E.A.L. Lee Enfield Questions

[P.E. Islander]

At the Irishtown, NB, gun show this past weekend I scored a rather nice "military" pattern E.A.L. Lee Enfield. The rifle is in quite good shape. The serial # is in the mid 5000 range.

I have a couple questions:

First the magazine - The military pattern EAL is supposed to have a five round magazine, which mine did, however the magazine mine came with is made by Parker Hale. Is that the correct magazine (I don't think it is)? Can anyone point me to a photo of a proper 5 round EAL mag, or be so kind as to post a photo of one should they actually have one?

Second I have a question about the original finish used on the stocks. Mine has rather poorly applied varnish which I doubt is original. Luckily the wood does not appear to have been sanded. Was the original finish an oil finish?

Thanks for any help.

 

[gerardjohnson]

I considered that one too but didn't like the 2 position rear sight. They used a variety of sights on these but any I've seen have had that same red rubber recoil pad. It was worth the asking price and if you talked him down you got a bargain. Mine had an oil finish. The wood didn't look too bad on the one you bought and should be relatively easy to restore.

 

[P.E. Islander]

I considered that one too but didn't like the 2 position rear sight. They used a variety of sights on these but any I've seen have had that same red rubber recoil pad. It was worth the asking price and if you talked him down you got a bargain. Mine had an oil finish. The wood didn't look too bad on the one you bought and should be relatively easy to restore.

I was thinking that an oil finish was more likely the correct finish, but there is not a lot of info out there on these rifles.

 

[bearhunter]

By two position rear sight, do you mean mounted ont the rear of the receiver???

The military models, have the receiver milled flat and a two leaf rear sight mounted in a dove tail on the Knox.

If this rifle has the rear sight mounted on the receiver, it is the civilian version and shouldn't have a 5 round magazine.

Google is your friend, google Essential Agencies Limited Lee Enfields. Lots of pics

As for a variety of different sights, to my limited knowledge, the military EALs were issued with the two leaf sights, mounted on the knox or in some cases were also fitted with Weaver scopes and bases by way of a side mount.

The civilian versions, had the same buttstock and similar fore stock but the rear sight base was left intact and the "L" type sight was installed as per milspecs. They were also fitted with ordinary LB marked magazines.

There is a member on this site that goes by the handle of wheaty, give him a PM. He will be happy to help.

 

[cantom]

Both versions of the EAL have rear sights marked 200 and 400.

The civilian version has a normal LE 300/600 Mk II rear sight, but they were overstamped with 200/400.

Here is the correct magazine for the military version. They are marked CA for Canadian Arsenals.

The stocks I've had and seen certainly looked to have an oil finish.

 

[wheaty]

Glad you brought the 200/400 sight up Cantom. That is usually the giveaway if it has been fiddled with.
Mags seem to be a mixed bag, and I suspect that replacement mags were purchased "from the trade" via commercial sources hence the PH markings. There are more variations coming out of the woodwork on the EAL all the time, but when I wrote the article for Stratton nothing was known on the rifle or the company other than what I was able to research at that time.
The Jostam pad was a standard however.
I should also add that the ones made for the Army Mapping section did not have Jostam pads, just a regular No.4 butt, but that was a very small lot and only a few of those have "escaped".

 

[P.E. Islander]

By two position rear sight, do you mean mounted ont the rear of the receiver???

The military models, have the receiver milled flat and a two leaf rear sight mounted in a dove tail on the Knox.

If this rifle has the rear sight mounted on the receiver, it is the civilian version and shouldn't have a 5 round magazine.

Google is your friend, google Essential Agencies Limited Lee Enfields. Lots of pics

As for a variety of different sights, to my limited knowledge, the military EALs were issued with the two leaf sights, mounted on the knox or in some cases were also fitted with Weaver scopes and bases by way of a side mount.

The civilian versions, had the same buttstock and similar fore stock but the rear sight base was left intact and the "L" type sight was installed as per milspecs. They were also fitted with ordinary LB marked magazines.

There is a member on this site that goes by the handle of wheaty, give him a PM. He will be happy to help.

The rifle that I purchased is the military model with the folding leaf rear sight mounted on the real of the barrel.

And as far as using Google I did that before posting the question and came up dry as far as detailed photos of the magazine.

 

[P.E. Islander]

Both versions of the EAL have rear sights marked 200 and 400.

The civilian version has a normal LE 300/600 Mk II rear sight, but they were overstamped with 200/400.

Here is the correct magazine for the military version. They are marked CA for Canadian Arsenals.

The stocks I've had and seen certainly looked to have an oil finish.

Thanks very much for the photos of the correct magazine. Not that I'm likely to come across one for sale, but at least if I do I'll know what they look like.

 

[P.E. Islander]

Glad you brought the 200/400 sight up Cantom. That is usually the giveaway if it has been fiddled with.
Mags seem to be a mixed bag, and I suspect that replacement mags were purchased "from the trade" via commercial sources hence the PH markings. There are more variations coming out of the woodwork on the EAL all the time, but when I wrote the article for Stratton nothing was known on the rifle or the company other than what I was able to research at that time.
The Jostam pad was a standard however.
I should also add that the ones made for the Army Mapping section did not have Jostam pads, just a regular No.4 butt, but that was a very small lot and only a few of those have "escaped".

The "Parker Hale" marked magazine in my rifle is actually made in Japan, and is marked as such. I think one of the American companies (Golden State Arms?) used the same mag in one of their sporters back in the 1960's.

 

[plinker 777]

linseed oil is the preferred finish. oil the stock once a day for a month, once a month for a year and once a year after that. You'll have to strip off that varnish 1st.
Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO) is ok and a second option but it is chemically altered to dry at a faster rate.
All oil rags should be disposed of soaked in water as when the oil polymerizes it can heat up causing spontaneous combustion (fire ).