Savage Lend/Lease No.4 Mk.1 Enfield value?

[rondog]

Gents - I'm not very familiar with Enfield values, and am looking for some info.....

A local guy has a No.4 Mk.1 Rifle for sale, made by Savage and US Property marked. He says it's a lend/lease rifle, made in the US for "loaning" to the Brits, before we entered WWII. He also says it's in very good condition (I haven't seen it yet), his asking price is $500. Says he's clearing out some of his safe queens.

Is a rifle like this in "very good" condition worth $500? I'm interested in a good No.4 as a shooter, but if this is rare and more valuable than an English No.4 I might be interested in it. Anything special I should look for?

Thank you!

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[gunner]

rondog,

he´s right on the" Land Lease" and the price 0f $500 would be good for the rifle over here in Germany, if it has the "very good" Condition. Sadly i don´t know much about the prices at your side of the pond but over here you have to pay $630 for an good one.

[Badger]

I'm interested in a good No.4 as a shooter, but if this is rare and more valuable than an English No.4 I might be interested in it. Anything special I should look for?

Hi ....

If you want to compare your Savage Enfield against an "all correct" as originally issued one, go to the United Kingdon - Milsurp Knowledge Library (click here) and view the 82 picture photo gallery montage for the 1943 Savage No.4 Mk1* Enfield Rifle (click here).

With thanks to Advisory Panel member Lance, there's also a rare "all correct" 1942 No.4 Mk1*(T) Savage Sniper Rifle (less scope) (click here) .....

Lance's article, accompanied by a detailed 165 pic photo montage, speaks to this example as being one of approximately 3,400 Savage rifles converted by Holland and Holland and re-barreled with an Enfield 5 groove barrel, however, it was never fitted with a matching No.32 scope.

Hope this helps...

Regards,
Doug

[rondog]

Everything helps, thank you! But it's not mine yet, I haven't even seen it. I'm just wondering if, for $500, it's one I should consider. I like nice milsurp rifles, but I'm not a "collector" by any means. I just like to own them and shoot them, but I'm not a collector of the rare and correct models.

[Alan de Enfield]

I'm on the 'other side of the pond as well - but - from looking at GunBroker, forums etc. It looks to be about $100 overpriced.

There were 1.2 million of these Savage No4s manufactured so they are in fact the most numerous of all Enfield No4s, they do however seem to fetch a premium to SOME US collectors / shooters who like the "made in USA" label.

[rondog]

Interesting - thank you Alan! So a genuine Brit No.4 is actually the rarer model? Hmm. So there were more Brit soldiers carrying rifles marked US Property than there were Brit rifles? I never would have guessed that.

And I did see the prices on Gunbroker. Made me wonder.

[Rumpelhardt]

Interesting - thank you Alan! So a genuine Brit No.4 is actually the rarer model? Hmm. So there were more Brit soldiers carrying rifles marked US Property than there were Brit rifles? I never would have guessed that.

Just as the British built very good fighter aircraft such as the Spitfire, Hurricane and Tempest yet still used U.S. aircraft. Same for armor and a lot of other war implements. The simple answer is that while Britain was basically being bombed almost daily through the better part of the war which tended to put a crimp in production of badly needed war goods the U.S. and Canada were free from these interruptions of production. At the height of U.S. war time production it was well able to supplement the production capabilities of other allied countries.
As can be seen from the Enfield Rifle's we have the British were more than able to design and build superior weapons. German bombing made producing enough of these weapons problematic.
After all if not for the British built Rolls Royce Merlin engine the Mustang would have been a mediocre aircraft at best.

[rondog]

But my basic question is - is $500US too much for one of these in "very good" condition? Or is that a fair price for a nice one?

[Rumpelhardt]

Sorry got carried away . From what I,ve seen on line and in verious local shops it is on the high side.

[Baal]

I paid $550 Canadian for a supposedly unfired 1943 Savage a couple years ago. I say supposedly unfired because, who can prove it. It certainly looks mint though, and still has old cosmoline all over the barrel, under the wood. So, depending upon condition, $500 is not entirely out of the ballpark, but might be a bit high for the US market.