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Thread: Question on desporterizing a No.1 MkIII

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    Legacy Member Rumpelhardt's Avatar
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    Question on desporterizing a No.1 MkIII

    I have a chance to get a No.1 MkIII that is sporterized. it looks to be in about the same condition as the 1941 Long Branch I posted about. The barrel is uncut and the bore looks good.l It needs all the wood and sundry small parts. The price is very good (less than I payed for the long Branch). these look to be a bit more involved than the No.4's so I was wondering just how much harder it would be to find parts and if the No.1s are much harder to work on than the No.4s.
    Thanks for your time
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    An original No1 Mk111 fore-end would be hard to come by, in fact even a No1 Mk111* is not that easy to find, there are New unissued ones about (No1 Mk111*) but don,t have the same character as the original.

    The butt is another scarce item ( original ones) a No4 can be used but they have a lot more meat on them than a SMLE one.

    It would pay to price up the bits first, Numrich do stock sets but don,t know the condition and they are Mk111* I think.

    Ebay is another place for bits etc but the prices have gone daft, in some cases, depending on the initial outlay, it my be worth binding your time and holding on until a nice complete example pops up.

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    Legacy Member Rumpelhardt's Avatar
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    Debubbaing Enfields is kind of my new adopted Hobie.I like guns , I have a great interest in verious World War 2 weapons, I have for many years liked tinkering with guns and I kind of like scrounging online for parts. studying the history of these things is great as well. Having said that I don't want to dig into something I can't finish or that will need specialized work done by some one else.

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    Advisory Panel Patrick Chadwick's Avatar
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    Doubtful economics

    Quote Originally Posted by Rumpelhardt View Post
    It needs all the wood and sundry small parts.

    Don't fool yourself. Sit down and make a complete list of the parts you need. It will probably be longer than you think.

    For instance you need not just a buttstock, but also the brass buttplate (very expensive on online auctions) and the sling swivel and (maybe) the stock bolt! You need not just the fore-end wood, but the nosecap and the correct screws, which have their own rarity value, because of the threads, and the bands and the inner band and the springs and the dooda that pushes up under the nosecap! Etc. etc. Is the foresight block still there? How about the backsight?

    When you look at the prices on online auctions, you must realize that you are competing with others who may just want a single one of these items, and are therefore prepared to pay an extravagant price to get their rifle completed. But you are looking for the lot!

    I recently went through this exercise for a No. 4 MK1 on an online auction. It had also been sporterized, and I soon came to the conclusion that even if I was given the rifle, the complete list of missing parts came to more than a complete rifle in the same condition would cost. So I ignored it. By an extraordinary coincidence, it was purchased by a friend in the same club. And now he is sweating to get the bits without spending more on it than for a complete rifle.

    If you already have some components, or know where a part is available for a favorable price, OK. But if you start from zero, it is not an economic way of acquiring a rifle. Unless you can get a cheap wall-hanger to cannibalize!


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    Legacy Member Rumpelhardt's Avatar
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    Thanks Patrick Chadwick that's kind of what I was looking for. I have been working on a No.4 as well. https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=28368I want to try restoring a No.1 but as I said I don't want to get into a project to that is too far gone to bring back. The No.1 I have in mind is prety much in the same shape as the No.4 in the linked post. Maybe I will hold off.
    Last edited by Rumpelhardt; 01-29-2011 at 01:43 PM.

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    Advisory Panel Patrick Chadwick's Avatar
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    Doubtful economics - some examples

    Online auction, all within the last fortnight, :

    Parts for Enfield No. 4 Mk 1
    sold for... Euros, prices include post/packing

    Butt 37.40
    Fore-end 37.40
    Front handguard 17.90
    Rear handguard 16,90
    Brass buttplate 28,89

    That's already 138,49, with quite a bit more to come.

    A complete No. 4 Mk1 can be bought for around 200 or less. Since the sporterized model cost over 120, my friend would have been better off getting a complete rifle.

    BTW. A nosecap for a No1 MK III went today for 40.00. If you ONLY* need the nosecap*, well maybe, but if you need the rest ... it does not pay



    *In most cases, you need the screw as well, and the aforementioned thingy that pushes up between nosecap and barrel - and another extraordinarily expensive screw.
    Last edited by Patrick Chadwick; 01-29-2011 at 01:51 PM.

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    Legacy Member Rumpelhardt's Avatar
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    Wow! I got most of my parts from Springfield Sporters, Numich and Liberty Tree Collectors. Prices were lower from them and I pretty much got the parts I wanted with a few notable exceptions..
    Last edited by Rumpelhardt; 01-29-2011 at 02:42 PM.

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    Legacy Member Rumpelhardt's Avatar
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    After paying a little better attention I see you are in Germanyicon. Springfield where I got the majority of my small parts will not ship internationally. The other two I don't know.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rumpelhardt View Post
    Debubbaing Enfields is kind of my new adopted Hobie.I like guns , I have a great interest in verious World War 2 weapons, I have for many years liked tinkering with guns and I kind of like scrounging online for parts. studying the history of these things is great as well. Having said that I don't want to dig into something I can't finish or that will need specialized work done by some one else.
    I didn,t realise It was new hobbie, in that case, after a few years you will stockpile so many bits and pieces, you wont even think twice about buying a sporterized rifle.

    I buy a few but look for Rare examples also buy standard ones for spares or for conversions, so it does pay in that case, but for the standard No4 or a SMLE you would be better buying for peanuts then keep hold until the bits come to light for next to nothing, rather than a frantic search and paying well over the odds, in your case with the option of springfield sporters for parts you may be able to get the bits cheap enough.

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    Legacy Member Rumpelhardt's Avatar
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    I am finding that some parts just do not come cheap though. Long Branch marked mk1 rear sight comes to mind. Anything marked Long branch seams to be at least 25-50% higher from what I've seen.

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