Enfield help

[Mack in N.C.]

ok, know right much about guns, contender, winchesters etc but i dont know squat about old military guns. so i got alot of questions that i hope yall will answer.

first the gun.  enfield 7.62. 1966 serial nums match...bore is good. stock has some dings and scratches but one of my freind actually said it looked prettygood and from what i have seen on gunbroker it is better than most except the very best....bore is good. though i havent shot it yet.
got it and 140 bullets for 25 bucks . bullets are marked on box 7.62 x 51  r1m1 which i googled and looks to be south african ammo......actually pd 25 for an old iver johnson then traded the iver for it.

ok now the questions and add what info you know.

1. i know i cant shoot  normal .308 because of the pressures but can i shoot reduced recoil .308's??

2. no sling or bayonet. was the original sling leather or that fabric looking material. saw one of those online and dont see how it attaches as each end of the sling had 2 metal hooks?///

3. can i reload the 7.62 cases with a .308 lee loader if i keep to lower power loads?

4. I dont know yet if this gun shoots good but what  do you consider good accuracy at 100 yds with the iron sights??  4 inches??

5. is an enfield a decent gun.?...some people say yes and some say no.

thanks for any answers and iny other info supplied...Mack

 

[xhare]

I own the 303 brit version. 
1.  I would say that any load in a 308 case that fits within the pressure limits of your gun would be safe.  From a reloading standpoint it would help to know what your throat looks like.  Throat variations is often the cause of pressure spikes with certain ammo.

2. Cant help you with the sling

3.The Enfield action may not have as much camming power as the Mauser action, full length reloads may be required.

4. 4 Inches at 100 yards with mil-surp ammo and mil-sights is pretty standard across all military rifles from that era.  Handloads with modern bullets can improve on that. 

5. Sure its a decent gun.  It may not compare to an M-14, but it will do the job.

[xhare]

This doesn't answer all your questions, but here is a good article.

http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/oddshot2/index.asp

[Merle]

There is much controversy about 308 Winchester vs 7,62 NATO ammo in this rifle. The NATO ammo has a bit less pressure that 308 hunting ammo, and NATO is what the rifle was designed for. I would stick with what it was designed for. I would download 308 cases & use them without concern, but would stick to the lower levels of handloads.

For what it is worth, the South African ammo isn't truly NATO spec. But it is my ammo of choice for my Ishapore (made in India, by the way) Enfield. I believe the SA ammo has a bit less pressure than actual NATO ammo. When I compared various NATO spec ammo in my Springfield M1A it had less recoil & did not eject very far.