Thought some of the brethern here would get a kick outta this. One of the brothers who owns the ranch in Kenedy county where we hunt came up upon this bull today. Having never shot a nilgai he thought it time to bust one. Dunno the range, but it was a boom flop DRT , one shot with his trusty old #1 Mk III SMLE sporter he's had for years. Knowing him, Im sure it was the cheapest factory ammo he could find and it was probably 10-15 years old!

Very cool!

kaywoodie,

Fwiw, the old SMLE in .303 British has taken many an animal, LARGE/medium/small, over more than a CENTURY, including many elephants that were "shot on control".

Fwiw: My late Uncle Larry took the BIGGEST WT that I've ever seen with a "sporterized" SMLE (that he bought from Sears & Roebuck's "BIG BOOK" back in the late 1950s or early 1960s,) in the Fall of 1965, at he said 118 long steps. = GYD right there.

GOOD SHOT on that Nilgai bull, too. = FINE TASTING meat too.

yours, tex

Yeah! I bought my first #1 MkIII in 1970. Wifey and I got old son (Postoak Cowboy on the fire) one for Christmas i think When he was in 9th grade. I dunno how may deer he's culled with that rifle! He still has it. Young son is putting the finishing touches on a sporter he's trying to get to look a bit "Lee-Speed-ish"

They are cool old rifles for sure!!!

Little brother still hunts pigs with GrandDad's old sportarized MK III Enfield 303. Grandma ordered it through the Sears Catalog in the late 1950's or 60's I think. He likes the Sellior & Belliot soft point ammo.

Bob, I bet you have worked on an Enfield or two.

One or two, Neal.

chinstructor,

LOTS of us hunters started out with a CHEAP "sporterized" military rifle. = Mine was a 1893 Spanish Mauser in 7x57 that my dad paid 25 bucks for, (with a sling & scope) in 1960.
(In those long ago "DAZE", I could buy FMJ military rounds for about a nickle each. I pulled the bullet & replaced it with a JSP for hunting.)

WISHING that I had NOT sold it when I bought myself a "fancy" rifle, after I was "all grown up".

yours, tex.

Ha ha!!!!

Those Nilgais are damned good eating! I'd love to shoot one.

Tex!!!
Same here! Mom bought me an old Spanish M1916 7x57! Kilt my first deer with it! I still have it too! LOL ! Did a helluva sporterize job on it when a kid!

Pretty cool! I'd sure like to pop one some day. Have heard nothing but good, regarding their table fare.

Jeff

i remeber when I was 8 or 9 in 1968 or 1969 that the local Gibson's Discount stores here had old Mausers for sale for like maybe $15 to $20 bucks. They displayed them in the sporting goods isle in one of those old shiny galvanized trash cans. I remember Dad looking them all over to see which one was in the best shape.

akjeff,

I doubt that you'll ever hear anything but GOOD about that game meat. = Our volunteer "chef" at CIBOLO NATURAL CENTER makes "Invasive Species Chili" out of Nilgai, Axis & feral pork, which is THE BEST chili that I've ever had anywhere.
(I "plead guilty as charged" to going back for 3rds or 4ths.)

yours, tex

I busted a nilgai cow back in Dec 2016. Probably about 800-1000 yards or so from where this bull was shot. Im gonna tell you if you're wanting table fare go cow! I sure like the cows. But dont turn down a bull!! .

kaywoodie,

I hate to tell you about how many NICE military rifles that I "sporterized" (Read: RUINED), when I was in boarding school (1962-65) at the "Wood Crafts & Hobby Shop".
(I sometimes made as much as 12-15 bucks profit on each one, when I sold them to other cadets/staff. - IF I made 20.oo profit, I thought that I was RICH.)

Giant Discount Center often sold SMLE & Mausers back then for 8-12 bucks each.
(I once bought a Aussie Cadet musket in .310 for 7.99 plus postage by mail from Cherry's Sporting Goods in Chicago & had it converted to .32 Winchester Special for another 5 bucks at a local machinist's place. = Took a LOT of WT & Coyotes with it, too.)

yours, tex

Wow man that right there is about as cool as it gets! I love it!

Oh yes! How I remember the days of the bucket o' rifles!!!

