No4Mk1(T) for sale over on CGN

[Peter Laidler]

I had thoughts about the rounded ends to the fore-end numbers. I seem to associate those stamps with the machine made stamps from the 70's. As a matter of interest, I have the original '51' of the S 51 'liberated' from the examiners bench at the H&H factory.

The sanding marks look original to me, just like it came from the factories before it was smoothed by touch. Some of the factory butts also have the distinct flat on top of the wrist too. It's quite common. The finish also looks like the H&H brunofixing too. They used this particular finish because it was a chemical finish that would affect the area that they'd worked on. That's the reason apparently, it's a bit patchy

[boltaction]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the bolt handle serial number? I've seen messy stampings before, and have owned a few of the British (T)'s over the years. They aren't all perfect, but the bolt handle looks messy--restamped? Or just a bad day at BSA Shirley?

Ed

[Roger Payne]

& say I think it's a good one. The appearance of the wood is quite typical of late issue WW2 walnut as is the manufacturer of it. I would concur with Peter's comments but would also state that I'm sure the forend stamps (even with the circle around them) are consistent with being original. When I bought the batch of T's in the 90's I also bought several sacks full of 'take off' wood. This varied from mint to well used & there were a number of forends identical to that shown (save for the serial number itself, of course). Re the S51 ----- yes it is a little atypical in its spacing, but they were all hand stamped don't forget, & the S & the 51 are all of the correct style.

The only thing that I don't like about it is the price.......

ATB

[rayg]

Roger, just curious, what prices were you getting for the ones you bought and sold in the 90's? Were any of them complete and matching w/chests?
I know most collectors don't collect for the investiment but it's always nice to know how much your items are worth compared to what they cost in the past which kind of gives you an idea of what it's value may be in the future.
Just in comparision, CMP was selling complete un-opened mint direct from the arsenal M1D's sniper rifles with all still packaged accessories in the late 90's for I think around a $1,000. Last one I saw a few weeks ago sold for $4,700.
I picked one up for $2600 which everyone tells me was a deal, a few weeks ago but the packages had been opened and the scope and cheek pad put on the rifle. Ray

[enfield303t]

Thru LERA I found a link to No4 T's from Kleins in New York (?) from 1960 and complete with transit case were $59.95. The text said they were too late for hunting season so clearing them out. A couple of months later they were selling them for $64.95...talk about inflation..

[Roger Payne]

No4T's that had all been gutted. Many had been stripped down to just barrelled actions; some were more or less complete (rifles only, no scopes or chests etc); although most were somewhere between the two. Some had both body pads on, some one & some both missing, but all were genuine & restorable with enough TLC & some spares. We gradually rebuilt them all over a period of years, selling off most (probably more than half to other UK dealers), but could afford to keep nice or rare examples for ourselves as they.....well....didn't owe us a lot.

IIRC we paid 10 pounds plus VAT for each rifle/barrelled action regardless of how complete it was......

We didn't complain.....In fact we didn't even haggle over the price. We just loaded them into my car pbq!

ATB

[Peter Laidler]

DRP's answer to the last question begs the question.............. where the heck do you find 140 telescopes?

[Roger Payne]

DRP's answer to the last question begs the question.............. where the heck do you find 140 telescopes?

Fortunately that became he purchaser's problem! (May also have made a small contribution to why No32's fetch so much these days on the auction sites.....)

ATB

[No4Mk1(T)]

Thanks for passing on your observations and experience guys. This is all great information to put into the knowledge bank for future reference! Now I’ll have to figure out how to do the photo down load and little thumbnail thing so we can preserve this for the future.

[Foxbrook]

& say I think it's a good one. The appearance of the wood is quite typical of late issue WW2 walnut as is the manufacturer of it. I would concur with Peter's comments but would also state that I'm sure the forend stamps (even with the circle around them) are consistent with being original. When I bought the batch of T's in the 90's I also bought several sacks full of 'take off' wood. This varied from mint to well used & there were a number of forends identical to that shown (save for the serial number itself, of course). Re the S51 ----- yes it is a little atypical in its spacing, but they were all hand stamped don't forget, & the S & the 51 are all of the correct style.

The only thing that I don't like about it is the price.......

ATB

Wow speaking of high prices for (T)s check out the recent auction results from Rock Island Auctions for items 1652, $11500.00US and 3327, w/o case $6900US.
Been cruising this site for a while and thought I would join. It's a great site with good information.
Foxbrook