Thread: Getting back to living off the land.....

We're having goat for dinner tonight. It''s the third time this week and it's only Wednesday!

@Coote Just PPU 180 grain at the moment, but I'll start reloading soon. I've only had this 303 for a couple of weeks. It's a 106-year old (World War 1) BSA 1916 .303 SHTLE III* (FTR)

Ah. What a nice rifle. Good to see the open sights. If your scope ever fogs up, you can smash it off the mounts with a rock and use the reliable irons.

Seems like your current ammo does the job, although it is nice to have the sense of abundance that reloading can help you attain.

A couple of my relatives have 7mm-08 rifles. They'd like some more ammo. I did a quick Google and saw that one retailer is offering various packets of 20 cartridges from $69 to $99 each. That is gob-smacking. Back in the early days of my rifle club experience, we could buy a case of 750 cartridges of .303Br for around forty dollars. I think we were limited to one case each though. (and I was able to buy a fully-wooded surplus Number 4 .303 coated with grease for $11).

This rifle is an FTR (FTR is the Brit's code for Factory Thorough Repair) and to be honest; I don't think it was used much after that. I wouldn't know when it was repaired. It's in beautiful condition for it's age. Crazy to think it was used when my grandfather was fighting in France during WW1

There'd be a lot of old servicemen and hunters who would smile with satisfaction knowing that you appreciated this rifle. It is part of our heritage.

I love the 303's military history as well as its culling heritage.

Greetings All,
Like many of my age I have been having a poke around in the ancestral cupboard and have discovered NZ ancestors or close relations who have served in conflicts from the Land Wars to Korea. In all but the first they would have been familiar with the Lee Enfield in it's variations. A good case can be made for the Lee Enfield as the best of all of the bolt action battle rifles. Some may bag the Lee Enfield for its cock on closing action and moderate accuracy but its smooth short stroke action and 10 shot mag more than made up for that with its fire power. Fortunately heaps of them were made so all of us that wish to can own one without breaking the bank.
Regards Grandpamac.

I spent $500 on the one in the pic above. Expensive? Maybe. But it was in such good condition I feel it was worth it. One thing I have noticed on TM that people are starting to want good money for old sh%tter rifles! So I feel that $500 was well spent.

It probably sounds stupid... But who knows? Someone may have walked past my grandad with it in WW1. Or someone in his unit may have had it. Hugely doubtful I know. I know it's millions to one that it happened, but stranger coincidences have occurred. He passed away in 1968 from a stroke from a blood clot caused by a WW1 shrapnel wound. My last memory of him was going to his bed on my 5th birthday and he gave me a leather school satchel with a bag of hard jube lollies in it. He passed away 3 days later....

As an aside; here's part of his war records and he enlisted under a false name. So maybe under age?

Originally Posted by bumblefoot

I spent $500 on the one in the pic above. Expensive? Maybe. But it was in such good condition I feel it was worth it. One thing I have noticed on TM that people are starting to want good money for old sh%tter rifles! So I feel that $500 was well spent.

It probably sounds stupid... But who knows? Someone may have walked past my grandad with it in WW1. Or someone in his unit may have had it. Hugely doubtful I know. I know it's millions to one that it happened, but stranger coincidences have occurred. He passed away in 1968 from a stroke from a blood clot caused by a WW1 shrapnel wound. My last memory of him was going to his bed on my 5th birthday and he gave me a leather school satchel with a bag of hard jube lollies in it. He passed away 3 days later....

Greetings,
$500.00 is by no means expensive for a .303 Lee Enfield in good condition with a minimal conversion to a sporter. With the right bits these can be converted back to original and command many times the price or they can just be used and enjoyed as they are.
Regards Grandpamac.

@grandpamac I think it was good value considering the lovely condition and the age of the old girl. Sure I could have bought a scoped, new Howa for $899, but there's something about the character, and NZ history of the old girl. There are some absolute crappy, cut down 303 rifles out there that people want $400+ for. As soon as I saw the old girl on TM I was pretty certain that I'd buy it. It sounds silly, but I had a real gut feeling about it. One thing I've learnt over the years is that gut feelings are often right!

I was a bit uncertain about the police form process, but that went sweet as. The only hassle was that the South Island H&F store wanted the police form to come direct to them rather than via the vendor. Central Districts police firearms dept had never had a store want that but they presumed it was because H&F were being ultra cautious. Anyway, a quick phone call to the CD police and the re-emailed it wile I was on the phone. Full kudos for their snappy service. I suppose I was a bit more nervous about buying on TM compared to using the forum buy/sell

Originally Posted by bumblefoot

@grandpamac I think it was good value considering the lovely condition and the age of the old girl. Sure I could have bought a scoped, new Howa for $899, but there's something about the character, and NZ history of the old girl. There are some absolute crappy, cut down 303 rifles out there that people want $400+ for. As soon as I saw the old girl on TM I was pretty certain that I'd buy it. It sounds silly, but I had a real gut feeling about it. One thing I've learnt over the years is that gut feelings are often right!

I was a bit uncertain about the police form process, but that went sweet as. The only hassle was that the South Island H&F store wanted the police form to come direct to them rather than via the vendor. Central Districts police firearms dept had never had a store want that but they presumed it was because H&F were being ultra cautious. Anyway, a quick phone call to the CD police and the re-emailed it wile I was on the phone. Full kudos for their snappy service. I suppose I was a bit more nervous about buying on TM compared to using the forum buy/sell

The rifle remins me of my first one. It was a Parker Hale conversion of a No 1 about the same age as yours. The fore end was cut down but otherwise it was standard. In the late 1960's it cost me $29.00 of which I paid an extra two dollars to have a new rather than used barrel. It was sold about 10 years later to finance a new Remington 700 which I still have.
Grandpamac.

One leg from last week's deer cut into steaks... Aged for 10 days in the fridge...



Venison bones in the crockpot for a soup. Add cold water, a little vinegar (to extract calcium from the bones) and slow cook for 24hrs... Trying to use as much as possible from the deer. The blood that drained from the deer into a bucket when it was hung overnight was diluted with water and given to the wasabi plants as fertiliser

A venison shoulder about to go on the oven to slow cook at 150°C for about 3 hours. Flavoured with garlic cloves, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, cinnamon and olive oil. A little butter on top and 1/2 a cup of water to stop it drying out. Sitting on onions and leeks...

Venison stock that has been cooked for 36 hours to release the collagen and chondroitin from the bones. It's now been strained twice and ready to be made into soup