Enfield Value

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kasper.

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Hey good evening, I've been wanting to get into the milsurp game for awhile now, I've come across a 1942 Longbranch No4MkI* in really good shape, it's a sporter but I'm hoping to restore it back to original full stock configuration. It has original iron sights. It's clearly been well taken care of. Offered to me for $250. Is this a decent deal? That is with no mag.

I appreciate your advice!

Take care
 
Depends, does the barrel have a good bore? Orginal barrel length? Does the bolt and reciever match? Reciever drilled? Matching mag? Has it been FTR'ed? Photos would help

Seems a bit high to me, but condition dictates the price.
 
kasper. said:
Hey good evening, I've been wanting to get into the milsurp game for awhile now, I've come across a 1942 Longbranch No4MkI* in really good shape, it's a sporter but I'm hoping to restore it back to original full stock configuration. It has original iron sights. It's clearly been well taken care of. Offered to me for $250. Is this a decent deal? That is with no mag.

I appreciate your advice!

Take care
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Not really. A mag is going to cost you at least 50 bucks (if you are lucky). Then you have to source new wood and parts. You will likely be in to the rifle for 500 bucks by that time (if you are lucky). You could just buy one of the Ishapore rebuilt long branch rifles at Ellwood Epps for 349 +. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
considering 2 cents are worth nothing dont trust in dave ;) i joke i joke, but the question is will this be your project you will want too keep forever or what, and the second posters questions are right, if the mag reciever and bolt match and the full length barrel(has the bayo lugs are their id go for it try and widdle him down past 200, but i personaly would go for it, projects mean more once their finished
 
From what I read on this site and the prices I see, I've come the conclusion that prices vary greatly from region to region. At the Orangeville gun show, I see No.4's like the one you describe for $125 to $175, depending on condition. As was pointed out earlier, IF you can find a Long Branch mag in decent shape, you're looking at $50.00 easy. The hard parts to find around here are the Long Branch barrel bands. Finding a nice walnut or birch stock set that hasn't been too badly is problematic, and finding a complete stock set of Canadian origin is very rare indeed. Bear in mind, I'm talking locally. I'd say that $250. for what you describe is is about $75.00 to $100.00 too much.
 
Also I'll add that in my experience since lee Enfields weren't made to have the mags removed often you will have to do a lot of fiddling with the feed lips to get the gun to feed right. A nice set of LB wood could cost $200 or more then you factor in the bands, nose cap etc you could end up spending $250-$300 on parts. Then you have to fit the wood if you want any accuracy.

I'd save my money and wait for the right complete gun to come my way.

I'd say $150 tops if the gun is matching and the barrel is full length, sights are original etc.

I won't pay high prices for sporters, cause every time someone sells a Sporter for big cash it just helps the prices climb.
 
Compare with pictures of unsportered rifles to be sure it has a complete barrel. The original foresight is nice to have but not difficult to replace. Many sporters retain the original foresight but have the barrel may be cut in front of it and you can't really fix that. In front of the foresight there should be more than inch of barrel with the bayonet lugs still on it.
 
Personally for $250 without mag I would look elsewhere. In my area sportered but restorable No.4's are available for $100-$175 with a magazine and they aren't hard to find.
 
Mike Webb said:
Personally for $250 without mag I would look elsewhere. In my area sportered but restorable No.4's are available for $100-$175 with a magazine and they aren't hard to find.
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Like Mike says. I bought a very nice sported LB for restore at the last gunshow, all parts there, for $165. Even at that it was $15 more than I would usually pay. $250 is way over the usual selling price (not the asking price)
 
I once paid $250 for a sporter. But it was no run of the mill Longbranch sporter. It was an NRF No1 MkIII* with all matching serials and a near brand new BSA commercial barrel. Rare factory and barrel along with matching numbers made it a must have for me. I also bought a Longbranch FTR No4 Mk1/3 last year for $300. It had only a few rounds fired since FTR. Perfect mirror bore. Also came with all NOS parts to restore it including a nice wood set. Also 100% matching.

Point is there are much better deals out there.
 
LawrenceN said:
From what I read on this site and the prices I see, I've come the conclusion that prices vary greatly from region to region. At the Orangeville gun show, I see No.4's like the one you describe for $125 to $175, depending on condition. As was pointed out earlier, IF you can find a Long Branch mag in decent shape, you're looking at $50.00 easy. The hard parts to find around here are the Long Branch barrel bands. Finding a nice walnut or birch stock set that hasn't been too badly is problematic, and finding a complete stock set of Canadian origin is very rare indeed. Bear in mind, I'm talking locally. I'd say that $250. for what you describe is is about $75.00 to $100.00 too much.
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^^I agree. The mag is $50 if you are lucky. The guy is pushing his price a trifle. Maybe $200 if all else is really good.
Make damn sure the barrel hasn't been cut off, bore is shiny, numbers are matching.
 
Dyspnea said:
Depends, does the barrel have a good bore? Orginal barrel length? Does the bolt and reciever match? Reciever drilled? Matching mag? Has it been FTR'ed? Photos would help

Seems a bit high to me, but condition dictates the price.
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Stupid n00b question here, I understand why you would want the bolt and receiver to be matching. Why would you want the mag to match? Wouldn't pretty much any mag be just as good as any other? Or is this just one of those collector things, someone likes to see the number match, but has no functional impact?
 
Martin248 said:
Stupid n00b question here, I understand why you would want the bolt and receiver to be matching. Why would you want the mag to match? Wouldn't pretty much any mag be just as good as any other? Or is this just one of those collector things, someone likes to see the number match, but has no functional impact?
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Two reasons; collectibility, and

From the factory, keeping in mind the mag wasn't supposed to be removed (charged by clips), there was some amount of custom tweaking to make the mag work properly (feed lip bending and such, I'm sure). So an original mag is a good thing, in more ways than one.

So I guess there WAS a functional impact relevant to this issue. I'm not certain if this policy carried on to the later SMLE's, but it was at least a deal with the earlier ones.

No sweat glad to help.
 
Kayser Sose said:
Two reasons; collectibility, and

From the factory, keeping in mind the mag wasn't supposed to be removed (charged by clips), there was some amount of custom tweaking to make the mag work properly (feed lip bending and such, I'm sure). So an original mag is a good thing, in more ways than one.

So I guess there WAS a functional impact relevant to this issue. I'm not certain if this policy carried on to the later SMLE's, but it was at least a deal with the earlier ones.

No sweat glad to help.
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A little addition to this though - the owners after the war may have bent the ears/lips out of shape. My SMLE sporter had a matching mag, but fed extremely poorly. It would chamber a round about 20% of the time. I had to tweak it quite a bit to get it working properly again.
 
Too much, I got a matching No4 for $175. Only a 5rnd mag so I had to source a new 10 rounder. Wood can be had for $150, unless you get in touch with Sarco for one of their cheap stocks (good luck, I've tried).
 
davemccarthy707 said:
Not really. A mag is going to cost you at least 50 bucks (if you are lucky). Then you have to source new wood and parts. You will likely be in to the rifle for 500 bucks by that time (if you are lucky). You could just buy one of the Ishapore rebuilt long branch rifles at Ellwood Epps for 349 +. Just my 2 cents worth.
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What shape are the Ishapore rebuilds in?
 
Watching the longbranch enfield prices lately, 250 may be a good price if the barrel is uncut and in very good shape. A typical N04mk1 sporter definitly not worth 250.
 
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