I remember my old pards dad sayin' to us, "I dunno why y'all like them old army rifles! I broke my back in Germany layin' them things in a gutter for a Sherman tank to run over!"

Great critter killed with a Grand Old Rifle. Hard to beat a deal like that.

The good ole Days!

I took my first Nilgai bull with my Winchester 1895 .405 a few years ago. This past summer, my son and I each took eating size young bulls.
Here is mine with my .405 double rifle:

t

Simson Suhl. 405Double Rifle:

crsshelton,

BEAUTIFUL DR.
(I have "a thing for" drillings & Cape-Guns, but don't yet own a DR.

yours, tex

BOY ! do I miss them days ! !, I was only 10 yo in '69, no money but I remember "Gibsons". It was one of my FAV places to go.


,******< EDIT*****> Sorry - Miscalculation --I was thinking 58-59. My mistake, I was 20 in 69...


It was 1974 when Wife & I moved to Fayetteville, Ark that I saw my FIRST Wal Mart. It was ONLY the 2nd W M store PERIOD.

Jerry


I STILL remember Gibson's - Hot Springs & Magnolia. Today our WMs are larger w/more selections but IN th 60s Gibson's was where it was AT!!

K W - that's K O O L !

Jerry

To All,

WISHING that I knew somebody with a herd of Axis & Nilgai that they wanted "thinned out".
(I keep hearing about such places but don't know of any. - the "chef: that I mentioned GETS PAID to kill out the Axis that he converts into chili & stew.,)

My new motto: HAVE RIFLE & XB, WILL TRAVEL.

yours, tex

jwall,

Do you remember GIANT DISCOUNT CENTERS.
(My college roomie at OBU was the owner's son.= Larry "took out a large tree" on HWY 37 to Hot Springs one night in 1975 & that was the end of him & his lady.)

yours, tex

You were married at 15?

Don't know if it's the camera angle or what,but that thing looks BIG. Thick critter too. How can it any cooler?

No S A, can't say as I remember "GIANT....".

SO sorry to hear about your friend & lady. That 'probably' was Hwy 7. Then it was narrow & crooked ---many many accidents. The road has been improved since but it's NOT meant for hi speed.

Jerry

; sorry miscalculation I edited that this AM.

I was 20 in '69. The memories of Gibsons are still strong from childhood.

Thnx for ADDING

Jerry

I remember Gibsons, but not Giant. Gibsons was a "walmart" before Walmart came on the scene. I hated to see them go at the time Walmart and Kmart was pushing them out. miles

Every box of Norma ammo at Gibson's here was $4.97! Regardless of cartridge!

Otter6. They are huge!!! Well they can sure get huge. This one looks like a nice bull

Also have a range. 196 paces. You'll just havta go with that!

The first discount store I remember was Fed-Mart. Their initial gimmick was that they only sold to government employees, first only federal, then later to employees of all government agencies. By the time that I graduated from high school, they were selling to anyone that walked in the door. The summer that I graduated from high school, I rewarded myself by buying a brand new Model 70 in .30-06 for $102.70, as I recall. (Yes--it was a pre-64 new from the factory. )

jwall,

I remember HWY 7 very well, = In those long ago college days/ DAZE, I had a Sunbeam Tiger & one of our favorite college pastimes was doing "timed runs" from Caddo Valley to the Garland County bridge that crossed the lake.

yours, tex

kaywoodie,

Fwiw, I bought my first Remington Model 760 at GIBSON'S in Mount Pleasant for 105.oo = "Those were the days."
(Btw, I was born in Pittsburg & raised in Daingerfield & Lone Star.)

Also, there was a sporting goods store in Longview, TX that had numerous racks of used rifles for CHEAP (& yes I mean cheap even for those long ago days), that was managed by a man who called everybody, "Coach".
(Wishing that I could remember the name of the store but it was across the street from the FEDWAY department store.)

