Import Markings

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The marks vary by importer and when they were marked. I have seen some that I almost needed a magnifying glass to read and there were hidden as best as they could be. I had one that it was tiny and under the bolt handle so you had to open the bolt to see it, even then it was very small.

Now, they have gotten stricter about them being larger and more visible.
 
When you're wrong you're wrong,:eek: if you will excuse me for a few minutes I need to take my foot out of my mouth. I took it down again, took a flash light ( to reflect shadows ) and a glass and sure enough, the markings are there. So unobtrusive I don't see how they could hurt the value. But they are there, and I thought I had looked it over thoroughly. Damn, these senior minutes are getting longer and longer. Sorry about that, maybe I should take it out and shoot it some., seeing I all ready shot myself in the foot:)
 
RJ,
Don't let it worry you. I'm usually wrong 2-3 times before I get out of bed in the morning.

As I said in my post, some of the older markings are tough to see/find. Not like the ones today which are horrible electric penciled billboards put on by what seems to be drunk violent rhinos.
 
Not really a senior moment, RJay. I had to use gasoline and really scrub at that cosmoline, and I knew the marking was there. Had I not been sure, I would probably have thought as you did.

BTW, mine has a No. 5 trigger guard, which I thought interesting.

Jim
 
The "Irish" No. 4s are all in the stratosphere now as far as prices go. I have seen several of them sell for $600+ on Gunbroker.

You might be better off looking for an old Lee-Enfield RIC carbine for about the same money.
 
Lee-Enfield RIC carbine - ~10,000 made, sell for over $1,500

Lee-Enfield Irish contract rifles - ~40,000 - 70,000 made, sell for $400 - $600


Although the carbines are pretty neat, I would rather have one of the contract rifles. They were made for Ireland, but never delivered for, ahhh, political reasons. Think it would be kinda neat for one of them to find their way into Irish hands finally. :D
 
BTW, mine has a No. 5 trigger guard, which I thought interesting.
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A No5 jungle carbine trigger guard does not fit the No4 MkII, unless the trigger mount has been milled off. The trigger guard on the MkII's can be either "straight" or "wasp waist" front tangs. Very similar in appearance right down the the narrow (0.48) trigger ring.


Although the carbines are pretty neat, I would rather have one of the contract rifles. They were made for Ireland, but never delivered for, ahhh, political reasons. Think it would be kinda neat for one of them to find their way into Irish hands finally.
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A small number of the Irish contract rifles saw service in the Irish national guard.

Only a small percentage of the IC's have been accounted for. I have one in the wrap, I have unwrapped one, and have two that have seen previous service.
 
Hi, madcratebuilder,

Hmmm. I have one of the waist type and that is the same type of cut used on the No. 5 (to reduce weight). Now I guess I will have to unwrap it to find out if they used the same tooling to make the trigger guard for the No. 4 Mk II or if they modified No.5 guards. I will have a big mess, no matter what.

Jim
 
I don't mind unobtrusive import marks. I buy inexpensive guns and of course I hope their value increases, but I'm not expecting a $300 C&R purchase to make me rich. What I do hate are large importers stamps, some of which are so big they deface the guns they're on.
 
Lee-Enfield RIC carbine - ~10,000 made, sell for over $1,500
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$1500??? Where have you been looking. I have seen at least three in the last year that were about $700-800 on Gunbroker.
 
What I do hate are large importers stamps, some of which are so big they deface the guns they're on.
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I believe that BATF has mandated new standards for the size, location and info contained in the import marks. But then they once decided that a shoelace was a machine gun...:rolleyes:
 
I didn't search GunBroker. I've honestly never been on the site. I just did a google search using the terms "Lee-enfield RIC carbine" and the stores that were selling them ranged from $1000 to $1600
 
As stated above by several, anything imported after the GCA of 1968 will have import marks. It is part of the process of collecting for most of us.
All my Soviet/Finnish/Czech/Romanian Mosins have import marks.
As for my Enfields:
1917 LSA No.1 Mk.III (no *) - no
1946 Fazakerly No.5 Mk.I - no (but does have British marks showing that it was sold out of service)
1945 longbranch No.4 Mk.I* - yes
My Spanish and Chilean Mauser variations - yes.
 
Hi, madcratebuilder,

Hmmm. I have one of the waist type and that is the same type of cut used on the No. 5 (to reduce weight). Now I guess I will have to unwrap it to find out if they used the same tooling to make the trigger guard for the No. 4 Mk II or if they modified No.5 guards. I will have a big mess, no matter what.
Click to expand...

Happy New Year Jim.

All of the PF and UF series MkII's I have seen that were unmolested have the wasp-waist TG. It looks just like the TG from the JC's but the JC TG has the block to hang the trigger from. As I recall the block is welded (brazed) on after the TG is cut. Wouldn't surprise me to see Faz use the same equipment for making these.

Irish PF series

unwrap03.jpg
 
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