1942 long branch with "England" stamped on right side of reciever

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recoil

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Oh gurus of the Enfield. I recognize this is probably been answered somewhere before but have looked thru the stickies and can't find an answer.

I have a full wood Long Branch 1942 no 4 Mk 1* with a beautiful bore. on the right forward side of the receiver is a stamped "England". Am I correct in thinking this is a Canadian rifle shipped over to Great Britain post 1942 that was subsequently sold out of service? This is very gently used as far as I can tell (no FTR marks and very little wear on wood or anything else). Interestingly it has a ladder rear sight.

shoots wonderfully, just wondering what I've got.
 
The England stamp was applied after the rifle was sold off. Does it have British proof marks as well?
 
Depending on the importer, foreign military arms had to have the country of origin stamped on them. Someone more knowledgeable will do doubt chime in, but I believe it was the US.
 
LB made in Canada, however as the Canadian Army found itself in the Brit supply system (IE: in the Med 8th Army - Italy and 6th Airborne - 1 Can Para) the rifles would go to whomever. At the end of the war they would still be in their system when sold off and therefore be subject to Brit weapons rules which incl stamping England and nitro-proof. Other rifles found their way to other end users, such as Greece, and if they found their way back through England would get stamped... a million different ways/ reasons... not uncommon.
 
thanks for the info everyone. Just had never seen this before but suspected that's what happened. a really fine rifle to shoot.
 
Canada supplied thousands of rifles, Brens, Inglis pistols etc to the UK during WWII.

The “ENGLAND” stamped marking is as a result of the American McKinley Tariff Act of the 1890s stating that goods imported into the USA had to show the country of origin. I have seen many English, Canadian and American made Lee-Enfield rifles marked ENGLAND. Obviously the people stamping them did not know or care that hundreds of thousands of No.4 rifles were made in Canada and the USA. I have have never seen one stamped surplus as made in the USA and have only seen a very few stamped CANADA.

The nice thing about the mark on your rifle is that it shows that it went overseas to the UK at least, and was almost certainly on British issue. Canadian Army rifles at home and in UK, Italy and North West Europe would not have been so marked as they remained in or were returned to Canada.

A different situation - Long Branch rifles supplied to New Zealand were stamped with NZ issue marks - NZ on the left side of the body on the butt socket and a new serial number was stamped, though the old one was left in place.

A friend repatriated a rare Canadian Long Branch made rifle to Canada. Sadly the firearms importer did not record on the paperwork that it was made in Canada, and as it was stamped ENGLAND, it caught the attention of CBSA and he had to pay extra for importing a foreign made rifle. Suffice to say he does not use that company anymore. I recommended BORDERVIEW in Lynden, Washington /Abbotsford BC to him as they are great for firearms going LEGALLY from Canada to the USA or vice versa.

So, if you import a Canadian made firearm stamped ENGLAND, make sure the paperwork. Says MADE IN CANADA!
 
Nothing to worry about, there are lots of Canadian small arms that were sent to the UK. The British stamped 'ENGLAND" on the right side of ever No4 receiver they imported.
 
Yeandle31 said:
Nothing to worry about, there are lots of Canadian small arms that were sent to the UK. The British stamped 'ENGLAND" on the right side of ever No4 receiver they imported.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but nope. The ENGLAND stamp was applied in the USA after the rifles were sold out of service and imported to the States.
 
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