I once bought a Model 8 Remington for 60.oo there in .300 Savage. - There were a FEW made right at the end of the run in .300SAV (right before the Model 81 came out) & I'd would be afraid to guess what the rifle would sell for in 2018. = I suspect it would sell in the "four figures area".
(Of course, I sold it within a few months/years, to buy something else.)

yours, tex

SATX...I believe you are talking about Tony's H&T, owned by Margie & Tony Valentino, across the parking lot from the local Gibson's when I started selling to him in the mid/late '70's and later. He always greeted folks with a "Hi there, didja know your nose looks like a banana?" Or some such ice breaker...Everybody got a nick name in Tony's. Mine was Ron Jowarski, or the Polish Rifle (the pro footbal player) 'cause my 1st name is Ron and I sold him ammo and rifles for a Dallas Distributor.
Tonys' was up the street from the best BBQ joint in East Texas, who's name is escaping me right now. Good days back then for sure.
Ron

Verhoositz,

Jess Stockstill? Or Dave ?

One of them????

Bob, I worked for Schoellkopf Sports, the name of the company after the buyout of the old Schoellkopf Hardware Co that was founded in 1854, by the same people in Chicago that had also bought out Ellett Bro's, in Chapin SC, and Bern's Wholesale in Denver. Lot's of guys on here will recognize the Berns name that was so closely aligned with Gart's, where my 1st mgr, Wayne Johnson, in Dallas came from.

I was good friends with Bobby Goldstein, who owned Dave's House of Guns.
More Later.
Ron

Dang, they are blue

Thats what nilgai means in one of them Indian (hindustani?) languages. "Blue cow or blue bull".

I remember Schoepllkopf!

bang flop with a wait for it.....270. and cows are much better eating not nearly as tough as an old bull.

Mr Kaywoodie,

Thanks for posting the fine picture of your brother's success. He is a smart man, smart enough to not know that you can't kill stuff without the latest "slick bullet" 6.5 or some super fast magnum.

Geno

PS, I bet you think those SMLE's you've worked on go fashionably well with those funny pants you sometimes wear!
PPS, I kinda like the white spots on the lower legs. I wonder why that adaptation?

Excellent! I'd enjoy that hunt.

Could have sworn I'd read that minimum for a bull was a 300 magnum, with 338's and 375's preferred!

Good job.

Guy

Guy,
You likely have read such misinformation about Nilgai. They are just a big antelope and as such can be taken with many popular cartridges.
Think Eland - some hunters like to say magnum cartridges are needed, but a PH friend of mine in RSA grew up taking all African plains game with a .308.

Like all critters, they will fall to most modern big game rifles if the bullet is put in the right place. Naturally, if you plan to shoot them from a quarter mile away (or further) you need the appropriate rifle and skills.

Nilgai are fun to hunt and good to eat., so go get one!

verhoositz,

It's been a LONG time (40 years plus) since I was there but I "think I remember" that the man's name was Tony.

And NO, I can't remember that BBQ joint's name either. = In those long ago days, my dad was still alive & always wanted to eat at Johnny Cace's Cajun place, anytime we went to Longview..

yours, tex

Only time I've had bad nilgai is just when the juisache greened out. It made the meat very bitter.

Other than that I"d shoot one any day. And I have no need for a bull ever again. Have one with a rifle and one with a pistol and you can't eat those horns...

Very true Jeff!!

And I stick to my earlier comments, and also agree with you! Cow, all the way. They are delicious!!! And generally a bit easiery to deal with!

I've eaten bulls that tasted fine but I shot an old rutted bull a couple years that I couldn't give away. Cows are the way to go unless your looking to put one on the wall. And a cow hunt is half the price

I love the old classics.
I am building 2 Lee Sporters now. One is a 1900 Irish Constabulary action and the other is an Aussi Lithgow. Both have new barrels and new wood done in the style of the classic Speed Sporters. Here is a link to an NRA article for a picture of what they will look like. https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2016/8/5/i-have-this-old-gun-lee-speed-sporting-rifle/

The later Aussi rifle is made with a charger guide but the Lee made for the Irish is actually a restored Metford and dates before the use of chargers.

Here is the Irish rifle before I started, with it's super-bubba'd stock and bent barrel.
100_1752 by Steve Zihn, on Flickr
100_1750 by Steve Zihn, on Flickr

The Lithgow was just an action when I got it. No barrel and no wood. No pictures taken of it because there was no reason to

My departure from originality is that my rifles will be made with classic pancake cheek pieces. The Lithgow will have a military style rear sight and the Irish will have a 3 leaf express sight. I got the 1900 Irish from a friend as a junker and it was a gift, so I will work it over and keep it, and hunt with it myself.
The Lithgow will be sold.

