Finally had a chance to take my No 4, Mk 1 out shooting today.  This may be more a reflection on my abilities, but for at 100 yards I only managed to get one hit on the target out of twenty shots.  The hit was high, but nice and round, no evidence of key-holing.  The rifle has two rear sights, a flip-up one and a fixed battle sight.  I was using the battle sight as I figured at 100 yards it would not make any difference which one I used.  Am I wrong?

I also took a few shots from my No 1, Mk 3.  It's sights are far more difficult to use.  I found it hard to align the rear sight's u with the front sight.

What ammo are you using. If it was Wolf classic military I can tell

you from experience, they load .308 diameter bullets and they should be .311 diameter.

I bought a case of that stuff and had to pull the bullets and reload with .311 Hornady.

They are good .308 bullets but they don't belong in .303 cases. I was getting 6 to 8 foot groups

where I was getting 2 to 3 inch groups with my hand loads. At 100 yards, you should be fine with the battle sight

(Not the ladder) but you could use the ladder as well, it's more precise.

150 grain Federal.

Next time I'll try 50 yards. This could be the result of my inexperience with the rifle.

Have you zeroed it before now?

OP:
I could easily be wrong .............................so:

I believe the Enfield battle sight was sighted for something like a 400yd zero, so they shoot extremely high at 100.
Try the other.
It's not your ammo.

No, but I do have the special tool required to do so.

Judging from the single hit that I managed to achieve, which was high, that makes allot of sense.

Enfields always remind me of this scene from The Beast. Where a Soviet pow/deserter helps the afghans repair an RPG7 with one.

Sorry I couldn’t find the clip with subtitles. But in James Bondesque romanticism the afghans offer him first dibs on their food (according to pashtun custom I guess) and then he fixes the rpg and agrees to shoot the Soviet tank, whose commander strung him out and left him for dead, with it

When safe and possible, walk the rounds into the target.

If outside, aim at the berm off to the side or below, fire, and see where the Orono impacts in relation to your point of aim. Adjust aim accordingly.

With old battle rifles you will often find they shoot quite high as an earlier poster said.

Typical old battle rifles were often sighted for very long distance, and I believe the battle sight on the #4 is at least a 300 and maybe a 400 yard zero.

For example the battle sight on the old 1903 Springfield was set for 550 yards if memory serves.

On the simplified L style flip sight on some #4’s the sights are marked 300 and 600.

On even older rifles ( my single shot black powder guns like the trapdoor Springfield and martini Henry ) the problem is even worse.

It is not uncommon for people who routinely shoot at reduced (200 yards and in) distances to install higher front sights to correct the problem.

And yes if you have the adj rear sight on the #4 using the flip up will help.

Also bear in mind marksmanship doctrine of the time taught a 6 o clock bullseye hold on target, so if you are aiming center mass, this makes things worse yet.

On say a B27 silhouette you would aim at what would be the imaginary belt buckle to hit the center of the target, or for say a uspsa cardboard target the bottom edge

Use the ladder aperture with it all the way down. The fixed aperture is a 300 yd battle zero.

The No4 was zeroed with bayonet installed and like most mil rifles are meant to shoot high as you aimed at belt line or even at targets feet.

Since you aren't in military you can switch to taller front site to bring zero to more poi or 6' o'clock hold for precise target shooting.

Also No4's esp two groove bbls with any muzzle wear HATE boat tail bullets. Wolf & PPU use boat tail bullets in the FMJ loads.

One thing to keep in mind, it’s RARE that an old surplus rifle shoots exactly to point of aim especially with current commercial ammo that is not going to be loaded to the same specs as original ammo. Many things about the gun itself may have changed in the last 80 years. Wood stocks change shape and parts get mixed around during rebuilds. In my life owning dozens of surplus rifles, I can only think of exactly ONE that shot to point of aim when I bought it (a k98 made in 1937). Most have needed adjustments and many of them have needed sight parts replacement.