Saturday, September 26, 2020

Lee Speed

 



You may scoff and wag your heads saying "Lsp is a fool," and that's as maybe, but I do have a liking for Lee Enfield rifles. That's partly nostalgia, they were a part of my youth, and partly because they're cool, especially the early sporter Lee Speeds.



Safari sights, elegant wood, hand checkering, the redoubtable and smooth as silk Lee action all combine together to make a beautiful weapon at a fraction of the cost of an equivalent Mauser. And guess what, the rifle has that Edwardian awesomeness we all love. God save the Tzar King. Result.

That in mind, I put in a call to a pal, "Hey, you're kinda in the business. Can you find me a Lee Speed? It must work, not interested in a wall hanger." Which brings us back to art philosophy.



Guns are works of art, good or bad, the Lee Speed being good. But their potential, as such, is only realized in their use, fulfilling the end or τέλος for which they were designed. Parse that as you will.

OK, discussion of matter, potential and act over, I won't be shooting majestic Lions or furious Cape Buffalo with my Speed, more's the pity. But exercising ballistic Edwardiana against paper's no bad thing either, to say nothing of unexpected targets of opportunity.

Don't brake for Communists, readers, all two of you.

Gun rights,

LSP

10 comments:

RHT447 said...

Bully! I have one of these--

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L4UbDOTLts

Sadly, the fore stock has been cut and sporterized, but the barrel is full length. This rifle shoots really well with cast bullets.

Two communists lined up for a shot (a la Quigley) is a spare. Three is a strike.

Well Seasoned Fool said...

Great looking tool!

Adrienne said...

Pretty gun!

Anonymous said...

Nice! I’m not sure I could afford a factory ‘Speed’ let alone the Holland I dream (lust?) of (I’m sure James Paris, William Ellis and James J. are sitting with John Moses ‘somewhere nice’ as I type).

What calibre? They came in factory .303, 7mm (.270), 8mm (.315) and Hollands .375 of course.

Talk about ‘art’ all you want but we know you just want to be like Rachel Weisz and shoot some pygmy mummies.

Keep this up and we’ll soon have you a member of LERA and attending shoots at Bisley and Ash Ranges.

Jim said...

I have a "sporterized" #4 sitting around here waiting for me to do something with it. I don't yet know what. A previous owner slapped a cheap stock on it and called it good. Oh well. I got it for a song. It does work well though and the action is smooth.
Another really smooth old action is the Krag-Jorgensen. If you get a chance to try an old .30-40 do so.

LSP said...

RHT! Most impressed!

Don't brake for commies.

LSP said...

I do like the look of these rifles, WSF, I have to say. Let's see what my friend comes up with.

LSP said...

Adrienne, I may be wrong, but feel we've devolved aesthetically since then. To say nothing of any other aspect of the way we live now.

Anyway, I think a working Speed would be helpful to the Compound's armory.

LSP said...

Anon, gotta love Rachel.

Viz. Price: They seem to range from around 1k+ to around the cost of a decent family house in, say, Plano. Given that, they're not too unaffordable at the lower end, at least here in the US and Canada.

Not sure of the caliber, will have to see what guns my friend's able to find. .303's fine by me, btw. But whatever, as long as it's available/not hard to get.

Haven't shot at the Bisley ranges since I was a kid!

LSP said...

I like those Krags, Jim! Curious design, silky action.