The March of the Lees

What do you do, on a chill November night in rain drenched Texas, where we're badly losing the War on Weather? Start on a new Lee Enfield project, of course.

For me, that means coming to grips with an old No. 4 Mk.1, which started off life as a battle rifle in 1943 and was brought back to the US, where it was sporterized. I bought it from a friend a few years ago and haven't used it much. So what's going to happen to this gun? First things first, take off the wood.

Then admire your rifle as it sits on the bench, complete with 10 round magazine, rear micro sight and silky smooth action. All the better for rapid firing the venerable .303 Brit. Next step, get a new stock, perhaps from Boyd's, shorten and re-crown the barrel, then fit a forward mounted rail. The idea being to create a handy truck/scout rifle.

Typical Texas Scene, Apart From Absence of Lee Enfields

Now some people are critical of Jeff Cooper's concept and with good reason, but if you have an old rifle sitting around that could meet the criteria, well, why not put it to good use? 

Shoot the Lee,

LSP

Horse And Gun

Riding is good for mind, body and spirit, it's fun, too, provided you don't fall off the horse and smash yourself to pieces. With that in mind, I went for a ride yesterday on a new horse. 

She's an Arabian mare called Wendy, who had been in very bad shape when she was bought for the vast sum of $300. She looks fine now, but what was she like to ride? After getting a cup of coffee at Big Willy's, I went to find out.

First off, she was gentle and well behaved, at least to humans, maybe not so much with her horse pals. She was also responsive and easy to ride, even for a rusty horseman like myself. We walked, trotted and cantered and I thought, "I like this horse!" 

No crazy bucking, head tossing, snaking, ducking and diving, just riding, with plenty of power held in reserve. She'd be fun to gallop and run, and I'll try that later. It turns out she's had good training, though that wasn't known when she was bought. Long story short, I've ridden horses that were orders of magnitude more expensive and much less good.

After horsing around I went for a shoot, and that was alright too, though my groups weren't much to write home about. Whatever, it's all rounds down range.

Stay on the horse and keep squeezing the trigger,

LSP

Get in the Saddle

"For a so-called horseman you sure don't seem to do much riding, LSP," I hear you say, pointedly. Well not so fast. Monday being as good a day as any, I pulled on my Ariats, loaded a Circle Y in the truck and headed off to ride.

Keena

Which is what I did, on Keena, an old Polish Arabian mare who used to race and still has plenty of go. But I didn't push it, just walk, trot and a few short canters around Mesquites.

Front Office

Great to be back in the saddle again and next time I'll open things up a bit for a gallop. Good for mind, soul and body, provided you don't come off and break, obviously.

Ride on,

LSP