Picked up a new one today, BUT...

OverUnder725

OverUnder725

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So I picked this up from a fellow who bought it from surplus back in the day. He says he has never done anything to it (I wondered about the colour of the stock). Bore is near perfect, no rust anywhere, wood looks decent (I think anyways!). BUT, it is a DP stamped on the receiver. You can still read the ######'d out the serial number that matches the mag. The bolt has a different serial number. The guy I bought it from used it for hunting for years but from my limited understanding, it is not recommended. I have always wanted one of these. I have several sporters and this would be the my first full wood version. It came with 8 boxes of Gelvlot .22 long, a box of Whizbangs and a box of CIL shorts in .22 and about 50 rounds of ball .303.

So, what would you do with it? I kind of just want one for the sake of wanting one, so I guess I have accomplished that. That being said, I could now turn this into a project! Do I search gun shows or E.E. for a nice receiver and put this wood on it? I wonder what was the reasoning for the DP designation? Could the barrel be salvageable or was the bolt the issue? If the bolt was the issue, why would the receiver be stamped AND have a swapped out bolt? I have so many questions!

I have to do some research. I am all new to this as of noon today, lol! Off to search I go but wanted to post here first as I know there is a HUGE knowledge base within out community. Thanks for giving my post a read and I look forward to seeing what you have to say!

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The reason for the DP marking is often impossible to determine. Perhaps someone else can give you more info but as far as I know, you'll likely never know why it was done. Worst comes to worst and you don't feel comfortable shooting it, you have a decent parts kit to rebuild a bolt matching sporter.
 
Well, DP stands for Drill Purpose. At some point in its life, this rifle failed an inspection. Rather than destroy a reasonable facsimile of a battle rifle, it was stamped with the warning so soldiers wouldn't shoot it. Nothing obviously kept the PO from firing it. Lucky for him. Better luck for you that you are part of a group of well read and hopefully generous enthusiasts.

The military trained No.4 armourers are almost all gone now. You are going to rely on whoever they trained or people with adequate libraries. Since there are only a few critical parts on a No.4 let's begin with the obvious.

A - The headspace on the bolt has to be correct before you fire it. That is why the bolt head comes off and numbers 0 to 4 exist. With an unfired unprimed cartridge and some thicknesses of paper, or a set of proper Go/No Go gauges, you test until the bolt won't close. Change bolt heads and repeat.

B - The barrel could have a bulge or a bend. There are hard steel rod-like gauges that slide down the bore hoping to find problems.

C - There could be a critical unsafe defect with the trigger and sear engagements that swapping parts won't fix. Not having your rifle at hand, only you can test that.

Finally, since you've been told it was fired, you can reasonably believe there is not deactivation hole or pin into the chamber. There is a British mild-steel No4-like trainer with a great big slot to the outside world in the chamber. You'll have to remove the stock and inspect for machined cuts, grooves, plugs or holes in the hidden side of the barrel.
 
BlackPowderBurner said:
The reason for the DP marking is often impossible to determine. Perhaps someone else can give you more info but as far as I know, you'll likely never know why it was done. Worst comes to worst and you don't feel comfortable shooting it, you have a decent parts kit to rebuild a bolt matching sporter.
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Like is said above. Lost track where I read it - DP (Drill Parade) marking can be because a critical part fails a gauge test - virtually no one has the gauges any more. A requisition for 100 Drill rifles would show up - 15 "failures" on hand - so 85 more just grabbed off the rack to fill the requisition - all marked "DP" - some for a good reason, others "just because". Your eyes, your fingers, your decision...
 
Great information guys. I have been doing some reading and I won't be shooting it but rather looking for a rifle that need a set of wood or I may just enjoy having a decent looking example. I haven't honestly fired the 2 sporters I own for 20 years. I am a bit of a sucker for original and complete equipment, mostly wanted the complete wood set. I am just noticing the wood had DP stamped in a few places as well.
 
Being marked as Drill Purpose could mean anything; right up to do not fire upon pain of kaboom.

