No. 4 trigger guard variation

[RangeRover]

Got the trigger guard pictured below as part of a small bunch of Enfield bits. Its shape is different from either the milled or stamped No. 4 guards on my Long Branch rifles, and I'm curious to find out more about it. I stuck it into a forestock to highlight shape difference. Wartime expedient? Only marking visible is is o^o stamped on the bottom.

http://www.milsurps.com/images/imported/2011/10/IMG_0588-1.jpg

http://www.milsurps.com/images/imported/2011/10/IMG_1360-1.jpg

[jona]

Have one just like it. Came on a 1943 Maltby. Yours is the only other one I have seen.

[jmoore]

I can't remember if there's one in my collection or not. Might induce some poking about!

[lngstrt]

Me too .....

http://www.milsurps.com/images/imported/2011/10/IMG_2843JPGcopy-1.jpg

43 Faz

[RangeRover]

I'm sure these are pretty common variations, but am curious about whether they are linked to specific manufacturers or production periods. Thanks for the pic of your lngstrt. Is yours a metal loop or a punched "plate" like mine pictured? I can't quite tell from the photo.

[lngstrt]

Is yours a metal loop or a punched "plate" like mine pictured? I can't quite tell from the photo.

Don't know. I'll pull it out later and look closer. The pic is from about 3 years ago when I first got it.

[Mk VII]

They turn up occasionally. Most people would probably replace it with a milled one.

[lngstrt]

I looked close at it again. Honestly looks like it was forged and the front end was 'pinched' rather than punched or milled out. If you look in the corner by the mag well the metal looks bent inward.

[tiriaq]

While the LB stamped guard was more or less standard after it was introduced, I suspect that most of these British stamped variants were replaced on rifles that remained in British service; they don't seem to be very common.