British sniper rifle

Gopher

New member
Talking to some friends of mine who went to the Mesquite gun show over the weekend. They came across a British .303 mk4 sniper rifle with matching scope. Can anyone fill me in on the history of this gun? I didnt know the Brits did much or any sniping in WW2. BTW the guy wanted $2800 for the gun.
 
*If* *all* the `numbers' (Including even the metal case w/ tools for the scope.) match and it hasn't been `shot out' the price is pretty much `right'. I've shot one and was pleasantly surprised at it's accuracy. (Actually shot under 1 MOA!) As for actually paying that much... I don't think I would even as nice as the one I shot was. (Now... $1K... As a `collector' item... I just might. {GRIN!} [The one I shot also had it's `coffin' / wooden case that was `fitted' to hold everything very nicely, too.])
 
These rifles were set up (converted) by Messrs. Holland & Holland on examples which had shown superior accuracy in the acceptance tests. As such they could come from any of the wartime factories. The telescope was originally intended for the Bren Gun but never used on that arm. They continued in service until the 1970s when they were replaced by ones which had been rebarreled to .308 Win under the designation L42A1.
The faker has been busy with this model in recent years and intending purchasers should be wary.
 
Suggest you get the book, "With British Snipers to the Reich" which gives you a firsthand account of British sniping. Another good book is Ian Skennerton's The British Sniper. Both are currently in print.

IMHO, the No 4 (T) was one of the better sniper rifle of WW II. Its optics were superior to our 03A4 Springfield's Weaver 330 (which fogged up and had to be drained) and more durable than the M84. It was more accurate than the M-1C Garand too.
 
MK VII,


I was *wondering* why that scope looked kinda `familiar'. Thanks for the info! (I guess that is what I get for reading too many books and `cluttering up' my `RAM' with all that `ganglinger'? {WAN GRIN!} 'Course now I'll get the chance to `amaze?' the owner of the one I had the good fortune to have shot with the info so I guess it's not *all* going to go to waste. {CHORTLE!} Now *if* I can find which ever book it was that had it in it.... {Pawing around madly through the piles of assorted piles of books masquerading as a `library'.... It's *gotta* be here someplace.... WAN GRIN!})
 
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