Need help with a little Project/ Lee Enfield No4 mk1

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I have this Lee Enfield No4 m1 which is a good shooter. Has been Bubba'd by cutting off the Bayonet Lug after the front sight, nicely Crowned I would say and original sight left intact minus the ears. A sporter stock installed.

I have purchased the bottom forestock already and was wondering what parts I could find on here to sort of put together a Tanker type rifles or is it worth it?

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Forestocks are the hardest part to find for a restoration. I’d look for an intact sporter to use it on, you’d at least end up with something of value.
 
Seen some very nice "tankers" made from sporters. Decide on a barrel length...20"? - Cut back the forend. You should be able to find handguards, bands and front sight protector by placing an add in EE.
 
Forends are becoming rather difficult to find, and that looks like a nice example. Save the wood for a rifle that you can easily restore - one with an uncut barrel.
 
If you could find a junked barrel with the bayonet lugs intact, it is very simple lathe work to sleeve the end of the barrel with the donor section with lugs. The joint could be hidden under the foresight protector.

The bore could then be counter bored slightly to keep it shooting and it for all purposes, restored to look original.

A lot less work than making a tanker. Bear in mind that shortening the barrel sometimes screws up barrel harmonics and the thing might shoot like crap. But if you like experimenting with bedding, have at her! Great little project!
 
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Ok just found a bunch on the net. Weird little beast.
Surprised I havnt run across them all these years being a Lee Enfield fan!
 
Tankers are commercial Bubba job's, mostly done by Navy Arms aka Gibbs Rifle Co.. British Arsenals never manufactured this model.
 
Well I think all I need to put the rifle pictured back together minus the bayonet lug is the top handguards, the mid barrel band with sling swivel, the front barrel band, sight ears and the bolt that goes in at the magazine well.

Any of you guys have some wood and hardware for me to try and complete this little project?????

Maybe I should put this in the want to buy.
 
so I made a tanker out of a sporter a few years back.

I would not chop up that nice forestock.

first I would find another sporter forestock and do a splice and cover the splice with the barrel band.

I also made both pieces of top wood to get the length right. I had a thread here somewhere.

https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/250456-Enfield-Tanker-project-NOW-95-done

found it, pictures are not working for me anymore :( but 2008 that's over 10 years ago. I still have the little gun, shoots great.
 
Woodchopper the front sight is still original, however the bayonet lug is cut off and the barrel re crowned. I was thinking of just putting the nice forestock on along with the uppers etc and installing all the other bits such as the front sight ears. Would that not look good?
 
Woodchopper the front sight is still original, however the bayonet lug is cut off and the barrel re crowned. I was thinking of just putting the nice forestock on along with the uppers etc and installing all the other bits such as the front sight ears. Would that not look good?


well you have options.

it will always look funny with the full wood and bobbed barrel.

one option would be to find a parts gun with bent barrel or buggered receiver that still has the bayonet lugs, ad cut off the last few inches of barrel bore it out to about .375 (3/8") and then use that to sleeve over the end of the barrel as near as you can to the bayonet lugs and try to hide the splice with the front sight ears.

you would have to turn down your barrel and cut a step in the sleeve bigger then 3/8", I don't have a barrel to measure but 5/8" might work ok.

this way you would have a barrel that looks correct with the full length forestock.

when guys say tanker it usually implies an 18"- 22" barrel chop, modified wood and other parts, like what I did.

Go the opposite way and cut the barrel shorter. Beater has made a few as well from sporters but I don't think he does the spliced foreends like I did.

your choices will depend on your skills and access to a lathe.


Now if you just put that forestock and wood on the bobbed barrel, it will always be an obvious bubba with a bobbed barrel. I would buy it cheap take the wood off to restock one of the ones with a full length barrel I have kicking around in my pile, throw some sporter wood on the supporter barrel, strip off the best and interesting parts and replace them with some less desirable parts from my bins and just sell it again.

to me its not worth the effort and there are other sporters out there that are more interesting and are not cut, like the early 5C savage Mk 1 no star I have with most of the original parts like the button style cocking piece that are worth restocking. But that one needs a low wall Mk1 forestock and those are not that common.


One thing I don't see in you questions is if that is a Mk1 or Mk1* rifle and if the stock has the cutout for the bolt release of the Mk1 or not.
 
so I made a tanker out of a sporter a few years back.

I would not chop up that nice forestock.

first I would find another sporter forestock and do a splice and cover the splice with the barrel band.

I also have lots of sporter frontstocks (lowers) if that helps, I guess I should put them on the EE....ahh, maybe not, you never know when your going to need one...lol...but if you need one, i guess it wouldn't hurt.
When I re-did my No4 MK1 early production model, there was a lot of people on here that help me out alot!! So any help you need just ask.
cheers
Brian
 
ive built about 30 of them in the past. allways started with a rifle just like that where someone trimmed the barrel. forestocks were lots easyer to find than today. tanks makes a great truck gun
 
Any Tankers or similar modified Enfields used during the wars or seen combat?
In all my years havn't read about them.
However one old DCRA man who is now about 90 told me he owned one. The rifle was part of a batch modified in late WWII for British Royal Marines for a specific raid. Several years ago I had a brief look at it but declined to buy it, because I didn't know if it was original or not. Another member on this site also handled it too.
I would not doubt that many individual modified Enfields owned by hunters etc, were grabbed in a pinch somewhere during the wars. But several as part of an army unit, I don't know.
 
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