The other day, Irish Woman indulged me and we went to the local big box sporting goods store.  This is one of those with an indoor fishing pond and enough taxidermy that my loving wife calls it The Dead Zoo.

Anyway, I followed my habit of strolling through the racks of used guns to see if there was anything interesting.  It was an embarrassment of riches.  They had several Swiss K-31 straight pull bolt actions.  There was a rather beat-up Spanish Mauser next to a row of CETME clones.  There was the obligatory rack of Mosin-Nagant 91/30’s, all of them looking like they’d been dug out from underneath an old bunker west of Minsk.

By the way, when did Mosins start going for almost $400?

Then I caught a glance of polished wood and steel.   Nestled between a couple of Russian shotguns was an old Enfield.  Further inspection showed that it was chambered in 7.62×51.  It was missing its magazine, but was otherwise in heavily used, but good shape.

Being the responsible adult who had his wife along with him at the time, I put it back on the rack.  I asked a few friends to convince me to not go back and get it, and they dutifully told me I needed to go back and get it.

So, tonight, I went back and got it.

My new purchase is a 1967 Ishapore 2A1, an evolution of the SMLE MkIII.

Other than the proof marks and serial number on the receiver, this was the only marking on the rifle. The furniture is dinged up quite a bit, but seems sturdy.

The rifle has seen quite a bit of use. Anywhere the finish could wear off the steel from use, it has. The bore is quite shiny, and I couldn’t find any rust on it.

First, I’m going to learn to tear her down and give her a good cleaning.  Then, I’ll find a magazine for her and get it fitted so that I can invest in a few boxes of 7.62×51 and take her to the range.

Time to find out why everybody’s been raving about the Enfield action.