Help with Enfield Identification

milspek

milspek

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I had to get this info over the phone, so here it is,

No4 Mk*I
England<---? Longbranch
1945

Also just to the northeast direction of that stamp my Dad thinks it either says
MP or NP

Somewhere close to the bolt is stamped
305 22.22?
18.5 TON?

84L6973?
near trigger

bolt#
3 or a B(hard to see),+L8263

I tried looking up on milsurp.com but was having a hard time distinguishing which rifle category it falls into.

I'll post pictures once my Dad sends em.
 
Yes it's a Lonbranch rifle mismatch bolt

Photos would help, photo of the MP stamp would be good

84L6973 is the serial number

303 2.222 would be the correct stamp 18.5 ton proof
 
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SORRY I KNOW ITS MISSING THE CRUCIAL STAMP AREA WHERE IT WOULD INDICATE WHETHER OR NOT ITS A RCMP RIFLE, MY DAD TOOK THE PICTURES AND EMAILED THEM TO ME
IMG_1583.jpg


WHAT DO THESE SYMBOLS MEAN?
IMG_1607.jpg


IMG_1584.jpg


IMG_1596.jpg


Once I get my hands on this rifle I'll share more.
 
Basically I just want to know if this a common rifle or rare rifle because I want to modernize (bastardize to some) this rifle with the ATI stock. If its rare, then I probably won't even use it.
 
Are you trying to kill us all?

There are guys on here who would have HEART ATTACKS if you used an MP rifle for that!

Come to think of it, I'm one of them.

RCMP rifles (the MP often joined so it looks like NP) are very much on the rare aide. There never were very many and it should not be a big job to authenticate one completely.

They were the pick of the crop, most o them were shot but rarely and they were looked after.

They are a part of our national heritage and should be valued.

They are also worth serious bucks.

At one time, likely during the tail-end of the War, your rifle was in England. That marking of a hand with a scimitar is a part of the London Proof House markings; the "18.5 TONS" and "2.222"" and ".303"" are the other Proof House markings, indicating the bore diameter, allowable cartridge length and Service pressure of Issue ammo. Likely it was Proofed there after the end of the War, sold here and ended up, brand new, in the RCMP. VERY interesting course of action.

You are a Very Lucky Guy. Go buy a lottery ticket while you're still hot!
 
Huh, interesting situation. I was hoping this would be a common rifle for practical reasons. Know I've got a family pass down that may be worth a lot of money, and possibly won't get used much, however I still may bastardize it. Here's my logic, if its worth the money, I won't ever sell it since it's been in the family so long, meaning I shouldn't feel bad about doing what I want with it since it will never get sold, and if it becomes worthless because of what I do to it, so be it, it's still going to stay in the family anyways.

What to do, what to do.
 
If you must bastardize something sell or keep the enfeild and get a sks or mosin and go to town hack, chop do what ever you want just don't touch the enfeild especially that one. If you must sporterise a enfeild get one that been butchered already they tend to go for 200 or less. Remember they only made 1000 of those if anything let someone els appreciate it.
 
Seriously. Even if it was "just" a Longbranch what the hell are you thinking? Hell any Enfield in full military just leave Bubba out of it. There are plenty of sporterized rifles to mess with already. No point destroying another one.

Some people. I'd love to own a Longbranch. Piece of Canadian history. "What to do". Ugh.
 
milspek said:
Huh, interesting situation. I was hoping this would be a common rifle for practical reasons. Know I've got a family pass down that may be worth a lot of money, and possibly won't get used much, however I still may bastardize it. Here's my logic, if its worth the money, I won't ever sell it since it's been in the family so long, meaning I shouldn't feel bad about doing what I want with it since it will never get sold, and if it becomes worthless because of what I do to it, so be it, it's still going to stay in the family anyways.

What to do, what to do.
Click to expand...

My thoughts:


I'm guessing your dad was referring to the NP stamp in your picture, meaning Nitro Proofed (not MP as in RCMP). Unless the handguard was removed for the photos this rifle could already be sporterized.

If you would be willing to get shots of the entire rifle it may give folks a better idea of what the situation is. It may be restorable, and it's much more satisfying than bubbaing a rifle could ever be.

If it is even in restorable condition, much less in it's original state, I highly suggest you only replace and add components that don't permanently alter the rifle. Things like synthetic stocks and no-gunsmithing scope mounts can easily be changed back. However, if you alter the rifle permanently, it can not be undone and you may one day regret it, or maybe your great-grandson will be the one cursing you. ;)

This is what your rifle should look like:

No4Mk1US93C5112.JPG
 
No, that's the "star", as in No. 4 Mk. I*.
The NP is for nitro proof.
There's probably enough of the left side of the receiver showing to assume that there is no MP mark.
It is a sported LB rifle, with a mismatched bolt.
If the barrel is full length, it could be restored to its original configuration.
In all probability, it is just one of the thousands of Lee Enfields altered into sporters.
 
milspek said:
Huh, interesting situation. I was hoping this would be a common rifle for practical reasons. Know I've got a family pass down that may be worth a lot of money, and possibly won't get used much, however I still may bastardize it. Here's my logic, if its worth the money, I won't ever sell it since it's been in the family so long, meaning I shouldn't feel bad about doing what I want with it since it will never get sold, and if it becomes worthless because of what I do to it, so be it, it's still going to stay in the family anyways.

What to do, what to do.
Click to expand...

I would summarize my feeling about this type of situation as a dilemna between legal rights and moral responsibility.

To illustrate this, let's try to imagine the following scenario. Years from now, Sidney Crosby's nephew's son is wondering what to do with the hockey puck with which Crosby scored the gold medal goal at the Olympics. It's been in the family for years, and in 2094, it's considered fun and practical to turn old hockey pucks into something more useful, say a soap holder in the bathroom.

Now, on one hand, the puck is his. He can do whatever he wants with it. On the other hand, it is an object which holds lots of history and represents something very important to many, many Canadians. Should Sidney's nephew's son do what he wants with the puck, since he owns it, or should he rather consider himself not the owner of a family object but rather the lucky curator of an important piece of Canadian history? Legal right vs moral responsibility...

Now from what I see int the picture, the rifle is one of many many Longbranch No4, not one of a few thousand "MP"s so the above-stated point of view maybe less applicable, but still I'd prefer the rifle to be "desporterized" rather than butchered. This being said, a tastefull sporterization with no permanent damage to the metal isn't a sin, in my books. That's why there are very good "no gunsmith" scope mounts on the market, and it keeps the rifle happy, going to the range or in the bush :)

Lou
 
Sell it to me...if it's an RCMP rifle. I want one. I'll pay you enough money to buy a 'common' spoterized rifle you can put a tactifool stock on it and everybody wins.
 
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