i am buying 1945 longbranch next week it is in as new condition the guy i am buying it off of has never shot it but what i would like to know is how can i tell if it is a match rifle i have a sneeking suspision that it might be as it has a parker hale sight mount attached to it and it has such a nice bore and has oviously been lovenly looked after i know its not much to go on but i would really like some input i am buying it regardless as at 250 it is quite a good deal
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1945 Longbranch
- Thread starter Hawkeye
- Start date
If it is a DCRA rifle it will be so marked. The real proof is to remove the stock to see if it has been bedded in the area of the action and under the barrel about 12 inches from the end. Some Longbranch rifles just had the PH sight added and nothing else...which doesn't make it a target rifle. Good luck.
A PH sight can sell for $100 -$150, so $250 is obviously a very good buy. You mention that the rifle is in brand new condition; if it was used as a target rifle, it may be in fine condition, but it may also have been shot a lot.
You don't mention calibre, so to elaborate on Dantforth's post, if the rifle was converted to 7.62mm at Canadian Arsenals Limited, under the DCRA program in the 60s, it will have a serial number and additional markings added. If it is still in .303, there will be no markings unique to the DCRA. The Dominion of Canada Rifle Association (www.dcra.ca) was and is an umbrella organization overseeing fullbore rifle shooting, in conjunction with the various Provincial Rifle Associations. When Lee Enfield rifles were the standard, there were two classes - SR(a) for unaltered service rifles, used for service condition matches, and SR(b), where precision target sights were permitted, and slow fire prone was the norm. Basically rifles could be tuned up, but had to be in service configuration. Dantforth has described what is sometimes called "centre bedding" which was an alternative to the original barrel bedding at the end of the forend. Rifles used may have been from issued stores of military or police units, or privately owned. If you did not want to purchase a rifle on the surplus market, you could buy a brand new one from a COD, for forty odd dollars. I suspect that the one you are looking at may be from this latter category. A rifle used in competition could be bone stock, or could be internally reworked in an attempt to improve accuracy. In addition to the PH or AJP, etc. rear sight, a centre swivel would be fitted to allow the use of a two point sling.
These are often referred to as DCRA rifles, but they weren't the DCRA's. They were either gov't. property or privately owned, and were used for competitions under the auspices of the DCRA or a PRA.
You don't mention calibre, so to elaborate on Dantforth's post, if the rifle was converted to 7.62mm at Canadian Arsenals Limited, under the DCRA program in the 60s, it will have a serial number and additional markings added. If it is still in .303, there will be no markings unique to the DCRA. The Dominion of Canada Rifle Association (www.dcra.ca) was and is an umbrella organization overseeing fullbore rifle shooting, in conjunction with the various Provincial Rifle Associations. When Lee Enfield rifles were the standard, there were two classes - SR(a) for unaltered service rifles, used for service condition matches, and SR(b), where precision target sights were permitted, and slow fire prone was the norm. Basically rifles could be tuned up, but had to be in service configuration. Dantforth has described what is sometimes called "centre bedding" which was an alternative to the original barrel bedding at the end of the forend. Rifles used may have been from issued stores of military or police units, or privately owned. If you did not want to purchase a rifle on the surplus market, you could buy a brand new one from a COD, for forty odd dollars. I suspect that the one you are looking at may be from this latter category. A rifle used in competition could be bone stock, or could be internally reworked in an attempt to improve accuracy. In addition to the PH or AJP, etc. rear sight, a centre swivel would be fitted to allow the use of a two point sling.
These are often referred to as DCRA rifles, but they weren't the DCRA's. They were either gov't. property or privately owned, and were used for competitions under the auspices of the DCRA or a PRA.
