Lee Speeds and Mk VI ammunition

Strangely_Brown · Post by **Strangely_Brown** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 1:42 pm

I have yet to see a "Whitaker Special" in the flesh, any chance of a picture please?

KCLRPC · Post by **KCLRPC** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 3:09 pm

I would gladly put pictures up, and have five ready to go, but they are all too big (average size 260kb). I know this has been gone over before, but how do you resize photos to post them, or is there a simpler and more obvious way that I am overlooking

blooming technology

Post by **Niner** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 3:38 pm

Nothing to it. It is posted in the Announcements forum. See this link and read the first post.

http://milsurpafterhours.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=42

KCLRPC · Post by **KCLRPC** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 5:56 pm

that thing makes a very simple job quite complicated. anyway, as promised, here are pics of the Whitaker. I hope they work. I will say now that the stampings aren't necessarily universal (the only other action I've seen lacked the stampings as far as I recall), and interestingly, as noted, this a standard no4 action, rather than the T's I was told he like to play with

regards

Nick

Strangely_Brown · Post by **Strangely_Brown** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 4:04 am

Nick,

Very Very Interesting, and I truly really mean that!

I noticed in last years HBSA "Mid Range" competition (I couldn't shoot it because my wife had recently come out of hospital) that a Whitaker No4 Special had been entered and also a "Hart No 4 Special" that belongs to a friend of mine of which certainly two where built.

Now that both the NRA and the HBSA have classes, "Green Spot" in the case of the HBSA and "First Generation 7.62mm Target Rifles" in the NRA's case mean that at last these rifles have a good purpose and reason for being bought and shot in the UK and should not be relagated to the back of the club gun room armoury.

Just a quick run down the list of rifles that shot in the HBSA "Green Spot competition last year reveal.

7.62mm Lee Enfield No 4 target rifle

7.62mm Parker-Hale T4

7.62mm Enfield Envoy Palma Match

7.62mm Hart No 4 Special

7.62mm Whitaker No4 Special

7.62mm Enfield L39 A1 (I would have entered mine!)

7.62mm Winchester P 14

7.62 mm Parker-Hale T4

So at least two Parker-Hale T4's entered as well, and I recall you could not give them away a few years ago and whilst there is still not a very strong market for them, apart from turning them into "faux" sniper rifles that is. I hope the afore mentioned competitions help to keep them in their current altered TR configurations.

KCLRPC · Post by **KCLRPC** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 6:34 am

that is very interesting. I've not heard of the Hart special, and I've been able to dig up very little on the eponymous Whitaker, save that he was working at Enfield just after the war, possibly in research, although the photo I have from then is of an 'H.S. Whitaker', and I've always heard from other sources that his first name was Doug. no one seems to know much of production numbers and what happened to them. Fred James, the NRA armourer, showed me one last summer in a gaudy mutli colour stock, set up for F-class, so they are apparently still out there. I actually shoot mine against modern actions, and still manage a fair showing (more my fault that the rifles). much as I hear many snide remarks from the TR shooters about strength of actions and accuracy, the P14 and the Whitaker have both served me well out to 5/600 yards, and thats only because range time above that is hard to get. I wonder what Lee would have made, if he was told that his rifle would be seeing mainstream competitive use over three different centuries?

Rowdy · Post by **Rowdy** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 8:37 am

Back to the original topic - the BSA and LSA sporters made before WW1 were definitely made new and not converted from military actions.

The commercial trade was quite large and BSA charged a lot more for its target rifles and sporters, enough to make it worthwhile.

Perhaps someone in Britain would have some information on what BSA produced after the war - the rifle pictured has some subtle differences to the ones pictured in the 1912 catalogue.

KCLRPC · Post by **KCLRPC** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 6:01 am

as a followup to the Whitaker post, I've just spent the last four days on Bisley, and have shot it out to 1000 yards. sadly, it didn't perform as well as I'd hoped, and even at short range seemed to have problems. at 1000 yards I managed to hold the inner ring, with a score of 35, but found that the TZ4/47 attached to the rifle gave me four times the nominal movement on the target; ie 1/4 minute rise = 1 minute on target. its a lovely rifle, but I think I'm going to have to go for something more modern, and sadly mauser derived

. such is the way

Nick

Fletch · Post by **Fletch** » Mon May 08, 2006 8:54 am

Lee-Speeds were made at BSA and are not ex Lee-Enfield military rifles. Apparently the factory manager at the time was a gentleman by the name of Speed and he patented these rifles.I hope this attachment works[/url]

The bottom one is similar to the Lee-Speed that I have.

Lee Speeds and Mk VI ammunition

technology has its flaws

warning-purists look away now

It's another part of Lee Enfield History!

I'm glad they have a use

hmm