My buddy has an old No 4 Lee-Enfield that he is having some trouble with. It seems that the POI is way off to the left. At 50ish yards the closest we can get it to POA is about a foot off. It seems to group well, just way off to the side, and the front sight is already over to the left as far as it can go. When the front sight was more-or-less centered (as it came when my buddy bought it) it shot about two feet to the left. So pushing the front sight to the left bought it about half the way it needs to be.





From what I can tell it is all original and worn but in fairly good shape. It has a cool history according to the prior owner, having been made in the US (Savage), being sent to Europe and then to Africa, where the prior owner got it from some tribesmen and brought it back. My friend really likes the rifle and got a good deal on it, but the accuracy issue needs to be addressed.





So does anybody here have any idea at to possible causes/fixes? I heard that the stock can warp and this stock has seen some wear, but I'm not sure if that would push the POI so far over to the side. And if sanding the stock is needed, is there a mothod to sanding it down as in flush to barrel, free-float, needs pressure on certain parts of the barrel, etc.?





Thanks

 

How many different loads have you shot through it and what were they? I reload for several Enfields and have found that even minor changes in the load, but especially different bullets, can cause a horizontal variation that I don't see in many other rifles. Your case does sound extreme, however, so I would not rule out the possibility of a warped or ill-fitting stock. I would check near the muzzle, first, and see if you notice the barrel making contact with one side. Then, take the upper handguards off and look down the barrel channel for the same issue. You can also do the paper test to see if/where the barrel is floating or touching. I would expect it to touch underneath the muzzle end, but check the entire length. Also, as was suggested above, you can shoot it with the top handguards off, but it's hard to say if that will give you a definite answer, either. Check for any pressure marks in the handguards and forend and take note of them.

Oh, and are you sure that the king screw (main action screw) is tight? Enfields are very pressure dependent in how the stock interacts with the receiver and the barrel, so the least amount of play/pressure in the wrong spot can throw them off. EDIT TO ADD: I would avoid sanding anything or removing any material until you've pursued all other options. It's all too easy to go "too far" with these rifles.

Thanks, I'll pass the info along and advise not to sand quite yet.



We were shooting the ammo it came with, I want to say 20 rounds each 165gr and 180gr. It all shot more-or-less the same POI.



Sounds like we need to go out with some ammo and do some diagnostic shooting.



 

I was reading through the OP again and, if it's this far off at 50 yards (I initially thought 100), I would think it's a lot more than just the ammo. I would check the points discussed above and shoot it with the handguards off and see what happens.

My No. 4 only goes that crazy for zero with Barnes copper monoliths.  Even then, it's not that crazy.

I wonder if your barrel is bent?  You're gonna have to play Accuracy Detective, to get to the bottom of this mystery.

One of the things you should do is completely disassemble the rifle, clean and oil it.  Ancient rifles often have rust growing just below the woodline, never mind metallic fouling and pitting in the barrel.  When you get to the shooting range, run your gun with a very dry chamber, please.

As an aside: If you find out your barrel is oversized for conventional ammo, it can often still be made to shoot acceptably with cast lead bullets, sized to your throat diameter.  So once you get to the bottom of the crazy zero, there will possibly be other issues, like a worn bore.

My vote is misaligned sights, or a slightly bent front sight. It  doesn't take much to shift the POI big time.  That coupled with a worn bore and inconsistent ammo and you'll be all over the map.

Sounds like your front sight got knocked out of position.



Under the front sight guard is the sight block, which is held in place by a single pin that can be damaged if the former owner tried to drift the sight with a hammer and punch without bracing the sight block.



The pins are not hardened and can be easily snapped or twisted in the sight base. Best way to check this would be using a straight edge to see how well aligned the sight base is compared with the rear sight and bore axis.

Can read........nevermind

 
This would be like a canted sight issue.  Another way to test would be to dramatically change the elevation and see if POI shifts laterally.

Issue resolved!



My buddy finally took the stock off and found that the inside was literally caked with thick mud in every crack and hollow. The dried mud was causing the barrel to be so far off. He cleaned it out and now the rifle shoots straight. Unexpected, but I'm glad it was something so easy.