New Ugliest gun added to my collection

[dc dalton]

UGH, an Enfield ... I still have bruises on my shoulder from firing one 3 weeks ago (a friend brought it up) ... accurate as hell but OMFG the pain the PAIN!

[lexington86]

Originally Posted by Pector55

I had a box waiting for me when I got home from work tonight. I got my first Lee Enfield. It's a 1943 No.4 MK I. This is the ugliest gun I own. I'm going to add a pic but just curious as to whether there are any other Enfield owners on the board?

Any tips or things to look for as I strip and clean it?

Just curious... do you have a C&R license?

I'm interested in getting mine so I can gather up a bunch of goodies before they're all gone or super expensive.

[Pector55]

Originally Posted by lexington86

Just curious... do you have a C&R license?

I'm interested in getting mine so I can gather up a bunch of goodies before they're all gone or super expensive.

Yes, and it has been dangerous. Since getting my C&R here is what I have snatched up or ordered and awaiting:

Mosin M44
Mosin M38
Mosin 91/30
Mosin 91/30 Hex
Nagant Revolver
Swiss K31
Yugo M24/47
Enfield No4 MK1
M1 Garand
K98
Carcano 91/24
Nagant Revolver

The cool thing is, if you take out the Garand, I think they all add up to not much more than my AR. LOL It's a great bang for the buck to have a C&R.

See, one they have a registry and they come for the guns, I will hand them one old bolt action at a time and give them the teary-eyed history lesson while my kids run out the back with the ARs and AKs.

[lexington86]

Is there a thread around here somewhere for talking about C&R stuff? I'd rather not hijack this thread.

[Pector55]

Well, I feel better now. I got the butt stock off and hit all the furniture with 3-4 coats of Easy Off, the wiped it down in hot soapy water with Dawn dish soap and 00 steel wool. I blew it off with the air compressor and I have it on my pool table to dry for a few days. The wood was pretty much black and now you can see that it's a heavy (I'm guessing walnut?) with nice grain to it. I plan on just rubbing it with Linseed oil before putting it back together. My optimism and excitement for the gun has tripled since yesterday.

Does anyone know why some have the rear sight leaf and some (mine) just have the aperature?

Also, I found that mine has a "B" stamped on it with the M47. According to Wiki, "World War II UK production rifles had manufacturer codes for security reasons. For example, BSA Shirley is denoted by M47C, ROF(M) is often simply stamped "M", and BSA is simply stamped "B"." This would mean mine was made in the U.K. as Century advertised. More specifically, it would be from the Birmingham Small Arms Co. Ltd.

[wizzegun]

Countries like the UK and Germany used manufacturing codes so that the manufacturing cities would not be targeted by enemy air forces.

Your Enfield does seem to be from BSA. BUT if it is marked M47B then some parts were made at a subcontractor BSA Guns, Reddich. You also have to remember that these rifles would also have been re-arseneled and may have mixed parts. Are there any country ownership marks? Usually these will be on the front of the receiver, on the top or side, or on the buttstock socket.

[Pector55]

Here she is cleaned up a bit. The wood was black and sticky when I got it. There was some light rust around the receiver area. I basically just did the oven cleaner, 00 steel wool and Tru oil treatment. I also used steel wool and some bluing on the reciever to clean it up a bit. I didn't go overboard because I wanted it to stay old looking but I didn't want to have any rust on it. The buttstock is not the same wood as the rest of the gun so it has most likely been replaced. Then again, during the war, I don't know if they cared about making things match. Maybe they had different piles of inventory. There is what appears to be a "JC" in the stock and the buttstock.

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[Garpman]

Wow Pector, our milsurp collections almost mirror each other. The one difference is that I have an Arisaka Type 99 but not yet a Carcano of any model, and a couple of other things I don't see on your list. The other thing is I don't have a C&R.

Oh, and I have two Enfields. A No. 4 MKI* (pronounced "star") and a No. 5 "Jungle Carbine".

If you want a lot of info about No. 4 and No. 5 rifles, I recommend you get the book by Charles Stratton by North Cape Pubs.

I too have a thing for WWII stuff, except I'm going hardcore, and I expect it to take my whole life to complete. I want all rifles, subguns (even if semi copies), sidearms, machine guns, accessories and bayonets. I'm not stopping at the major participants but am going for the Axis Minors as well like Iraq, etc.

[wizzegun]

Great job Pector! Not so ugly anymore, eh? (sorry for the "eh" my wife is Canadian)

[britisharmy]

To answer your question on the sight, when rifles were made for the war effort they out on the two position flip "battle sight" marked for 300/600 yards.
The micrometer sight was too fidly to use in battle.
So you at least know your rifle was in the war.
I have a 1943 Maltby no4 mk1 that was also in the war, it had the battle sight and the stock had a lot of sand in it when I took it apart for cleaning.
You can buy the micrometer sight but the marked graduations will not work as the rifle will have been zeroed for the ammo and the flip sight.
http://www.ssporters.com/parts/enfield4.htm have them, its 40B