No1 and no4 replacement wood
- Thread starter Conquest66
- Start date
Prestigious Woods. Wood is slightly over size and will have to be fit. Also a place in the United Kingdom which from what I hear is a closer fit. Their names escapes me at the moment. If you want to go with new wood.
My preference is on original used wood. #4 wood I seem to find about every 3 or 4 months and #1 wood is harder to find. A forearm seems to show up about every 2 years or so. Most of what I find is local face to face meets. I have ordered from the UK for parts I couldn’t find here. I believe Marstar and agenda also sell the wood and metal bits.
Buying retail will put the prices up compared to buying locally. I usually find parts lots at a reduced price compared to buying individual parts. The last long Branch I did cost about $360 and a Fazakerly cost about the same.
New wood will cost over $500 plus the cost of and metal bits needed.
My preference is on original used wood. #4 wood I seem to find about every 3 or 4 months and #1 wood is harder to find. A forearm seems to show up about every 2 years or so. Most of what I find is local face to face meets. I have ordered from the UK for parts I couldn’t find here. I believe Marstar and agenda also sell the wood and metal bits.
Buying retail will put the prices up compared to buying locally. I usually find parts lots at a reduced price compared to buying individual parts. The last long Branch I did cost about $360 and a Fazakerly cost about the same.
New wood will cost over $500 plus the cost of and metal bits needed.
Paul T nailed the name. I went through my paperwork and was going to post it. They also sell some reproduction parts. Only place I could find a first year Long Branch hinged band.
I have done an SMLE with the wood that Marstar sells. Was a good winter project (post with pics here: https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1965252-Restoring-a-no1-mk3-Enfield ). For this year's winter project I bought a Drill Rifle and a sporterized rifle; but I won't be able to tell you how that works out until the snow starts falling
EDIT: Here's another great thread on the subject: https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/2308115-And-now-a-word-on-duplicated-Lee-Enfield-stocks
EDIT: Here's another great thread on the subject: https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/2308115-And-now-a-word-on-duplicated-Lee-Enfield-stocks
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I am sorry but I just don't get this.
At current prices its going to cost you more than $500 to get the parts you need and when you have finished it just look like a desporterized Enfield stuck in some repro wood. Why not just spend a few bucks more and buy a decent original rifle with full wood?
At current prices its going to cost you more than $500 to get the parts you need and when you have finished it just look like a desporterized Enfield stuck in some repro wood. Why not just spend a few bucks more and buy a decent original rifle with full wood?
It’s the fun of doing something yourself. I do get more satisfaction from having them in original wood with all the rings and scrapes. A few people have approached me wanting to rebuild a rifle but when they find out the cost they back off. It’s also a lot of time involved looking for parts. Putting them together doesn’t take me very long when I have all parts in front of me. Here is a couple of pictures of what can be done with original parts.
Attachments
I like them both.
I can fully understand why people like the latest refurbs. If they're done right, they're beautiful and if they have excellent bores with on mean spec barrels, they will shoot like dreams.
Some people look at rifles that have been there and done that and cringe at the thought of what they may have done or just how they look after stressful field conditions.
In many ways, there really isn't much difference in performance and it's mostly just that nostalgic feeling being assuaged.
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- Location
- Western Manitoba
"Restore" - sort of depends how fussy you are and what you want to end up with - for P14 and M1917 is equivalent to a good rifle's worth of reference books here - what was built, when and where - and then author's writings will disagree about some details. I imagine is similar with No. 4 and No. 1 rifles - the one book that I have about No. 4 - "Lee-Enfield No. 4 and No. 5 Rifles" by Charles Stratton - page 22 shows 7 versions of No. 4 that existed at one time or other - page 23 shows 7 different factories in the world that made No. 4 at one time or other, on page 37 is showing 9 different action bodies that were made at different times - who made them, and what year. And is other charts to show which rear sights were used in which year on which receiver body, and so on. So "restore" can be a LOT more than just some wood. Or, can ignore all that detail and make up a "pretty" looking No. 4 - no doubt someone will buy it. If life was "fair", which it is not, that should be the difference between a $250 (or less) No. 4 and a $2,500 (or more) No. 4 rifle.
For me it's two fold. First, and least important, it's almost like "saving" a rifle that was butchered in it's past life. Second, and much more importantly, Winters where I live are cold and sucky so I need inside hobbies to keep me entertained or my wife will murder me
I do get saving sporterized rifles. Its just the new repro wood that I don't get. Its expensive and does not look good IMHO. But then again I like original surplus and whatever floats your boat is fine for you...
I have the opposite problem. Got a nice set of original wood and all the metalwork but have not found a decent sporter to restore.
I have the opposite problem. Got a nice set of original wood and all the metalwork but have not found a decent sporter to restore.
- Location
- WMU247 near Edmonton
good sporters are getting harder to find too, and often more then I want to pay.
I did pick up an nice LongBranch No4 that was FTR in 48 so nice shiny 5G barrel matching bolt.
Had another restored LongBranch that has a badly chipped bolt head slot so a quick wood swap was in order, now I need to take it to the range to sight it in.
I have been contemplating trying to splice together a new forestock, just finger joint a chunk of beech on to a sporter forestock and then cut the barrel channel and sand it to match the factory profile.
I've done this with 2 cut down barreled rifles to make 'tankers' but I've used 2 sporter stocks and lined up the existing barrel channels. Perhaps it would be easier to router out the barrel channel first then glue it up.
might be a project for this winter.
