Enfield NO4 MK1 questions.

[tahunua001]

hello all,
it's been a while since I posted here. I recently acquired a Enfield No 4 MK1 from my brother in law and must say that it is an impressive rifle despite the rough appearance. the same day I bought mine my little brother also started to piece together a sporterized No 4 MK1 in a friends basement(he's got everything but a trigger assembly and magazine). I have a few questions though.

even though they are both MK1s his has the variable height rear site post and mine has a 300 meter aperture and a flip up 600 meter aperture. I am fairly sure that both his and mine are just junked together rifles but I was curious.

which sights did the MK1 come with originally?
his has made in canada stamped on the right side of the reciever and C NO4 MK1* LONG BRANCH 1949 stamped on the left but the only markings mine has is US PROPERTY stamped on top, 5NO4 MK1* on the left and the usual CAI etchings on the rear left. I was wondering if anyone knew who made mine and if they knew how to date the serial.

also, mine has a considerable amount of exterior rust while his looks almost brand new, is there any way of removing it or should I just let it go to add "character"?

 

[458winshooter]

303 Brit

I have a #4 MkI and it has the 300/600 arpiture sight.It is marked 1942 if that matters.

 

[trg42wraglefragle]

Correct me if I'm wrong.

But your one was made by Savage, these were marked US property as they were officially on loan to the British by the US, because the Brits couldn't manufacture them fast enough or in large enough amounts so the US made them for them, with the intention of sorting out the payment after the war.

From all the ones I've seen the Savages are the only ones with the 300/600yrd sight, but the Canadian/British ones all had the proper adjustable peep sight.

There were also some made in Australia, I can't remember what sights they had though.

Have you had a look at all the serial numbers to see if they're original or not?

 

[Bigfatts]

I'm pretty sure both sights were used and can be considered original. I don't know a whole lot about Lee Enfields in their military configuration but they can make very nice hunting rifles when done correctly. Depending on how extensive the rust is on your's there are a few ways of removing it. There are many rust penetrating products out there. Should be a number of them available at any hardware store. Hit the rust with that and then take a no2 pencil to it. Get it good and sharp and hit the rust spots with the lead. It will flake off the rust without doing damage to the bluing. For heavy rust spots they sell fiberglass pencils in the auto section at Wally World. Basically just fiberglass threads in a pencil form. Can be messy, lay down something disposable to catch the shed fibers, and wear gloves. I learned the hard way with that. For larger areas of light rust use the rust penetrant and then 0000 steel wool, it will eat fine rust and won't damage the bluing if you don't King Kong it. There are lots of other ways too but thise are a couple quick ones. If you're thinking of building a hunting rifle out of your's good luck with it and have fun. It can be done inexpensively. Below is a pic of the last one I built:

Chopped up the action myself:

*EDIT* just noticed the pics of your's. Probably salvageable in military configuration, I wouldn't sporter it unless the rust is bad enough to diminish th value of the rifle significantly.

 

[madcratebuilder]

These are the typical backsights used on the No4 LE.

From all the ones I've seen the Savages are the only ones with the 300/600yrd sight, but the Canadian/British ones all had the proper adjustable peep sight.

Very early Savage and Long Branch used the Mk1 backsight. Both switched to the war time expedient Mk2 within months of production start.

Savage and Long Branch marked Mk1 backsights are very uncommon.

There were also some made in Australia, I can't remember what sights they had though.

The Aussies made the NoI Lithgow, no No4 LE's.

 

[tahunua001]

ok that helps a lot, mine is the mark 2 and my little brothers is definitely a mark 4 so it's safe to say that his sight is not the original

so here's another question, his is canadian, mines american, his looks almost new with very litle surface rust and mine looks how you would expect it to look after a few decades of sitting in someones closet but with the CAI etched into the reciever. which of these would have greater value(assuming that all my numbers match and he can find the original trigger group and peep sight)?

 

[thedaddycat]

No. 1 Mk III* top No. 4 Mk 2 bottom.

Sights on the No. 1 Mk III* are forward of the receiver but calibrated out to 2000 vs. 1300 on the No. 4 MK 2

 

[tahunua001]

daddy cat, both of the rifles inquired about are No4 MK1s mine is just an american made CAI rifle with the Mark 2 apertures and my brothers is a canadian(unknown importer) with a mark 4 rear sight post.

 

[madcratebuilder]

ok that helps a lot, mine is the mark 2 and my little brothers is definitely a mark 4 so it's safe to say that his sight is not the original

The Mark 4 backsight can be original to the Long Branch No4's

so here's another question, his is canadian, mines american,

His is a Long Branch, yours is a Savage.

his looks almost new with very litle surface rust and mine looks how you would expect it to look after a few decades of sitting in someones closet but with the CAI etched into the reciever. which of these would have greater value(assuming that all my numbers match and he can find the original trigger group and peep sight)?

Condition is very important for price. The closer to original condition the better.

I assume both these No4's have the war time expedient bolt release?

Serial numbers???

he can find the original trigger group

You lost me, please expand on that.

 

[tahunua001]

both of them have the quick release bolts. he literally pieced his together from a series of piles of gun parts, the reciever, barrel and, bolt match and he couldn't find a wood stock that fit so he ended up settling for a synthetic sporter stock and he ran out of time to find the trigger, trigger guard and, magazine. if the MK4 sight can come stock on the long branches then that's a big plus for him. the stock is probably going to be his major downfall.