1942 Longbranch

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gerard488

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I have a 1942 Longbranch No4 Mk1* Canadian Ranger issue in great shape. I say great because I don't really know what it takes to be very good or excellent. My question is, Is a 1942 more rare, more valuable or harder to find than 1943 or 45 etc. Sling was a bit of luck, came to me on a different rifle.
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Certainly is more rare than some of the others

1943, 44, 45, 50 are more common
41,42, 49, 55 are rarer
 
Claven2 said:
It's a 42, so will be a mk1*

Does it have maple furniture and nzd markings? Many 1942s went to the kiwis and had stained maple furniture for some reason.
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This one has Canadian markings, was issued to Canadian Rangers. Looks like walnut but I'm not sure.
 
Claven2 said:
It's a 42, so will be a mk1*

Does it have maple furniture and nzd markings? Many 1942s went to the kiwis and had stained maple furniture for some reason.
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Not too sure about that. In Skennertons book he states that the change to Mk1* was implemented in North America in 42. So I believe that some Mk1s were made by Long Branch in 42. I have a 42 Savage receiver dated 42 and it is a mk1. So maybe the same at LB.
I would love to get hold of an LB mk1.
 
1956 is also very rare last year they were putting them together apparently also if you have a 1941 LB rifle it dosent mean it will have a 1941 barrel the ultra rare 41s have a 41 stamped on the knox form but barrel productoon in 41 was an issue and many 1941 rifles have 1942 barrels ...not quite as desirable...any time i come accross a 1941 i wish to buy i always ask to very carefully look under the topwood because if im paying top money for a 1941 it better have a 1941 barrel
 
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Claven2 said:
Does it have maple furniture and nzd markings? Many 1942s went to the kiwis and had stained maple furniture for some reason.
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I'm pretty sure the stock is stained maple. It's not the greatest pic, but it doesn't look like walnut to me. To the OP, post some close-ups of the left side of the receiver, the top of the receiver, and the butt socket markings, and maybe any other visible markings. If you do that, the folks on this site should be able to nail down exactly what you have. Nice find either way.
 
points said:
Not too sure about that. In Skennertons book he states that the change to Mk1* was implemented in North America in 42. So I believe that some Mk1s were made by Long Branch in 42. I have a 42 Savage receiver dated 42 and it is a mk1. So maybe the same at LB.
I would love to get hold of an LB mk1.
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Maybe so. I've never personally laid hands on a 1942 mk1, and I've definitely seen hundreds of 1942 LB's over the years in both private and public hands.
 
Hard to tell in the photo. The maple stocks are heavier and somewhat obvious in person. Often they have a reddish hue under bright light.
 
I should also mention, as a ranger rifle, it has almost certainly been rebuilt at least once.

Many ranger rifles have seen decades of use in the CAF supply system, including maintenance, repair, inspection, etc. It would be noteworthy if nothing had ever been changed or refinished.

To the op, that is a mk1*.I can see the rail gap bolt release notch.
 
Here are more pics. Thanks to all for the info, I don't want to waste anyone's time because I am not sure if I will keep this rifle. I have another Ranger issued rifle which is an Irish Contract rifle according to the serial number and another Longbranch. I also have what appears to be a BSA 1944 No1 MkIII "dispersal rifle" plus others so this one may be more than I need.
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That's a walnut mk1*. Its been through at least one canadian ftr and seems to have a post-war phosphate finish. It also has a very late manufacture no.2 bolt head, likely fitted during a repair late in its service life.
 
I haven't found a way to tell online but I have copies of the Ranger paperwork for this one and for the Irish Contract when they were given to the Rangers that used them.
I read that there were either 5 or 10 thousand contract rifles purchased by the Canadian government.
 
Claven2 said:
That's a walnut mk1*. Its been through at least one canadian ftr and seems to have a post-war phosphate finish. It also has a very late manufacture no.2 bolt head, likely fitted during a repair late in its service life.
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Just wondering, I read somewhere that the Longbranch factory did not always mark rifles as FTR, Is there another way to tell. mine seems to have a newer type safety and has a stamped trigger guard.
 
For ftr determination, you have to evaluate canadian guns as a whole.

The op rifle has a non original 1942 finish, and a later bolt head. It's clearly been overhauled in service.
 
In Canada we did not mark them FTR like in Britian as mentioned it has the post Ww2 phosphate finish(Ww2 would be a blued finish )and later parts added to it still its a very nice rifle
 
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