Thread: Resurgence of interest in the old "Three Oh"?

Originally Posted by AMac

Great thread - the 3 O is such a part of hunting history in NZ great to see such enthusiasm for the old rifles.

When my Dad died I ended up with his sporterized SMLE which he did a lot of hunting with in the 1950's to 1960's in Canterbury where he had access to a property in Lees Valley I think the owner of the property's name was Less Burnett. Dad used to reckon that in summer he would hop on his motor bike after knocking off work and ride up to the valley with the rifle over his back and reckon he could have a deer well before dark. It had a parker hale aperture site adjustable for windage and elevation, initially he shot it right hand, but when that eye weakened he swapped over and shot it left hand - something the feels so uncomfortable to me. Eventually he put a 4x Nikko Sterling scope on it that I gave him but I can't remember if he went back to shooting with his right eye. He could shoot pretty well with it - I can remember him knocking goats off a bluff up behind the bach shooting off his knees would have been 1970's - I have since ranged these at 400m+ he said he was taught to shoot when he had to do compulsory military training in the 1950's after leaving school.

It spent along time in the ceiling space above their garage - when I got the rifle I could see a long dark patch half way down the barrel and no amount of cleaning made any difference took it to the range and could hardly hit a A4 sheet of paper at 50m.

It would be cool to get the old cannon shooting again - could anyone suggest the best place to look at picking up a replacement barrel ?

Has it got a mid-barrel bulge? You'd feel the different resistance to a brush as you push/pull it through. The dark section of the bore is usually caused by pitting, not bulging.

Before doing anything extreme to the barrel, don't write the bore off until you shoot good ammunition through it, not some old milsurp. Rifles usually age well but their ammunition less so. Also, the dark middle of the bore may have been present even when the rifle was a tack driver, it does not happen overnight even if the rifle lies unloved for 20 years.

I'd happily sell you a used replacement barrel, but ... caveat emptor ... will it shoot any better? Don't buy a car or a milsurp barrel from a friend. To get a dark old milsurp bore shooting better, first look into lead lapping.

Article: "Lapping a Rifle Barrel", Shooting Times, September 23, 2010.