Hope I placed this is the right forum - please move if I haven't (TY)
I recently bought a 1942 Lee Enflield no.4 mk1 - I have a nice collection of Russian WW2 weapons, now moving on to other allies of the war.
I gather from the ENGLAND stamp and the AB followed by a numerical 1XXXX that it was but in England. There are no US or Canadian markings.
MY question though is one that bothers me: In all photos of that year's rifles do I see a shortened hand guard - 12 inches of barrel are exposed, leading to the sight protectors and bayonet.
I see LE that look like this, but have not seen a no4 mk1. All of those have wood nearly to the end of the muzzle. I just am not sure when this change, or even why this change was done (I do know different methods were tried to reduce weight) and I know this rifle is definitely lighter than one with a full wood hand guard - and I'll add, that I don't believe anything on this rifle was switched out, at least 70 years. Anyone have info on this?
I guess my focus is on aesthetics - I had in mind the very classic boxy look of the Lee Enfield that I see in every movie. I'm sure I could find full rails, but I believe this is how the rifle was made, so as a collector, I want to keep it this way.
Any info would greatly be appreciated.
John
I recently bought a 1942 Lee Enflield no.4 mk1 - I have a nice collection of Russian WW2 weapons, now moving on to other allies of the war.
I gather from the ENGLAND stamp and the AB followed by a numerical 1XXXX that it was but in England. There are no US or Canadian markings.
MY question though is one that bothers me: In all photos of that year's rifles do I see a shortened hand guard - 12 inches of barrel are exposed, leading to the sight protectors and bayonet.
I see LE that look like this, but have not seen a no4 mk1. All of those have wood nearly to the end of the muzzle. I just am not sure when this change, or even why this change was done (I do know different methods were tried to reduce weight) and I know this rifle is definitely lighter than one with a full wood hand guard - and I'll add, that I don't believe anything on this rifle was switched out, at least 70 years. Anyone have info on this?
I guess my focus is on aesthetics - I had in mind the very classic boxy look of the Lee Enfield that I see in every movie. I'm sure I could find full rails, but I believe this is how the rifle was made, so as a collector, I want to keep it this way.
Any info would greatly be appreciated.
John