If there are any Lee/Speed lovers out there let me know, and when I get then done I'll post some pics.

My dad had a 300 Savage when I was a young boy. If loaded with 180 grain bullets it would shoot about 2350 FPS and I saw how well it killed things. I know the 303 will do about the same thing, if I give it a good bullet. I know Woodleigh makes good ones and Barnes made one in 150 grain.

Anyone out there recommend a good tough bullet in .310,.311" diameter of 180 or heavier? I am betting the Core-Lokt is good, but I don't know if Remington will still sell them. Bullets only, not ammo. I have no feedback on the Hornady, Speer or Sierra 303 bullets.

Gonna be nice Steve! Please post pics! There are several Lee-Speed rifle admirers here! Young son has been fashioning up one for himself from and old #1. I suppose is more of a vintage sporter than anyrhing else. Now that I have a sort of mill set up I can prolly get his express sight on the barrel for him!

Here's a pic of the cow I shot back in Dec 2016. This one is perfect size. Now before y'all go harping on me for gut shootin' her I really didn't. She cut and run across in front of me at about 50-60 yards. I thought at first she was a big doe as it was a foggy morning. Made a quick shot and she hit the dirt. Hit her high in back at back of ribs. Around kidney. Went up in lung and stopped in a rib. She got up and run about 100 yards and died. Was using my old 9.3 x 62.





They are not blue like the bulls.

Wow, with the 9.3X62 I am a bit surprised you recovered the bullet at all.

Great info.. I would like one for meat.. Looks like NO elk this season.. K and szihn nice rifles... Also the .270!!! How much do the eating cows weight!!

Steve, they have thick hide! Bulls hide can be over an inch thick on back! Someone here on forum posted a pic of a quarter up against the hide on a bull once! Was a good comparison. Cows not as thick but still tough. . Honestly I was surprised when I found the bullet too. I suppose it went in at the back of rib cage on right and traversed to the left lung thru a rib and I found it against the hide. She hit the ground like a Sack of potatoes. Got up and ran a good 100 yards thru thick brush to a clearing. Then died.

WCH a good cow can be about the size of a big mule deer buck. Least all the ones I've seen or helped clean have been about that size. They dont get near as big as the bills. Two years ago I walked up on a damn BIG pretty dark blue bull brousing on a tree at the edge of a clearing about 7 one foggy morning in as attempt to get to this open area for some quail. All I had was my Model 12 and 7 1/2 shot! . He was a gorgeous bull!!!

My next adventure there will be with one of my flintlock Jäger rifles!

This wasn't my pic but I found it. They just don't leave much of a blood trail and often run a good ways. It isn't fun tracking them through thick mesquite and cactus. It's less fun cutting a trail to get them out. I shot mine a in the crease of the shoulder per the guides suggestion with a 300 win mag and 165 grain Barnes. I got a pass through but we only found a few specs of blood in the hunted or so yards he ran. I've seen one shot 2 times with a 375 h&h and was still trucking when the 3rd shot spined him.

Thanks Txhunter80! Thats the pic. They can be tough critters!

TxHunter80,
That is my pic from several years ago. Nilgai are dang tough and as others have said, they just don’t bleed a lot. We generally did not let cup and core bullets be used and preferred Trophy Bonded or Swift A-frames, although I do have a recovered Sierra 170 grain RN bullet fired in a 7x57.

Here is a pic of a Barnes TSX 270 gr. fired from my .375 Ruger, recovered from a bull Nilgai shot at a range a bit over 200 yards. Bull dropped in his tracks. This is one of only two TSXes I have ever recovered from a game animal.

Kaywoody (and anyone else who could help too)
Do you have any left over Lee magazines?
I am looking for one so I can cut it down to a 5 shot like what most of the English gunmakers did on their Lee Sporters.
Like this one.
http://www.highwoodclassicarms.co.uk/Firerms%20For%20Sale/smlei/6.JPG


The Irish gun had no magazine when I got it. Originals came with a 7 round. Yeah......7. Why they did that I have no idea, but that's what they were made with.

I want to make one that is a copy of the round belly 5 round mags used on so many of these old guns, and when I get it done I'll engrave the floor plate as they did. But I need something to start with.
Can anyone out there help?

