Are there any niches where rifles like this are still viable? I'm not talking about a sniper rifle I'm talking about milsurp bolt rifles in basic configuration with standard MOA
The only implausible situation I could concieve of is the inverse of why people like pump shotguns for Home Defense for defending a static position (like a homestead) with concealment from a horde of disorganized bandits/zombies/whatever in a rural flat location with extremely high visibility for the defender and/or limited/restricted forward movement for criminals that can also be used to take game or pushed into a bastardized scout rifle role incase evacuation is necessary
>viable
Many
>ideal
Probably very very few
The enfield has a fast enough fire and reload rate and intuitive manual of arms that I could see some opt for it over a heavy unbalanced semi automatic .308 with feeding issues etc. Plus with a bayonet it'd make a nicer club than a polymer carbine. Still battle rifles have come a long way since then
Don't they make cartridge sleeves for .30 cal bullets that can fire pistol cartridges or did I imagine that?
>I could see some opt for it over a heavy unbalanced semi automatic .308 with feeding issues
> with feeding issues
We can do better than scenatios where our only options are a bolt action and a broken fucking gun.
rimlock is an issue
FPBP
its still a bullet, and since its not an intermediate cartridge, it might defeat some body armor, but its far from ideal
not in any real military sense.
For irregular partisans who use their hunting rifles to take potshots at rear echelon fucks
>viable
Just shoot your fucking guns and appreciate their history. Why does everything have to have some specific tactical purpose? Have you ever rung steel with an enfield? It’s pretty fun
There was an Afghan with a lee enfield who used to drop rounds into a FOB from about 1500 yards away. He did this for about two years every evening until the Americans eventually dropped a JDAM on him.
Old bolt action rifles are useful for deer hunting.
In many parts of the US, due to the terrain and vegetation it is rare to take a shot at a deer of over 100 yards.
I know a guy that borrowed an old Mosin Nagant from a family member, sat on the tail gate of his pick up truck and shot a deer across the pasture with a round from a previously unopened ammo can that was 60 years old.
Bolt rifles haven't been the meta for like 400 years gramps. you're gonna get unalived in the heckin boogerlube fr if you try running that loadout. if you're not kitted out with a gucci AR, Supreme plate carrier and chest rig bundle, and all the most expensive odds and ends you can afford you're ngmi
Assassination.
>viable
Did people evolve immunity to bullets or something?
>he isn't aware of the exoskeleton esocial nu-humans living in the sewers
Anon...
>Are there any niches where rifles like this are still viable?
Basically any civilian use case that necessitates the use of a rifle, once you consider what can actually happen in real life rather than getting caught up on over the top fantasy scenarios heavily influenced by video games and movies.
But those validation fantasies are precisely the reason most PrepHoletards own weapons.
If you just want a tool to kill things you know you don't need to sperg about it. My basic bitch iron sight PSA looks like the basic bitch iron sight M-16s I trained on in the Air Force. I can reliably hit with it at reasonable ranges. No batteries, no delicate anything, no problem.
>with standard MOA
I assume youre trying to say 'accurate to 1 MOA'.
Sorry to burst your milsurp bubble but ww2 rifles are shit for accuracy compared to even cheap modern hunting rifles. At least 1 MOA is expected out of every new gun today but would be sniper-grade for an Enfield. Just get something modern in a common chambering.
Well technically speaking, the rifles were not inaccurate per se, the ammunition issued with the rifles was the accuracy lynchpin. For example, I have an all numbers matching No I Mk III* made in 1917 with a bore and throat that looks like it was cut yesterday. With surplus Mk VII ball ammo it will hold 5 MOA. If I pull the surplus spitzer bullet and load in a round nose Hornady Interlock, the rifle will shoot 1.5 MOA all day. Same with my Type 99. A 175gr Matchking over 45gr of H4895 will shoot a 3/4” group at 100y.
A rifle is only as accurate as the ammunition you feed it.
>He doesn't hunt with milsurp
NGMI
Extreme cold weather. The Dutch polar patrol still carries bolt actions and M2 AP for polar bears.
>I'm not talking about a sniper rifle I'm talking about milsurp bolt rifles in basic configuration with standard MOA
Basic firearm training.
Hunting.
Guerilla warfare.
Collecting.
Historical reenactment.
Depends on price. If you have a group of highly trusted friends and need to arm a few who are noguns, and you can buy two milsurp rifles for the same price as one modern auto loader (you can’t anymore) then it would be better to have two guys with bolt actions instead of one with an AR.
But realistically no
The Arctic.
I own an Enfield and there's no situation I'd take it over my PTR91. Not a single one.
Sorry meant to write
>I own an Enfield and there's no situation I'd take another rifle over it. Not a single one.
Ducking auto correct
>Need to file down or outright replace front sight to sight in elevation
It's antiquated and outdated and mine isn't some bubba piece of shit either.
>Need to file down or outright replace front sight to sight in elevation
Anon, what the fuck?
It's part of the Enfield sight in, in order for the volley sights to actually function. Go look up armory procedure. There are a lot of different height front sight posts and you swap them out to raise/lower elevation. Without doing this properly, your actual sight graduation won't work. Mine came with a front sight that wasn't even close.
>Without doing this properly, your actual sight graduation won't work
Anon, the sight graduations only work with the military loading and are going to be off with everything else. It's the same with modern tactical BDC reticles. Calibrating the sight graduations isn't something soldiers were expected to do. If you're shooting modern commercial ammo, the proper procedure would be to treat the rear sight like pic related that you'll find on normal civilian guns.
I have like 1000rds of surplus.303
>Surplus .303
How does it shoot? I have a few 1942 mk 7 but have never tried them.
I have some of that German MEN Mk VIII .303. My SMLE doesn’t like it, but my No IV Mk I will hold 3 moa with it
It is becoming harder to obtain though.
Were you shooting milspec ammo? 175gr flat base spitzer going 2,500fps?
Or should I assume you were shooting either 150gr or 175gr BT PPU?
Well I’m a big dummy I guess
I have no idea what you're talking about but mine is accurate stock. How far are you shooting? Maybe you should try the volley sight.
there hasnt been a single weapon adopted in the last 150 years by any western military that hasnt been able to effectively kill people. not a single weapon is "obsolete"
>are there any niches where rifles like this are still viable
robust ergonomic long arms? yeah the heavy rounds have a fantastic tendency to penetrate heavy foliage much better than intermediate cartridges. the manual action is less likely to be fouled by mud. they make pretty much ideal jungle rifles. especially since they're light weight. it is admittedly a very niche role.
it might take a little imagination but you can quite easily fit most weapons into a role.
Legal reasons in some countries where it's easy to get a durr rifle on a hunting permit.
For hunting or self defense against animals.
When you want to open carry for other reasons but appear non-aggressive.
Jeff Cooper thought so.
As a ranch rifle they're not bad, if not a little heavy. Something like a 6.5 swede is a nice do it all rifle.
I vaguely remember some fuddlore about a guy in nam that killed many morons with a 1903 and iron sights. Maybe just a story or someone knows what I’m talking about.
You're probably thinking of Carlos Hathcock. Not quite an '03 with irons, but he had a Winchester Model 70. It was a mostly off the shelf hunting rifle with an 8 power scope, which the marine snipers used because they couldn't squeeze the accuracy out of the 03s and Garands they had in inventory.
bolt actions are viable when you have substandard ammo you think might be hot. Much harder to blow up the gun because bolt actions are fundamentally more solid
took the Lee out yesterday gong shooting lads