It could also be serviceable enough to be fired, but do you want to take the chance? A full tare down and inspection would be required, but there was a reason it was DP'd.
 
If the barrel is pristine, it could be a good shooter.
The small chip out of the the bolt rail may be a non issue, and if the bolt head jumps out of its slot there is a quick fix that might take care of the problem.
It is worthwhile to have it checked out thoroughly by someone knowledgeable about these rifles.
In some cases, the rifles were DP'd not for safety reasons, but instead they were made up with non-standard parts.
They were properly fitted up, but couldn't be easily repaired by an armourer in the field due to their non-standard parts.
Also, the front handguard needs to be adjusted rearward a hair.
 
OverUnder725 said:
So I picked this up from a fellow who bought it from surplus back in the day. He says he has never done anything to it (I wondered about the colour of the stock). Bore is near perfect, no rust anywhere, wood looks decent (I think anyways!). BUT, it is a DP stamped on the receiver. You can still read the ######'d out the serial number that matches the mag. The bolt has a different serial number. The guy I bought it from used it for hunting for years but from my limited understanding, it is not recommended. I have always wanted one of these. I have several sporters and this would be the my first full wood version. It came with 8 boxes of Gelvlot .22 long, a box of Whizbangs and a box of CIL shorts in .22 and about 50 rounds of ball .303.
Click to expand...

I think you will find that the bottom number on the wrist - 24L6553 - is the actual serial number when the receiver was manufactured - at least it is in the format for Long Branch serials - no clue if that number fits to the 1943 date on the receiver. There apparently are reference tables to match year of production to serial number range, but I don't have them. If you are going to swap those stocks to another receiver, very much worth your while to find the Canadian Forces instructions for armourers, or Peter Laidler's articles on Milsurp.com about how to go about the fitting - for this version of No. 4, you will find the trigger pull is affected by changes in the stock bedding and how it is shimmed or trimmed. Also, quite important that the fore-arm comes off parallel to the barrel and action - straight down - do not hinge it off by pulling down on the fore end - that will break or mush the "draws" at the rear of the stock.

FYI - as per one of Peter Laidler's articles, the damage at the bolt head removal slot is enough to "DP" that receiver, without any other gauging issues present.
 
Potashminer said:
I think you will find that the bottom number on the wrist - 24L6553 - is the actual serial number when the receiver was manufactured - at least it is in the format for Long Branch serials - no clue if that number fits to the 1943 date on the receiver. There apparently are reference tables to match year of production to serial number range, but I don't have them. If you are going to swap those stocks to another receiver, very much worth your while to find the Canadian Forces instructions for armourers, or Peter Laidler's articles on Milsurp.com about how to go about the fitting - for this version of No. 4, you will find the trigger pull is affected by changes in the stock bedding and how it is shimmed or trimmed. Also, quite important that the fore-arm comes off parallel to the barrel and action - straight down - do not hinge it off by pulling down on the fore end - that will break or mush the "draws" at the rear of the stock.

FYI - as per one of Peter Laidler's articles, the damage at the bolt head removal slot is enough to "DP" that receiver, without any other gauging issues present.
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I will do all the research you suggest before doing any work, thanks!
 
Can't tell from the picture if the chip in the rail is on both ends or not. The chip does not effect the rifle as far as firing it but on chambring a round you should keep light pressure with your finger on the bolt head to keep it in the rail. If the head jumps out it simply will not feed. I have repaired these before.
Insert a copper shim, the same dimension as the rail slot and build up the rail with tig. Then remove the copper and grind out the access. This is a hobby thing. Too costly to pay somebody unless you have a friend our yourself that can do it. Of course before even looking at that, see if there is anything else wrong with it. The chip would be enough to DP it as these rails were not repaired in service.
 
cosmic said:
Well - looking at the pics, it appears the edges of the slot where the bolt head is removed have been buggered.
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I have had a DP or ZF marked lee enfield and the only fault I ever found with it, was that slot for the bolt head was chipped away like this one. And it was fine to shoot but if you tired to work the bolt any faster then slow, it would pop out, unsuitable for combat. This could be only that.
 
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