A nice looking Long Branch, a nice catch for someone......

[limpetmine]

The crudely stamped serial number is odd. It is a 1942 serial number. I understand that they sometimes would rebuild a rifle with a "black" receiver (un numbered) and stamp the old serial number on the new one. Could be yours was one of those? I do not know. What is the date on the barrel?

[Surpmil]

The forged and ground trigger guards were gone by late 1943 IIRC, so that's not right. The thick upper band went even earlier than that, though I believe Savage persisted with them longer. They are PITA to remove and refit so going to the thinner style was a wise move.

I don't know when LB stopped making deep drawn magazines, but it was probably before 1943 as well.

Ergo sum of its parts: a put together. Possibly in service, but still a put together.

[Lee Enfield]

snip...
The big fat CA stamp to the left of the receiver markings is what J. Edgar Hoover would call a clue. I think yours in a post war rebuild.

snip...

The marking on the left side of the receiver is clearly a pre-1947 "C Broad Arrow", as is the one on the top of the receiver ring. They are clearly not "CA" markings.

The "CA" is on the top of the knox form with the '58 C.MkIV markings

---------- Post added at 08:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:31 AM ----------

Don't forget the post WWII C Mk.3 rear sight.

IT's clearly not "post WWII", it doesn't have a "C" in front of the "MkIII", and the marking is earlier than the change to "C.Mk3".

The instruction to install MkIII rear sights onto Canadian owned rifles is Pre D-Day.

[Lee Enfield]

No, it's a 1943, but it has ALL appearances of a 1950 LB. I mean to a "T".
Proud wood on the butt plate.
Black steel butt plate.
The dimple on the top front stock band, by the front sight, which was only done on 49's and 50's LB's.
The cartouches by the trigger guard are post war vintage. The front handguard flat has the postwar style, not the more rounded war years style.


I could go on and on. If I put this one next to 10 other 1950's that I have, I'd challenge you to spot it.

It's an anomaly. I wonder if they "found" this receiver laying around the shop, say, mid 1950, and ran it through the process. It looks too clean to be a put together. Not a messed up screw head on the thing.

But then, I'm a Long Branch geek.

??? That kind of doesn't make sense on several levels:

Early front sight guard
Early thick front band
Early trigger guard
Early safety spring
Early safety

All these items were discontinued @mid war (1943!) production.

It's the war-time Canadian MkIII rear sight (doesn't have a "C." before the "MkIII" and the "MkIII isn't "C.Mk3" marked)

The instruction to begin retro-fitting MkIII rear sights was issued before D-Day.


If you had said that it was an early 1943 assembled gun that was serialized in late '43 it would make alot more sense.

The walnut stock was in use in 1943, and steel butt plates were definately in use during the war, so I don't understand your claiming them as "1950s". Having said that, the butt stock has "waffle pattern" vice marks on it possibly indicating replacement at some point.

Oh and serial numbers are known to have been pretty much the last thing applied to a completed rifle at Long Branch.

I would call it a quite nice war-time not messed with Long Branch.