Lee Enfield no.4 410, do you use it?

[Madhatter2132]

Pretty much as the title says.

I'm on a vague lookout for a 410 converted Lee Enfield no.4, mainly as an oddity piece and because I love the Enfield action I learnt to shoot with, I'm just wondering if people out there who have one actually use them and if so what for?

I know it's a vague question but hopefully it may help sway me one way or another, it's that or a smooth bore baker rifle so I can pretend to be Shaun Bean 🤣

[enfieldspares]

They don't feed very well, the magazine is now required to be welded in place if they are s2 on an SGC.I had an SMLE in .410 well before they were required to have the magazine welded in place. That didn't feed either. Far better IMHO to get a 12 bore Greener GP and go full on Stanley Baker.

[Keith 66]

2 hours ago, Madhatter2132 said:

I know it's a vague question but hopefully it may help sway me one way or another, it's that or a smooth bore baker rifle so I can pretend to be Shaun Bean 

Well i remember when Sean bean was playing Mellors in the BBc adaptation of Lady Chatterleys lover, Me & a bunch of mates were in the pub & it was on the telly in the pub. It came to the scene where Mellors was rogering Lady chatterley doggystyle in the potting shed.

Honestly when that came on the screen the whole pub roared & cheered like England had scored in the world cup, Hilarious!

Chance would be a fine thing these days.

[DrBob]

I have an SMLE , a 1916 BSA manufacture, bored out to .410. As Enfield Spares notes, it never fed cartridges properly, certainly not now the magazine has been welded, and is a single shot. 
it shoots surprisingly well, great fun on the clays, but, as cylinder bore, strictly short range. It means I can own a piece of history which is still functional.

i acquired a 1907 pattern bayonet, and have to say that fitting it to the weapon is disturbing; the whole assembly is perfectly balanced and swings very easily, not the heavy and unwieldy mass you would expect. To imagine a young lad, shivering in the trenches, waiting for the whistle to 'go over the top', a bayoneted rifle in his hands, is a salutary thought........

[enfieldspares]

5 minutes ago, DrBob said:

i acquired a 1907 pattern bayonet, and have to say that fitting it to the weapon is disturbing; the whole assembly is perfectly balanced and swings very easily, not the heavy and unwieldy mass you would expect.

The Indians knew a thing or two about bayonets. I've had both a  BSA SMLE and an Ishapore SMLE. The Ishapore used its "Indian pattern" bayonet. Shorter handier, better that the British 1907. In bayonet fighting only really in a few circumstances is "reach" superior to "handiness" and the longer bayonet risks your opponent getting inside your guard, but, yes, a fearsome thing is the 1907 bayonet.

[Centrepin]

Johnny Carter recently did a review and fired one on clays on his YouTube channel.

[Mr.C]

Chap in our club has a ShtLE converted to 410. He uses brass cases to shoot round ball. 

[Madhatter2132]

Cheers guys, sounds like it's definitely more of a curiosity piece than anything. The history of them appeals to me but if they're not actually useful I might as well put in for my FAC at some point and get a 308 converted one for deer 🤔

[humperdingle]

I’ve always fancied getting one of these in .410, but it would just sit in the cabinet, getting the occasional novelty shoot.

I’d very much like a deactivated version, though, as a wall hanger 👍

[Pushandpull]

You certainly don't need a ".308 converted one" for deer. .303 British is deer legal in UK and was used for hunting  throughout the world before the .308W was even thought of. Lots of information out there on line.