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Very thick sculls Gil, I believe they went for heart and lungs shots around here ... Several of them, crazy takes some stopping, even when rule .303 is applied!
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02-06-2017 07:33 PM
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The reason that I ask is that I have a U.K. deactivated No4 mk2 with the normal U.K. military markings etc that would be expected but it is the only No4 rifle that I have seen with a butt disc. This butt disc is made of plastic but appears professionally fitted by inletting it into the butt and it has a number marked on it, presumably a rack/armoury number. I will try to post some pictures later when I get time, perhaps at the end of the week. This deac is quite precious to me because it was the first one that I purchased and it is a fully matching numbers rifle apart from the mag; even the wood is number matching. It doesn't appear to have had too much heavy use, it's just used.
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Sounds interesting F10, please do post pics, it's worth remembering that your rife might have served with any of a very large number of countries, so it could be a foreign rack number...
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Thank You to Flying10uk For This Useful Post:
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Contributing Member
Originally Posted by
Flying10uk
Here are some pictures of my U.K. deactivated No4 mk2 rifle and it is a 1996 dated deac. As mentioned previously it is the only No4 rifle that I've ever seen with a butt disc and while I could have removed it, it seemed better to leave it as is, part of the rifle's history. I did wonder if this butt disc was fitted by a Police force or a Private School's Combined Cadet Force but this is pure speculation on my part. Whoever did the deactivation work got a little carried away, because the locking lug has been completely removed from the bolt, as can be seen in the picture.
Any further information relating to this rifle is greatly received, thanks.
Interesting F10, assuming the rifle hasn't been restored, I would say taking it's general excellent cosmetic condition into account, its service must have been very brief.
I wonder if there's a Maritime connection here, the rack number and excellent condition perhaps relating to a ships armoury??
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I don't think that it's ever been restored; all I've ever done to it is give it a clean and an occasional oil. There doesn't appear to be any foreign markings on it which I can see.
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A great deal of care is taken when these number plates are sunk into butts, so one has to, from that, assume it was in a rack, honed to an individual who could abstract it easily. From there its just guess work as to where or who would have done that. We have all our weapons numerically plated in The Parachute Regiment museum and that is so members of the public can refer to them easily from a description card nearby which I feel might be the explanantion in your rifle.
Certainly, IMHO I wouldn't see that happening in an Army unit generally, but Armourers on here may be able to help.
CCF/ACF units maybe if it was deactivated at the time and only used for acquaintance use!
Last edited by Gil Boyd; 02-11-2017 at 07:54 AM.
'Tonight my men and I have been through hell and back again, but the look on your faces when we let you out of the hall - we'd do it all again tomorrow.' Major Chris Keeble's words to Goose Green villagers on 29th May 1982 - 2 PARA
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Thank You to Gil Boyd For This Useful Post:
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Marking like that, by routing the butt would not be permitted in the Army/forces generally in my opinion. Maybe we're getting a bit carried away...... It looks like a normal rifle club rifle to me. Ex-Military, a lick of varnish over poorly finished wood and paint over the bare patches. I'd like to see more of what is/seems to be under the quick paint job - last 2x photos, 13 - 14
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Legacy Member
A few decades years ago there was a batch of century imports, well worn No 4 MK II and No 4 MK I that has been "sanitized" and re-serialized. These rifles, I saw 4 of them over a ten year period were late 40s PF I/II guns which had the marking removed as sell as one Longbranch. The one thing that was identical was each of the buttstocks had a metal disc inletted into the buttock, much like the trials No 1 Mk VI and No 4 Mk IV rifles.
The best I was able to track down was these were surplused out of Rhodesia around 1996 to 1998. The chai who told me that said thee came out with ex-police stocks including a bunch of 1970s Auto 5 riot shotguns. I believe the arms were used by the BSAP or its successor, though I saw speculation they were supplied by SA post embargo (1965?), pre the large shipment of ex-Portuguese G3 rifles (1976?). In any case some No4 in colonial service did have discs inletted in them.
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Thank You to Frederick303 For This Useful Post:
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Here's another couple of pictures showing the slight change/difference in paint which I think Peter was referring to in his last post. This is a U.K. deactivated rifle and so when it was deactivated, to comply with the law and spec part of the deac work was to cross-drill the chamber, fit a hardened pin and then weld in place. This is in addition to the chamber and most of the barrel having a longitudinal slot cut along its length. The chamber slot on this particular deac looks relatively wide, possibly cut with an angle grinder which obviously generates heat as it cuts.
I believe that the slightly different shade (matt) of black paint which I've pointed out with the pen tip is where the paintwork has been touched up following the welding of the cross pin and slotting of the chamber.
I am not David Bailey and I am only just about capable of using a digital camera and so my photographs will not always be perfect. The woodwork is not as shiny, in real life, as it may appear in the pictures; the camera flash may make it look more glossy than it actually is. I don't believe that the woodwork has ever been lacquered but it may have had a wax polish. Possibly this was done by a dealer to try to "smarten it up" and encourage a sale?
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