What to do with a Lee Enfield...

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Skaal-tel

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Hey nutters.

I have a fazakerly no4 mk1. Bought it on the exchange here, and now I'm at a crossroads..

I'd like to restore it to the best of my ability. I've contacted tradex and marstar for furniture and I've been watching e-bay for parts, but I'm starting to think I'd be better off spending the same or lesser amount of money buying the ATI stock, a scope and mount.

The rifle needs all the wood bits, bands, swivels, sling, front sight blades and sight protector.

It has a nice full length barrel, trigger works properly and it groups fairly well, albeit 16" high at 100m. It is currently wearing a ".015" front sight post which is the reason for the elevation. I haven't had a chance to shoot at the 300m with it yet!

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Just the sight blades alone are $40 shipped to my door on e-bay from the UK. V:I:

In any case.. Opinions?
 
It is a great candidate for restor. My cost in parts wanders around $150 to 200 for parts. I find it is worth it. However. If you want to put an ATI stock on it for hunting, go for it. It makes a fine hunter. Just don't cut down the barrel or you'll kick yourself in the butt some day. Or sell it to me :)
 
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It is a great candidate for restor. My cost in parts wanders around $150 to 200 for parts. I find it is worth it. However. If you want to put an ATI stock on it for hunting, go for it. It makes a fine hunter. Just don't cut down the barrel or you'll kick yourself in the butt some day. Or sell it to me :)
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and dont drill and tap it get one of the good no gunsmith mounts
 
I find it a little cheaper to work on no4's than no 1's.Definitely don't cut or chop,They just aren't making them anymore.Sell the sporter wood and get a stock if that's your thing just try not to do anything too radical.Of course it is your gun so you could do anything you want.It just makes ours worth more.
 
When you're finished, you will have a rifle worth $300 - $400, maybe.

You need to understand, just because this rifle can be dressed up, it will never be a high value collectable.

Not that there is a lot wrong with that but it really depends on your idea of what you think you will have when finished and what you really want when it's finished.

As pointed out, the bolt is wrong for that rifle.

There are people on this site that will have the front sight blades you are after. Much cheaper than $40 delivered. Put an ad in the EE.

Personally, if that were my rifle, I would look long and hard at a restoration. You can buy a complete rifle for the cost of what that rifle will cost you by the time it's finished.

P&S Militaria has complete rifles in the $350 range. They are correct as well. They have Turk surplus and Pakistani surplus. Take your pick. They are fairly valued and unique pieces.

I would caution you before you start to check into what goes on when refurbishing these old girls. They are fussy dressers and need to be fitted properly or they won't shoot well. The stocks need to have the ways fitted to the receivers and there needs to be the proper amount of forend pressure on the barrel. It isn't very often that I've put one together that doesn't need tweaking. Even with new or as new components.

Contact cantom on this site. He loves these challenges. He will give you some guidance that you can rely on and if you're nice to him, may even be able to help you source the parts you're looking for.

6167 may also help you out with parts at reasonable prices. His stuff is as new usually and priced accordingly.
 
Skaal-tel said:
Just the sight blades alone are $40 shipped to my door on e-bay from the UK. V:I:
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What absolute carp. Somebody is seriously pissing in your hat. PM me with what foresight element you need. I'LL sort it out.

OR

Fultons of Bisley, to whom I have just been talking, want £3-00 for a foresight element. You might care to give them a call - shipping might add a couple of dollars.

tac
 
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I vote for a restore.

If you do decide to restore, be patient and shop around. Check out some gun shows, antique shops and flea markets. Make some local contacts and you'll find the prices go way down.
 
If your not going to restore it, then sell it to someone that will then go buy something that's been modified to your liking.
 
Lots of no4 rifles had bolts with the drilled out knob. Now if it was a large hole then it would be a no5 bolt bought the small hole bolt can be found on both no4 and no5 rifles.

The serial number on the bolt will tell you if it's correct
 
First of all - yes the bolt serial number matches. It is all numbers matching. It IS a good candidate for a restoration.

I wish I'd found that P&S Militaria website a while back.. some nice equipment on there!

My biggest problem is that I have yet to find a retailer with a complete kit of parts to fix it up. I don't have any good gun shops in the area. Epps is the closest and they're ~4 hours drive away.

Thanks for the good advice bearhunter. Part of the reason I want to change the stock is to fit the barrel properly. That.. and this wood is sanded so bad it could be the proverbial ugly stick.

If I were to get a scope mount I would prefer a no drilling version. Would you recommend an ATI, S&K, fulton or addleyprecision mount?
 
Please restore her!The parts can be sourced!I'm in the middle of restoring a few #1 Mk. 3's and parts are hard to find for them...The #4's are not as bad,parts can be sourced here...good luck..
 
I have an ATI mount from Tradex and it works great. No wandering zero, it's SOLID. If you know how to torque a screw, it's not going anywhere! They run about 50 bucks. They also have ATI stock sets for $80, so you could save some shipping buying both at once.
 
Patience is a virtue. As others have said, parts can be had. I'm about to start restoring my fathers No4 MK1; got the final piece of the puzzle at Christmas time. I've been working on gathering them for the past year; an upper handguard here, metal bit there.

I'm also not restoring it with an eye toward resell value, mine is strictly personal.
 
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IronCanadian said:
Patience is a virtue. As others have said, parts can be had. I'm about to start restoring my fathers No4 MK1; got the final piece of the puzzle at Christmas time. I've been working on gathering them for the past year; an upper handguard here, metal bit there.

I'm also not restoring it with an eye toward resell value, mine is strictly personal.
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That's the key..Patience and trying to properly match the rifle as best as possible. Seen too many of these rifle's put back to 'original' configuration with all sorts of spares/wood from various sources/manufacturers.
 
i cant tell from your pic if the barrel is cut by the front sight or not ..it was common to chop the bayonet lugs off and leave just a bit of barrel past the sight block......IF the barrel is cut dont try and rebuild it ..by the time you get a barrel ...the wrench that won't destroy the knox form and a very strong vice you could but a really nice complete rifle ....been there done that ... if the barrel is not cut go to town and have fun rebuilding ..its a great learning experience
 
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