[Flyin Brian]

I'm a Finn Mosin collector and haven't had the opportunity to play with an Enfield until a few months ago I got to shoot one... I enjoyed it but I hadn't really considered buying one until I went into a new gun store today and looked at their over-priced milsurps. The owner showed me a plain-Jane Swedish Mauser on consignment for $1900!!! lol

So I mention that I like old military rifles and he says "hey I have an old Enfield in back, I'm asking $125 for it." so he went to get it. Here are the pics:

 

[Flyin Brian]

 

[krinko]

Nice early Long Branch-----and for $125, they should swear out a warrant for your arrest.

The backsight is from the 1950-ish era of LB production and the locking lever is folded in on itself, which is what makes it stick out like that. This is usually a fatal injury to the stamped type sight.
There are plenty of loose backsights out there, though, so it won't be hard to fix.
-----krinko

 

[FIVESHOT]

very nice bargain there . :thumbsup:



FIVESHOT

 

[milprileb]

Nice LB, when you going to fire it at distance like you do the Finns ?

PM sent.

 

[martin08]

Well, it looks like you did AOK, FB.

I suffered the same lapse of sanity a few weeks ago, and bought my first LE. I knew this to be a crazy move...

... it only took me a week to have a second one.

 

[Ronbo6]

I will take that old, 'broken' C-marked rear sight off your hands, and swap you a nice, low-maintenance, L flip sight for it from another 1942 Long Branch.

(Boy, can I be really nice when I want to be!)

 

[Ed Novak]

Ahh, uhhh. That CMk.3 can sometimes be very difficult to find. It is not very sturdy, the battle-sight has a tendency to get butt-stroked off in the gun safe by another rifle being put in alongside it (ask me how I know). Probably can be repaired, IF you can find the parts. Brian Dick (BDLLTD) may have parts, such as the sight slide. A worthwhile and correct fix is to by a Mk1 (milled steel) backsight from someone like Springfield Sporters. At my last check, SS had both new and used Mk1's for sale - about $20, IIRC. Were it me, I'd buy a used one to match the wear on the rifle. $125 for that wartime Mk.1* is almost a steal. I think that the LB rifles are second only to the BSA in fit and finish. Well done!

 

[bones92]

Wow, great find at a super price. Nice early LB.

 

[Flyin Brian]

Thanks for all the replies and info. I am all about keeping things original on my rifles but I also don't own anything I can't shoot, so I will probably keep the original sight but install a replacement to use for shooting. I am not familiar with SS but I saw there are some machined rear sights at Liberty Tree Collectors but it sounds like SS may be cheaper, so I will check both.

I will need to get some dies for .303 and of course some brass. I am thinking I will do the same as I have done with my Mosin reloading; I will buy some new PRVI ammo from AIM and then use that brass for my reloads, that has been a fantastic way to go on the Finns and I don't see why that wouldn't work on these rifles.

To Milprileb, kind of funny you should mention this... it was because of the long distance shooting that I even found this rifle!! There were 6 of us that all traveled out to the range in Sacramento yesterday and shot in the Military Silhouette match, which is shot at 200m to 500m. I shot my 1936 M/28-30 like usual, and had a rough time on the first 3 sets and then finished off with 9/10 chickens to win my class with a score of 19. Overall match winner hit a very respectable 29 with a 1903 Springfield.

So we went to leave and I had neglected to fill up the tank that morning and needed to find the nearest gas station which was the opposite direction of home. We pulled out of the gas station and someone in the back seat yelled "HEY A GUN STORE!!!" and the rest is history

 

[LVSteve]

Yeah, at that price the theft is nearing felony levels. Colour us all jealous.

Just check it does not have ZF stamped on the butt. The last $125 No.4 I bought arrived in town so marked. Could not see it in the auctions pics. Sigh. As it turned out somebody at work sold me a sportered Enfield a few weeks later so at least I had a proper stock set for it. I still have the ZF action and one day I may part out the remaining good bits.

 

[Flyin Brian]

Hi Steve, I looked it over very closely and the only stamps on the buttstock are the inspector stamps behind the trigger guard.

The rifle was owned personally by the owner of the gun shop. He said his Uncle had given him the rifle 40+ years ago when he was 11 years old. He had used it for hunting and plinking for many years but commented that he now has "real rifles" and no longer has a need for the old military crap... LOL I just smiled and said "I'll take it". Now that I think about it, is there any way to get more information on its history based on the import stamp on the barrel? I know with the Finn M-28s and 28-30s, finding a "Marathon Industries" is a good indication it was imported with all the other Marathon rifles, so is this CAI import mark common on these Long Branch enfields?

 

[Ed Novak]

Was curious so I just checked the SS site; "milled rear sight, new", $25. Just must love the folks divesting themselves of 'old military crap' It is highly unlikely that you will find any history of the rifle based on the import mark other than from which exporter and when the rifle was purchased for import. No.4s almost never ever have any historical markings on them from unit, etc. Some of the No.4s imported from Turkey had stacking rods - something that only the Turks did and some years ago I bought a near-new '49LB from Brian Dick who identified the rifle as one of several "Greek contract" LBs. Serial numbers can be researched for the rifles having been one of a batch of certain 'contract' rifles and some No.4s may be found with ownership markings such as the Thai-owned rifles. SMLEs often have a lot more information that can be read from their markings such as stampings, paint, ownership markings such as : '17 BSA with D^D, walnut and coachwood mixed, green tropical paint, military district number, various markings on the butt, dates on the wood, barrel date and serial number yielding some information but nothing really definitive or the Ost. Gend. SMLEs of the Austrian post-WWII force. CAI imported large numbers of No.4s; a very common importer stamp (CAI, St. Albans, VT). For many of us the knowledge or at least reasonable assurance that our milsurp saw service is an important issue and for others, NIB is as good as it gets whether it is a '55 Fazakerly or a Browning A-bolt. I will guess that a '42 LB likely saw service in WWII - desperate times for the Commonwealth, cannot imagine it sitting in a rack when even the Home Guard was strapped. Purely conjecture. Enjoy!

 

[Rumpelhardt]

Springfield Sporters if that's SS is cheaper but Liberty Tree will be weeks faster.