Lee Enfield Sentry Review

Our full review of the Lee Enfield Sentry

With looks that will divide opinion, the Lee Enfield Sentry deserves recognition, not only for its unique design but also for the fact that it represents excellent value for money, especially considering the engineering features and extras it comes with. Weighing 3.5kgs unscoped and measuring just over a metre, there’s no doubt this is a full size rifle. The ambidextrous stock is a hybrid of beech wood in the main part with a black ballistic polymer forend that features a number of cut out slots. The polymer ‘cage’ is very high quality and not at all flimsy or creaky. It also provides plenty of fore end grip. The solid rubber recoil pad has no adjustment, unlike the polymer cheek piece which can be raised into three different heights by unscrewing a couple of thumb wheels. As a result, eye alignment to a scope mounted on the two piece dovetail rail is excellent. There’s no chequering on the slim pistol grip, but there are contours for your fingers and the cut out is nice and big.

Although the trigger guard is plastic, the blade itself is metal and nicely curved. At the top of the trigger guard is a sliding safety catch – push forward to make safe and back to shoot. Although there is no external means of adjustment, the trigger has two stages. The first is quite short but stops cleanly before the longer second stage. A stubby bolt travels only around an inch and requires a firm hand to lift up and pull back, then push forward and down to cock the action. The forward stroke probes a pellet from the eight shot .22 (nine in .177) plastic magazine that is inserted from the left with the clear face plate facing you.

The Sentry’s shrouded 430mm barrel sits above an air cylinder that takes a 200 bar fill, achieved by rotating a plastic collar under the muzzle and inserting a supplied probe into the port. In front of that is a gauge to indicate fill pressure. You can expect around 120 shots in .22 and 100 in .177.

The Sentry comes with two magazines and a plastic silencer that can be removed to allow an aftermarket alternative to be attached via a ½ inch UNF thread. The shroud can also be removed and a silencer attached directly to the naked barrel. There are also plenty of picatinny accessory rails, including no fewer than three, for some reason, on top of the barrel. You also get a couple of extra rails that attach either side of the polymer fore end. Thanks to its regulated action, the Sentry is capable of commendable shot-to-shot consistency.

Lee Enfield Sentry Specifications

Alternatives to the Lee Enfield Sentry

Other similarly priced full size PCP rifles to consider include:

• Walther Rotex RM8 / RM8 Varmint
• Gamo Phox / Venari / Gamo Coyote / GX-40
• ATA Arms Airborne
• Webley Raider / Raider 12 Quantum

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