No i have no #1 magazines left at all! Sorry!

Dang!

Ive only worked/helped with one big bull that had hide like that. Im certainly no nilgai expert. Just kinda be n present whenseveral have been shot on the ranch. (Tracked one big bull amile and a half!). Young son did shoot a very young bull year before last. Used 30/06 and hide not near that thick.

The one person I personally know that has shot more than few is Rio7. Love hearing the stories and experiences any have to offer!!!

Just about any black bull is going to have a dermal shield at least that thick. They still get injured, sometimes fatally, due to puncture wounds suffered in fights with other males.

When the bulls spar, they drop to their carpals (what you might think of as "front knees") and push against their opponent's shoulder while hooking his body with those little short horns. The dermal shield catches most of these thrusts, but occasionally they will slip toward the opponent's rear and hook them around or just behind the diaphragm.

I saw one bull walking around with several feet of intestine dragging on the ground, and others with various pieces of internal organs hanging out. During the time we worked on the Norias, we found several bulls that had apparently died from wounds inflicted in these push fights.

Ben,

One of the fellas there in Riveria told us about a person there on the edge of town had two big bulls that had fought their way across his front yard and worked their way into his garage. If i remember correctly he killed em both in his garage!!

Btw , you would have been another person i would have mentioned with a bunch of Nilgai experience. Busy day here at the place!

I remember hearing about that! I can certainly believe it--two big, dominant, bulls can go at it for a long time, and it often looks like someone rototilled and acre or two where they were fighting.

One of the coolest things about hunting that Kenedy county place is even tho its not far from places like Corpus, Kingsville, Falfurrias, kenedy county is like the third least populated county in the state. And it's a pretty good pile of sand! I could very well be wrong but I think the pop is still less than 500 people! Ranch owners told me the nilgai didnt really show up there much until like 20 years or so ago. They just didnt see em til then.

Wish we had Nilgai at the Ranch instead of hogs.

Well Neal, there are both on this place and javelina too. Matter of fact when I was there last November saw two big musk hogs!!! But I just can't make myself shoot one! . To me its like shootin' a dog! LOL.

Lots of damn coyotes too! Actually one of the first places i actually saw coyotes packed up in daytime!

You do realize a nilgai bull has about as much respect for a Fence as a bison bull don't you? . I've heard from several folks there that the only thing that keeps one from going thru a fence, is he just doesnt want to at the time!

Yep. I hear they are hell on fences. Hogs are too.

kay, thanks for the info on weight...

Hope it helped. Like I said, I'm sure no authority on the critters. All my experience with em is little compared to some here!

Bulls or cows, they go under them. They find a spot where they can get most of their neck under them and just push them up to make a place to crawl through--even the heavy gauge net wire fences on the Norias!

Thanks Ben! I kinda figgered the cows might follow. Didnt really know. But I have seen the 8' heavy net wire tore all up and the expected pile of droppings and urine just other side of tear. Blind fellow can even see where they gonunder!

DROOOOLLLL!

That rates a two-cool... The rifle is OK, too.

Luv2safari - Thanks for the flowers on the Nilgai and the rifle. It shoots as good as it looks; like a well fit shotgun, it comes up on target!

Kaywoodie - note that the young bulls are the size and color of the cows - only the older bulls are blue and black.

crshelton,

Tell me about your double-rifle please.
(I'm a FAN of the old DRs & Cape Guns, particularly those with exposed hammers.)

yours, tex

about time to start planning my land cut trip. looks like we will have a air boat to use, so no death march acroos the mud flats.

Yes! I dunno when they start to turn. i suppose when they start thinking about cows. LOL. Kinda like a Blackbuck? The small bull young son shot was already turning bluish.

And again well done on that bull!!

Young son's young bull!

Good luck Roger! Keep us posted. No way I could do a hunt like that! I'd havta get in a boat! LOL!

Guess what's getting chicken fried for tonight?

SATX ...the BBQ Place is/was Bodacious BBQ...it came to me in a fit of longing for a plate of ribs & sliced brisket. Up the street towards Tony's from LeTourneau College. Since then they have opened another place off I-20 west of Longview at the Whilte Oak exit on the north side. Good memories on Longview from those days.

