Well, I guess I bought an EAL!

CUSTOM441

CUSTOM441

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So, I recently won a rifle at auction which was titled a 'Lee Enfield No.4 Mk1', and judging from the pictures it had been sporterized. I have been wanting to buy one of these rifles for some time with the idea of refinishing the stock, and cleaning it up to be a fun, handy shooter. I browsed the pics, agreed with the title, had a price in mind and did my thing. I picked the rifle up today and right away I knew it was different. After a bit of internet perusing I discovered I actually purchased an early EAL Type B rifle! Now please keep in mind, I am not an expert historian on Enfields, and truly believed this was a sporterized military rifle. Here's a bit of info on my rifle (full photo gallery on page 2):

- Left receiver marked EAL1902 (No periods in EAL, no .303 CAL markings)
- Rear sight marked 200/400
- Trigger guard tie down loop is missing, holes are present
- Top of barrel marked CA
- Side of barrel has arsenal proof mark with crossed swords
- Front of bolt marked 2B (vertically)
- Safety switch marked 1B, maybe 7B? (vertically)(pics below)
- Trigger guard electro-pencil marked C3608 300959-0
- Bottom of 10rd magazine electro-pencil marked PC 22740 (original markings are ###XX)

Overall condition is Good. The stock has typical handling & safe marks for it's age, the blueing has faded a bit and there is very minor pitting in places which is my biggest concern.

I'm not sure why I'm posting this - I think I'm just happy with my purchase, surprised at the discovery and want to share the news lol. Hopefully someone with more knowledge than me can educate me further on what I have, and whether I should leave it alone or if it's worth refinishing like I was planning to do (No, I will NOT drill & tap for a scope!). Cheers!
 
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With 200/400 sights, it sounds like a commercial sporting version.
These are recognized as a Lee Enfield variant by collectors.
Collector value would be affected by refinishing.
Some EALs were drilled and tapped for a PH sidemount.
 
The EALs are not sporterized rifles, but new build on unfinished Long Branch factory parts. I think the distinguishing feature is if there is a hole in the rear sight base for the spring and plunger. Are you sure your bolt head and safety aren't the stylized LB?
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
The EALs are not sporterized rifles, but new build on unfinished Long Branch factory parts. I think the distinguishing feature is if there is a hole in the rear sight base for the spring and plunger. Are you sure your bolt head and safety aren't the stylized LB?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! My rear sight base does indeed have a hole with what I'm assuming is a spring and plunger. From what I've seen online it looks to have a No.4 Mk2 sight base, with a 200/400 aperture sight with no force markings (no 2's over 3's, no 4's over 6's). As far as the bolt head & safety goes I'm not sure what you mean by stylized, but here are some pictures, hopefully this helps...


 
maple_leaf_eh said:
The EALs are not sporterized rifles, but new build on unfinished Long Branch factory parts. I think the distinguishing feature is if there is a hole in the rear sight base for the spring and plunger. Are you sure your bolt head and safety aren't the stylized LB?
Click to expand...

I knew there was a difference between the military and civilian serial number ranges, and had to do some research. The military model has the back sight in the usual No.4 position. The civilian model has a leaf sight out on the barrel with a notched riser. That is the model that has the smooth receiver top, without the hole. These particular rifles were made on unfinished LB receivers which had not gotten to the stage of drilling the hole.
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
I knew there was a difference between the military and civilian serial number ranges, and had to do some research. The military model has the back sight in the usual No.4 position. The civilian model has a leaf sight out on the barrel with a notched riser. That is the model that has the smooth receiver top, without the hole. These particular rifles were made on unfinished LB receivers which had not gotten to the stage of drilling the hole.
Click to expand...

Hopefully this does not come across rude as I am genuinely curious about what you found out when looking inti these rifles.

In all likelihood, the military used all variants however the Type C (express sight) is observed in many pictures of the Canadian Rangers.

The 2-position battle sight variants are shown for sale by Eaton's in 1949 catalogue to civilians.

If you have additional information please post.
 
There are photo galleries and descriptions on the milsurps.com webpage. Register and do some searches.

The photo of a Ranger with a shortened No.4 is actually not an EAL. They were surplused decades ago. That is an arsenal modified No.4 for an RCAF survival rifle in conjunction with the Arctic surveyors at Mapping and Charting Establishment. The guys out on the land needed something stronger than a loud voice in case of bear, musk ox, wolf or walrus confrontations. One chap even got a CDS Commendation for shooting a bear that was going to eat a guy in camp.

The second source is the Charles (Chip) Stratton book on the No.4 and No.5. The cover is red with a black and white picture. The definitive description of the EAL is one of his Annexes.
 
Thanks.

I will go through the milsurps page and check it out.

Here are a couple of the Ranger pics which show Type C in use.

6WEW4oMl.jpg

nEVDMNWl.jpg


I emailed the QM at Yellowknife in 2018. At the time, he indicated stores still held 3 EAL rifles with serial numbers in the 6400 range.
 
CMichaud said:
Thanks.

I will go through the milsurps page and check it out.

Here are a couple of the Ranger pics which show Type C in use.
.....

I emailed the QM at Yellowknife in 2018. At the time, he indicated stores still held 3 EAL rifles with serial numbers in the 6400 range.
Click to expand...

Learn something new every day!

Added - there are photos of former PM Harper shooting Ranger's rifles.
 
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