Since the No4 is the rifle most often claimed to have "seen combat", or very commonly "the one used by my Grandfather", the above sums it up. The fact is that soldiers were not permitted to keep their rifle when they were discharged. I suppose a rifle could be stolen, or by chance, "the one", could be found in a barrel at Sears, but the chances are minute that it's the gun carried by him. Family folklore is easily offended, but I suggest that the phrase "like the one I carried", became "the one I carried" over time. Sorry.
As always, "buy the gun, not the story". Anyone claiming that a gun saw combat without clear proof of that, is making a claim that is dubious at best, an outright falsehood at worst.