Recently I swapped a rifle with a guy from Pennsylvania who was in the steel bidnizz and traveled thru Longview and some other places we ID'd in East Texas and he came up with the BBQ places name, as his local guy always had to eat there...who'd a thunk that a small local BBQ place deep in the Piney Woods would have a national reputation.

Back in those days I travelled all of East and North Texas & some Houston stuff too when I had time, working for a Dallas Spt Goods Distributor and later for Stoeger in 5 states ...and ALL of my customers knew where to eat & sleep best in their County's. The local guy in Buffalo, close to where I am now in Palestine, used to take me to his house for his wife to fix us dinner and give me a bed so's we could stay up and argue about what he wanted x's I thought he needed to buy and why over a bottle of scotch, and is still a good friend 35-40 years later.
Ron .

satx782487
I did a detailed post with pix back when Santa gave me the rifle on Christmas 2015, BUT PBucket blocked them when they decided to charge a bunch for posting them on websites.
I f I can locate the post, I will replace those pix with ones from another hosting service and let you know.

The original post by the maker of the gun has good pix and a narrative discussion that explains details.
Link to post on Nitro Express Forum : http://forums.nitroexpress.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=265159&an=0&page=0

Mmmmmmmmm


Nilgai!

Kaywoodie, I went back to try to put new pictures on the old post, but I guess I can't after a certain amount of time.

Here are pictures of the 2 Lee "Speed"-(ish) rifles I am making. The Irish is the one with a lot more hours in it so far. The Lithgow only had the wood inlet but just blocked out.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by Steve Zihn, on Flickr

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by Steve Zihn, on Flickr
It will probably be some time before I can get back to doing more work on these, so I may not get any other pictures up for a while. Several weeks I am sure. My next move is to make sight bases for the Irish and an old style barrel mounted swivel base. I also need to make the magazine if I can find one to make it out if.

When I start making band swivel mounts I will make a set for the Lithgow too, as well as 3 other rifles that are coming up.

Hey, on another note..........what was the bullet you used from your 9.3 to kill the cow with. It looks perfect in it's performance but you didn't mention which one it was.

Bulls will be all gray,with no brown hairs, when they reach four years of age. They are really dark black only when they start sparring and breeding. However, most bulls that are more than six or so will be gray with quite a few black hairs interspersed in their coats even when they are not actively breeding.

Vaqueros down on the Norias used to rope and castrate young nilgai bulls and then release them. They were usually harvested for camp meat after they grew up to full size, as they were bigger than cows and better eating than bulls that still had all of their plumbing intact. It was not unusual to see brown bulls that were half again as big as the cows they were running with--we probably shot three or four during our collections for the meat lab up at Texas A&M.

That cartridge and its projectile were factory ammo Sellier & Bellots (285? Grain) I picked Up On the clearance table at the Gander Moumtain in Wichita Ks about 2010.

Thise rifles Are Gonna look spiffy Steve!

talked to my compadre today, his buddy flew his copter over cartada (island we hunt) this past friday and saw 7 bulls and cows.

i got to work all weekend.

Damn Roger! Are they going without you?

crshelton,

WOW! What a PURTY DR. - I'm envious.

The stock looks not unlike the stock that the (similarly cased) 16-boreX.43 Spanish Mauser Cape-Gun, with external hammers, that I'm considering for purchase soon.
(It was built in Northern Germany about 1900 I believe.).

yours, tex

they might, but i'll have other weekends free, at least with the air boat we wont have to be doing this anymore

[align:right][/align]

That will make life Much easier Roger!

Well it's slow going but the project is still going.
I still need to make one rear sight base and both front bases and I am going to install barrel bands swivel mounts to both rifles. I have a magazine coming for the Irish Lee but it's a standard SMLE mag,azine so when it gets here I'll cut it and the one in the picture both down to 5 round sporting mags.
I don't expect to be ready to do finish work or engraving until late spring or maybe even summer, but these 2 rifles should be nice when they are done.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by Steve Zihn, on Flickr
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by Steve Zihn, on Flickr

Done a little hunting with the .303 myself...

THAT....is an outstanding rifle!!

