What's wrong with these Cno7 chests I bought today?

stencollector

stencollector

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I was at my favorite surplus yard today and was looking at some Cno7 rifle chests that he had. I ended up buying 3, but two of them are not the normal Cno7 chests I am used to. Here is a photo of the 3:

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The front chest is a nicely marked, original paint, Cno7 chest. But the back ones, besides having been repainted a couple times, seem to be a bit different. They are about 3 inches taller, and have leather handles instead of the usual canvas sling handles of a proper Cno7 chest. Some of the internal dividers are a bit different as well.

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Above is the Cno7 chest
And here is the inside of one of the other two:
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While the taller ones had signs of being used for Cno7s, such as very low serial numbers on the boxes, and even a 22 jag still in the bottom of one of them, I suspect that they were for some other rifle, as there is a serial number that is just too high for a Cno7 trainer:

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I guess the real giveaway is the markings on the back of one of the boxes:
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And for those who are still wondering, both the oddball boxes have the following markings stamped in the end:
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1943 and the C/l\

All in all a pretty good day. Quite frankly, I would have been happy with just the Cno7 chest in this nice a condition.
 
LeeEnfieldNo.4_mk1 said:
I say you got a pretty good score on the Mk1(T) chest, now all you need is a (T) to go in it... Or are you one Lucky SOB and already have one?:)
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I have had a lot more no4mk1Ts than I have had Canadian chests. In fact, until now I had more LB no4mk1Ts than Cdn chests.

I have a Brit made Cdn marked no4mk1T that is going to fit nicely into one of these boxes.

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I was at my favorite surplus yard today ...
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Judging by your location, I would have to assume that yard is in Westbourne. Am I close?

If so, I spent a lot of money there as a teenager, kitting up my Air Cadet squadron back home. Mostly everyone else's money, but when you're the kid with the wheels and it's a 3hr drive each way, you can set the price list!:D
 
j-man said:
Judging by your location, I would have to assume that yard is in Westbourne. Am I close?

If so, I spent a lot of money there as a teenager, kitting up my Air Cadet squadron back home. Mostly everyone else's money, but when you're the kid with the wheels and it's a 3hr drive each way, you can set the price list!:D
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Indeed it was, it has been one of my favorite stomping grounds for close to 30 years now. I still seem to find something new every time I go out there.
 
From what I recall, Westbourne was better run by the father but he passed away some time ago. All my dealings (20 years ago) were with the son and his mom. Maybe it was because I was a teenager, but I always felt like I was under surveillance while I was there or that he had better things to do with his time. I can clearly remember showing up with hundreds of dollars in my pockets to buy the guys back home combats, only to be told they were closed.

That said, they did (and still do) have a lot of 'stuff'. I only scratched the surface of what was in the other yard, down the road off the highway. With the number of palletized crates there, I could only imagine the goldmine he had. Too bad he didn't market that place a little better.
 
jennis said:
Out of curiousity what would a transit chest go for in decent shape ( ballpark )
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Cno7 transit cases will run you anywhere from $30-60 these days at gunshows, and if on ebay usually run from around $120 to 200.

Brit sniper chests seem to run around $400-800 on fleabay. A Cdn sniper chest would likely be in upper half of that range, although I have never seen one available by itself.

Do you have something laying about Jennis?
 
Just in case some of you missed it........the lower chest with the brown paint is serial numbered to a LB T (80L8 range) that were paired with a C67 (aka No. 32 Mk 4) scope. Roughly 1 or 104ish.............

Lucky guy, put me a the head of the line for that one if you decide to sell one day!
 
lance said:
Just in case some of you missed it........the lower chest with the brown paint is serial numbered to a LB T (80L8 range) that were paired with a C67 (aka No. 32 Mk 4) scope. Roughly 1 or 104ish.............

Lucky guy, put me a the head of the line for that one if you decide to sell one day!
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That's the first thing I mentioned to Stencollector, that might be in the C67 s/n range...nice find indeed.
Now, all he has to do is find someone with a C67...not too many of them around.:confused:
 
lance said:
Just in case some of you missed it........the lower chest with the brown paint is serial numbered to a LB T (80L8 range) that were paired with a C67 (aka No. 32 Mk 4) scope. Roughly 1 or 104ish.............

Lucky guy, put me a the head of the line for that one if you decide to sell one day!
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Sadly I cannot offer you a place in line. The 80L box is already spoken for, and I am going to hold on to the other box.

Both Sniper boxes have a makers mark of KML along with the 1943 date on the ends. Hopefully Wheaty has some info on who that is. According to a milsurps post, all the sniper chests were supposed to be HCF.

I talked with a retired weapons tech who told me about tearing down sniper rifles into their spare parts while employed at 202 workshop. Odds are that 80L8092 no longer exists as a sniper rifle. It may exist as a regular no4 mind you, some were converted back to regular no4s and issued to the rangers.

Nice to see I am not the only guy with a horse shoe up his arse when it comes to finding Enfield stuff!
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Yes Granite, but I am a nice guy, and deserve some good finds once in a while. I usually don't get nothing (as my spoiled daughter used to say). :D
 
stencollector said:
Sadly I cannot offer you a place in line. The 80L box is already spoken for...
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Got your email Rob... thanks .. :)

Darn ... ;)

Chest would have gone nicely with ~Angel's~ 1945 Enfield No.4 Mk1*(T) Longbranch Sniper Rifle Serial # 90L8161http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=3511 c/w matching Model No.32 Mk.3 R.E.L Canada Scope Serial # 174-C.

Pretty close .... :)

If Wheaty or yourself can write up something brief, we'll add it under "Collectors Comments and Feedback" on the appropriate section covering transit chests in all of the Knowledge Library articles. Some good close up pics of those markings would go nicely as well.

Regards,
Badger
 
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