Factory, Gunsmith or Bubba ,10 pictures

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gerard488

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I just bought a No4 Lee Enfield that has been converted to fit a one piece stock. Looks too good to be bubba's work and I am curious as to who would have done it. It has a 5 groove barrel that looks good and longbranch markings. Barrel is just over 25 inches. More pics in post #3









 
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I don't see any longbranch markings.

it was a No4MkI that got upgraded to the Mk2 hung trigger in 1955 so No4 Mk1/2

the barrel is makrked SURREY so that is the original sporterization. The markgin on the barrel is interesting is the 7C 1964 I don't think I've ever seen the date as a 4 digit number so is that a serial number?

looks like most of the other markings got scrubbed. looks like a reblue as well, might have been done when the butt socket was mostly ground off.

I would guess that the one piece stock was done after the original sporterization in someones shop.
 
Sorry, Mistakenly thought the B on the side of the receiver was fo Longbranch but It is just a B. The rear sight looks likt it may be Long branch. Any idea what the strange looking ones on the knox form and the very back right side of receiver across from the safety are?
Thanks
A few more pics:



 
side of the receiver that would be a 3 as in 3/55 as in March 1955

top of the barel knox is what remains of 2 crossed flags, a proof mark

the rearsight is a very nice LongBranch rearsight, is marked with the C broad arrow as well.

the last one I can't really say much about, but it looks similar to the one on the barrel.

I suspect that the receiver is actually a Maltby
 
The "SURREY", along with the "SUSSEX" was a post war conversion of the Number 4 Lee Enfield, done in England, by a "Trade" Gun Maker. Originally, it had the two piece stock, and was "sporterized" for civilian sales.

Elwood Epps, before the firm moved to Orillia, made several one piece stocked rifles using the Lee Enfield actions and barrels. The original serial number would have been marked on the left side of the butt socket, but that part of the rifle has been removed to utilize the one piece stock. The "BNP" along with the "England" and the calibre markings are from the rifle being proof fired at Birmingham after it was originally sporterized.

If the original rifle serial number was 7 C 1964, then it would have been a Savage made rifle.

If you post pictures of the stock, maybe with the rifle reassembled, then someone with an EPPS conversion could possibly help. Pictures of these rifles appeared in older Epps catalogues.
 
The stock is or really appears to be a homemade job, birch center with mahogany or walnut laminated on both sides. There is M47c stamped on the cocking piece, maybe the barrel shows part of a M47c? There also appears to be too much space between the C and 1964 on the barrel. There is also the J stamped on the cocking piece and on the trigger guard. The trigger guard is a maltby. The serial number appears to start with A5571, can't see the rest
 
I would guess that the original serial number is A5571, It is almost scrubbed and very faint on the side of the receiver. The bolt has the same number, A5571.
 
Is there pics of it in the stock? Does it fit well? Does it shoot well? If so something like that would be a really nice deer rifle. I would be proud to carry that.
 
Didn't come with the original stock, had a homemade stock that didn't fit well. New stock started, will post pics when done. Haven't shot it but bore looks excellent.
 
A bunch of these arrived on our shores quite a while back. They were shipped from England to be re stamped and officially issued out of the Allahabad armoury in India. Half sat and rotted away in the humid conditions and the other half were used and abused. They were then sent back to England and re barrelled in the Surrey factory and sold to the civilian population in places like Canada where they were further sporterized. I own one that is still in the crate from Surrey... no real collector value unless you are an extreme Enfield collector and another AJ that has been sporterized a bit more by one of our skilled Canadian gunsmiths *sarcasm*.
 
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