifle out of it. Sounds like a .22 when it goes off, and makes a ragged hole at 59 yards with those 165 grain lead bullets.

I did put one of those synthetic stocks on it from ATI and it does make it lighter, but I'm still partial to the old wood, but I think it will stay like it is for now.

I agree with DonK whosaid you'll probably spend more money on it than buying a new rifle. Also, if it's still in original condition, even if it's rough, you can probably find a collector who'll give you good money for it. Heck, I might be interested - I bought one a couple of years ago and another one yesterday, but the collecting of old military guns can become an obsession.
If it's already been cut up some, or if you're determined to sporterize it, check out www.surplusrifle.com. They have listings of companies where you can get parts and accessories for old military hardware, and stocks and scope mounts to add on. The .303 is a neat cartridge, but a little tough to find sometimes. If you're near FT Worth, check out Military Gun Supply. They have a lot of military calibers available in soft points for hunting.

Actually I've never had a problem finding ammo, (not counting after the election two years ago) and have bought it locally at Walmart, Academy and Bass Pro shop, and you can also find it online in different flavors from Cabelas, and Midway as well as others.

Better yet, order some brass and bullets, and a Lee Classic loader and roll your own! It's a lot of fun!


www.midwayusa.com

Keep it in original condition, or if you restock it, keep the original stock.

My dad restocked his WW1 Mauser pre-Vietnam and has regretted it ever since. I own 3 Lee-Enfields, 2 in issued condition. One was my first rifle and they both will stay that way.

The other was sporterized in the early 50s. If it can be returned to issued condition it will be. I have hunting rifles for hunting, these are for collecting. If they go hunting, it'll be in issued condition. They aren't THAT heavy (i've carried worse on duty).

My dad bought me one that was already sporterized when I was 13. I'm 46 and I still have it. It's not the prettiest rifle in the world but it holds some great memories and is still a good gun. If you look on the internet, there are a lot of sites that show folks modifing Enfields, some of them look pretty good.
You can do a lot of temporary mods that allow you to restore it back to the original if you want to.

All good points. I think I will keep it original after all. This was my first hunting gun. Bought it at a pawn shop about 15 years ago or so. Took my first Javelina and Hog with it.

Just gotta decide if I wanna sell it or keep it. I might look into some scope mounts. I've found them before but never did pursue the Idea.

Redfred If you are interested in buying it send me a PM with your e-mail. I'll take some pics and send them to ya.

http://www.303british.com/id32.html

Found this online about how to make a homemade scope mount for this gun. Think I'm gonna try it just for fun and I bet it works well too.