Enfield L39A1 Self-Loading Rifle: From Target to Tactical

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The unsung heroes of small arms developments are competition target shooters, and their quest for the gold leads to improvements in both civilian and military arms. In England, service rifle match shooting went on for 20 years after World War II with the No. 4 Enfield in .303. By the late 1950s, though, most NATO countries had adopted the 7.62x51 along with a version of the FN/FAL self-loading rifle—with England adopting a variant called the L1A1. As surplus stocks of .303 ammunition ran low, civilian target shooters looked for a way to convert their bolt action .303s to the new service cartridge.

In the early 1960s, the Royal Small Arms Factory Enfield and Sterling Engineering Ltd. both offered 7.62x51 conversion units for the No. 4 aimed towards other Commonwealth countries for economical conversion of their No. 4 rifles from .303 to 7.62 until they could afford to rearm with a self-loading rifle.

It was thought an easy fix for target rifles, too, except they didn’t shoot well. Vexingly, across the course, the 7.62 rifles shot better than the .303 at 200 yards, but the .303 did better between there and 50, and the 7.62 shot better from there on. No conventional fix worked.

Army match shooters wanted to compete with a bolt action in 7.62, so Enfield returned to solving the No. 4 problem in the mid 1960s. The action had been proved strong enough. Two wartime No. 4 rifles were converted and fired with one oiled proof round and 10,000 7.62 service rounds. Another two were fired with six oiled proof rounds each. All passed the tests.

Barrel vibrations in the No. 4’s 25.25-inch barrel were ideally suited to the .303 and its 174-grain bullet, but the higher velocity 150-grain bullet in the 7.62x51 left the muzzle unpredictably.

Three methods proved successful in correcting the problem. Welding a strap across the No. 4 action at the rear near the locking lugs stiffened the action sufficiently, but it was discarded since applying that much heat to the locking lug area wasn’t a good idea metallurgically speaking. Another was use of a 174-grain bullet at lower velocity. That was discarded because it wasn’t the service round.

The solution was installing a long, heavy, free-floating 27.5-inch hammer-forged barrel mated to the wider, shortened fore-end and handguard used on the No. 8 .22 Long Rifle target rifles, which were also built on the No. 4 action.

The first 19 rifles were built in 1968 for testing and evaluation. The “Enfield Envoy” with a high-comb stock and a sharp pistol grip made its debut in the June 1969 issue of the NRA UK Journal and became available by the end of the year for £50 with sights and 7.62 magazine. The rifle shot very well although it didn’t look like a “service rifle.”

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The fix? NRA UK simply changed the rules to allow these new 7.62 rifles to compete. Buttstock, fore-end and handguard standards were relaxed, but in a strange twist, modifying stocks and fore-ends was not allowed for those shooting the No. 4 .303 rifle.

Rifles marked “Envoy,” “7.62 Con.” or “7.62 Conv” came with 7.62 magazines numbered to the gun and were fitted with target sights. Those marked “L39A1” had the standard No. 4 butt and were shipped without sights or magazines, since the various teams and individual shooters had their own preferences.

That may explain why my magazine’s serial number was electro-penciled on rather than stamped as it was on the Envoy. Many shooters simply fitted them with a .303 magazine for use as a platform for single loading. However, all but the first 10 L39A1 receivers were machined for the 7.62 magazine, but the .303 would still fit.

A small tin marked “Parker-Hale” was added under the pistol grip to house extra front sight inserts. My sight inserts are missing, but reproductions can be found on eBay.

Enfield began the conversion to the L39A1 target rifles by selecting No. 4 Mk 2 or No. 4 Mk I/2 rifles, both of which have the trigger pinned to the receiver instead of to the trigger guard as originally designed. Pinned to the receiver, the trigger could be more finely tuned and would stay that way longer than those pinned to the trigger guard. Final pressure for match shooting was restricted to a maximum trigger-pull weight of four pounds.

The original serial numbers were scrubbed from the receiver and bolt, and the receiver remarked with conversion date, model and new serial number. My receiver is marked “7.62 M/M L39A.1” over “UE 69 A 425” on the left side. “UE” is the Enfield mark, “69” the year of conversion and “A425” the serial number. The “19T” (19-ton proofmark for the 7.62x51 round) and “crossed pennants” proof is stamped on the receiver, bolt handle and bolt head, and the new serial number added to the bolt handle.

My L39A1 has a bare weight of 10 pounds, 5.4 ounces with the tapered 27.5-inch barrel. Balance is very good for such a heavy rifle.

The rear sight is the excellent A. J. Parker T. Z. 4/47 micrometer rear. The “T. Z.” is for “Twin Zero” and the elevation scale has trajectory ranging from 200 yards to 1,000 on the right and a vernier scale on the left. Once the 200-yard zero is established, a sliding plate on the sight body is loosened and indexed to zero. The sight clicks move the elevation and windage in half-minute increments.

This is the later, rarer, 4/47 T. Z. sight with a scale marked “7.62mm.” Most 4/47 sights were made for the .303 and the caliber was unmarked. The .303 trajectory scale ranges from 200 to 1,200 yards, and many are found on the L39A1. The eyepiece has six apertures that can be easily selected by rotating a thumbwheel.

Up front, the barrel is turned down at the muzzle to accept a banded foresight block, and a Parker-Hale front globe-type sight sits in a dovetail on the block.

The highest known serial number is 1,241, but Enfield records show only 1,238 made, with 1,183 shipped from Enfield in 70 batches between 1968 and 1972. The only serial number on the stock, fore-end or handguard is the “425” just below the forward band and swivel. It is not known how many were imported by Navy Arms in the mid ’90s, but this one has no import marks.

The L39A1 was a very successful target rifle, and its success led to one of the era’s finest sniper rifles: the L42A1. It was created by mating the superbly accurate L39A1 barrel to the old World War II-era No. 4 (T) sniper, free-floated and with a shortened No. 4 fore-end. Voilà!

The old/new L42A1 sniper rifle debuted in the early 1970s and quickly became legendary for accuracy and dependability. The L42A1 served ably until the groundbreaking L96 was adopted in the mid ’80s. Despite the L96’s success, the L42A1—long proven reliable in adverse conditions—was occasionally pulled from retirement, serving in the 1st Gulf War and again in Afghanistan as late as 2005.

Not a bad legacy for any target rifle. Few were imported to the U.S., and a survey of recent prices shows them selling for between $2,500 and $3,500 here.