Thanks! A couple more pics for you...

szihn: Do you do the magazine mods yourself or do you have a gunsmith do it? The reason I ask, is because I've been on the hunt for a five round mag since forever. Let me know please. J

Jorge, I am a gunsmith. It's my full time job.
So yes, I cut them myself and engrave the bottoms so they look very much like the ones that came from Birmingham and London.
If you have a 10 shot military mag that you'd like cut down let me know. I could probably do it at the same time I do my 2 for these 2 rifles.
https://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/holts/13/565013/H1121-L75012862.jpg

The link above shows a Lee with a magazine made in London. It's about that same shape as what I make.



Ingwe, what load and bullets did you use? I am looking at what is available here in the US and most if not all are made with fairly thin jackets. One possible exception may be the Remington Core-Lokt. I have yet to test them. I have shot them and I like the accuracy I got, but I stupidly didn't section any or shoot any into my test trough. I will hunt deer and antelope with the Irish Lee, but I also may use it for elk and I would like to fins a bullet that I can trust to go through and break big bones. I hope I am not asking too much of the 303, but I don't think so. In the old days it was very popular for moose in Canada, but I am told these were mostly shot with 215 grain CIL bullets and those are not made anymore.

Whast are your thoughts?

Nyalubwe - Classic lines on that stock. Sweet!

I am thinking about using a peep sight on the Lithgow but I can't seem to find one.
You got one Ingwe. Can I ask where?
Any leads?

THanks! I would love to engage you for that. It's a NoI MKIII so it has that little "button" on the magazine if that makes a difference. PM me please and we can get this going!

MMMMMMMM, and in a nice salt water brine too.


Good stuff KW, that looks like a young one, good to know the little 303B has the starch to get it done on nilgai.

Mine was on a Mark IV Number 1 ( or is it Mark I Number 4? can never keep that straight...) But at any rate it has a flat sided receiver, and it was easy enough to D&T for a Williams peep that would usually go on a M94 Winchester...

Not exactly a Lee Speed kinda rifle , but pretty cool nonetheless.

Well heck, I may not find one for my 100 Irish Lee Medford or my No 1 Lithgow.

Anyway...........how about telling us about the bullets and load you used?

OK..you might hate me for this, but the rifle would shoot .308 diameter bullets, so I stoked it up with 180 NPTs and I forget what charge of powder but Im pretty sure it was IMR4895 and off we went! ( It has ben a few years since I hunted with that or any other iron sighted rifle...)

Good stuff, KW! They're some of the best eating I've ever had.

Well now, that may be an idea.
My 2 rifles that I am making both have .310 groove diameter barrels. I re-barreled them both. In fact the Lithgow came to me with no barrel in it.
So maybe a 30 cal would be ok in these also. I'd use a 165 or 180 grain Nosler partition is they shoot well with them.

Huge beasts.
That Enfeild looks like a kids toy gun beside it.

JB and I have a theory about those NPTs....thinking that because of the rear core being exposed they might obdurate to fit the bore......just a theory...but it worked in my rifle!

I cut one mag down today. It's not polished or engraved yet, but the Irish Lee is coming together nicely.
I got the sight installed too.
The Lithgow will be close behind it I hope.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by Steve Zihn, on Flickr
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by Steve Zihn, on Flickr

Steve, pardon my ignorance, but is the receiver radius on those Enfields close enough to an '03 Springfield that an aperture sight for one would work?

Ed

It's a bit smaller so you can hollow out the base for a Springfield sight and fit it beautifully, but the "L arm" is longer for the Springfield so you can't bring the windage adjustment far enough to the left to make it work if you did mount one up.

Looks good but you can't zero it.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by Steve Zihn, on Flickr
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by Steve Zihn, on Flickr

OK, Today I made the front sight base, sight, barrel band swivel mount and ball-head rear swivel stud. I zeroed at 100, 200 and 300 yards with the express sights.

Now I am ready for sanding of the wood and metal polish. I will engrave the metal before I rust blue the gun. Checkering comes at the very end of everything else.

I hope to find time for finish work on this rifle in the next 2-3 weeks. This one is for me, so there is no pay-day. I have to work on it a few hours a week, and do the paying jobs the rest of the time.

Now that's Spiffy Steve!! I like it!!!

Sharp!!

But we have no Nilgai in Wyoming.

I'll probably just have to substitute an elk, antelope or deer.