My first Lee Enfield 1944 Longbranch

CanadianAR

CanadianAR

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Just got my first Lee Enfield. Its a 1944 Longbranch No4 MK 1*

Serial 68L1987. Id been wanting an enfield for a while but couldnt find one that really lured me in. The high retention of green paint is what did it for me on this one. This one was from John at Marstar.

It is all matching numbers. Bolt, receiver, mag, forestock.
I dont think this piece has ever been refurbed or FTRd. It still retains 90% of its tropical green paint. And no FTR markings. Socket had just the serial. receiver has just original date and such. If anyone has more info Id love to learn about this rifle. Will be shooting it saturday.
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Is the buttstock original?

The "ZF" stamp on a butt stock usually indicates an unserviceable rifle that should be returned to a Base Workshop at least as there is a major problem with it.
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I dont know if the butt is original. There are some numbers right at the wrist, but they dont match anything. Also the buttstock finish is quite different.

butt is marked
3 BW
754
 
buffdog said:
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Is the buttstock original?

The "ZF" stamp on a butt stock usually indicates an unserviceable rifle that should be returned to a Base Workshop at least as there is a major problem with it.
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As Buffdog said, ZF means "buggered beyond repair, by all that's holy, take this out of service! :eek:"

http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=18070

It makes "DP" look like a commendation....one thing I've never figured out is why they just stamped ZF on the butt while they'd stamp DP into the steel?

There's no way of knowing if the buttstock was swapped out or not.

I've never seen a Long Branch with the tropical green paint like that before. That's usually seen on Jungle Carbines that went to Malaya etc.

I'd run that one by Peter Laidler on Milsurps.
 
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Those numbers I listed above, are on the bottom of the wrist. Also a sb I think, or sl, I can't remember now.
Buttstock is definitely thicker then the receiver socket. It protrudes on all sides. And the mismatched finish, I think its a mismatched butt. Gun looks fine. And butt doesn't seem to have the same wear.
 
Looks like zinc chromate primer to me. Also the buttstock doesn't look like it came with that rifle. I am willing to bet the rifle is fine to shoot...however, I would have it looked at by a competent gunsmith first.
 
What's the zinc chromate primer?
The bore looks good, no rough patches or bumps. John at marstar said the headspace was checked. And ok.
I looked at the locking lugs and bearing surfaces, everything looks ok.

Thx for all the info I'm getting.
 
Zinc Chromate primer is a green primer used in Aviation to prevent corrosion. That is what it looks like on your rifle. Whether it is or not I don't know. However it would make sense to use it.
 
CanadianAR said:
What's the zinc chromate primer?
The bore looks good, no rough patches or bumps. John at marstar said the headspace was checked. And ok.
I looked at the locking lugs and bearing surfaces, everything looks ok.

Thx for all the info I'm getting.
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The "ZF" buttstock raises a red flag, but there is a possibility that this particular butt was swapped at some point along the line and may have no relationship to the actual servicability/safety of the rifle. This underlines the need to carefully check a MILSURP which may have last seen competent technical control a lifetime ago, matching numbers be darned.

Headspace and even bearing of the locking lugs in the receiver lug seats are the main things to check. It would be good to verify firing pin protrusion as well. To check the locking lug bearing you need to degrease/dry the rear of the bolt lugs and the lug seats in the receiver. Coat the back of the lugs with black marker and cycle the bolt a number of times checking afterwards for even wear on the rear of the lugs. If Mr. Marstar has certified that headspace is within parameters that is a good thing, otherwise I'd check it with the "go" and "no-go" gauges.

Being a bit on the anal side I also like to check the receiver for cracks on any newly aquired MILSURP. To do this completely strip the rifle down to barrel and receiver only, then holding vertically by the muzzle, give the rear of the receiver a gentle whack with a piece of hardwood like a hammer handle. You should hear a resonating/ringing sound like a tuning fork. If you don't, check further by immersing the receiver in a fast drying solvent. If there is a crack the solvent will show up in the crack while the surrounding surface dries. I've found 2 cracked receivers this way which otherwise looked OK.
 
Good advice purple.
I will look it over throughly, and do that solvent test. I will also check the lugs as you described.
I honestly think that its just a mismatched butt. John would not have sold it as good condition if in fact it is out of service.
 
purple said:
Headspace and even bearing of the locking lugs in the receiver lug seats are the main things to check. It would be good to verify firing pin protrusion as well. To check the locking lug bearing you need to degrease/dry the rear of the bolt lugs and the lug seats in the receiver. Coat the back of the lugs with black marker and cycle the bolt a number of times checking afterwards for even wear on the rear of the lugs. If Mr. Marstar has certified that headspace is within parameters that is a good thing, otherwise I'd check it with the "go" and "no-go" gauges.

Being a bit on the anal side I also like to check the receiver for cracks on any newly aquired MILSURP. To do this completely strip the rifle down to barrel and receiver only, then holding vertically by the muzzle, give the rear of the receiver a gentle whack with a piece of hardwood like a hammer handle. You should hear a resonating/ringing sound like a tuning fork. If you don't, check further by immersing the receiver in a fast drying solvent. If there is a crack the solvent will show up in the crack while the surrounding surface dries. I've found 2 cracked receivers this way which otherwise looked OK.
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This is great stuff. Good to know.

Find out some more about that green paint, I'm really curious. Where the hell is Smelly? And how come buffdog commented on your thread and not mine. :p
 
The green paint is an anti-corrosion treatment. You see it quite often on the ex-Indian and ex-Malayan use rifles which were used in tropical/humid conditions. I first saw this on a barrel-full of the grottiest No5s one could ever imagine in the old Birney's Hardware store in Saskatoon circa 1960/61. Practical, but nasty looking.
 
purple said:
The green paint is an anti-corrosion treatment. You see it quite often on the ex-Indian and ex-Malayan use rifles which were used in tropical/humid conditions. I first saw this on a barrel-full of the grottiest No5s one could ever imagine in the old Birney's Hardware store in Saskatoon circa 1960/61. Practical, but nasty looking.
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Ditto. I couldn't remember exactly which countries did it until you mentioned those two. The recognized internet expert on all things Lee Enfield is Peter Laidler, who wrote the books on the No.4T, the No.32 and the L42A1. He can be found on the forums at www dot milsurps dot com.
 
CanadianAR said:
Hmmmm, so this longbranch has travelled far.
Maybe.

I am going to go over it with a fine tooth comb tonight, and see what I find.
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What worries me about it...it was obviously in the hands of the British...they were the ones that did the green paint trick. The buttstock is British...which matches other aspects of the rifle. So, the ZF could conceivably be for this rifle, ZF being something their armourers did.

I'd do Purple's checks. That is some very good advice. If it passes them then call er good.
 
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