No4 mk II (F) Irish contract... got the pic up.

plinker 777 said:
I don't believe Canadians were ever issued the Mk2. a certain amount of this production run was slated for the Irish Republic....before the IRA kicked up its heels, these are now commonly referred to as the "Irish Contract" rifles. The British government rescinded this contract for fear of potentially arming a terrorist organization......lucky them, lucky us!:D
Click to expand...

I understood the reason for the cancellation of the purchase came from the Irish - they decided they wouldn't need/want them because they wanted to replace their Enfields with a more modern rifle, e.g. the FN FAL. The "Irish Contract" rifles never became Irish, they are the production batches that would have gone to fulfilling that contract but instead went into British war stocks until they were sold off surplus.
 
TheTooner said:
I understood the reason for the cancellation of the purchase came from the Irish - they decided they wouldn't need/want them because they wanted to replace their Enfields with a more modern rifle, e.g. the FN FAL. The "Irish Contract" rifles never became Irish, they are the production batches that would have gone to fulfilling that contract but instead went into British war stocks until they were sold off surplus.
Click to expand...

Not to hijack the thread, but the issue of the "Irish Contract" rifles was recently discussed on the gunboards Lee Enfield forum. A member there by the name of Fritz had been researching these rifles and had made some interesting findings. This link should get you there:

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?259438-Enfield-No-4-MK2-(F)-questions

If I am not supposed to put up links to other forums, let me know and I will remove it (I am on too many forums with too many rules - can't keep up with them lol).
 
It arrived today. Turns out it's an "Irish contract" rifle based on the serial number... PF316***... apparently the Irish contract rifles were serial numbered PF309348 to PF359347 I'm not sure what makes that special, but it seems to be a desirable rifle according to folks over at milsurps... Can someone chime in on this? What is the deal with the Irish contract rifles?
All the numbers I can see are matching, mag, bolt, receiver, lower wood etc... The top wood looks a bit darker than the lower but I don't see any numbers on it. Beautifull rifle though. It's got a really smooth action and the rifling looks 110%! really nice!

Here's another pic
703679bb.jpg
 
Last edited:
Yes, they are desirable because they are the absolute last word in British military Lee infantry rifles, a series which began in 1879.

Also, they were released in wrap, absolutely unfired. What guys were buying were brand-new rifles which were built and put away 20 and 30 years before they were born.

MOST Lee-Enfield rifles to hit the market in the last 93 years have been somewhere betwen "pretty good" and "scrap".

Remember, a Lee-Enfield Number 4 rifle in World War II cost $60. An ounce of Gold was $35. Are you willing to pay $3000 for a brand-new one? THAT is the comparison.
.
 
Thanks Smellie. That is very interesting, you can certainly tell it was not used much at all. From some other digging I have done I discovered that many of the handguards on this particular contract, were made of a straightgrained hardwood that did not 100% match the beechwood grain or color of the butt and forestock. That's a relief to know it's not likely a replacement.

I can't help but wonder what ever happened to the bayo... Oh well. I guess an aftermarket replacement is better than nothing. Cannot wait to shoot this thing!
 
Number 9 bayonet is the sticker for your rifle, Mikey.

Vicious-looking little brute.

Anthony has some at Trade-Ex (banner advertiser, 10 o'clock from the world-famous CGN Beaver, top of this page), $15 in real nice condition but he has no Scabbards. He also has the World War II pattern, the Mark 2, in pretty good shape, WITH correct Scabbard, at $6.95. He also has kits of Oiler, Sling and Pull-through for $10. They are Danish and everyone knows that Danish go really well with open-face sandwiches and akvavit. Or is that something else? But he does have the kits!!!

Download yourself a copy of "Shoot To Live!" from the milsurps dot com website. It is a Canadian manual, originally written in 1944, and it is the BEST book ever done on marksmanship with YOUR rifle: the Number 4.

Have at 'er!

Hope this helps.
.
 
Great post guys. It has helped me to confirm my new rifle is an "Irish Contract" baby. I bought it from a gun show in Moose Jaw 2 weeks ago for a overly fair price. I have been smiling ever since. I will post some pictures when I return home from traveling for work. From what I can remember it is a 12/54 PF33###x. Nice beech and perfect. I have been wanting a LE for years and to stumble onto this beauty is exactly why it pays off to hit up small town gun shows from time to time as a MILSURP collector.
 
Well I stripped all the wood off of it today and inspected everything, cleaned out a whack of hidden cosmo from all the nooks and crannies, and put it back together. Good thing i did as there were several loose screws...

I also fashioned myself a tool for the front sight screw... Kind of a neet feature, and should be easier to adjust windage than drifting. Although I don't like the idea of a part that could break easily like this looks like it could.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom