1944 Long Branch No.4 Mk1* Jungle Carbine Prototype?

[Badger]

What exactly is that rifle Homer? A shortie SMLE with an aperture sight on the charger bridge? Someone did a (inconclusive.....) paper on these short rifles a year/18 months or so ago

There's an excellent article in the MKL along with a 138 pic photo montage of Homer's rifle.

1944 No.1 Intermediate Shortened Lightened Rifle (Mfg by SAF Lithgow)

They only made 100 of these experimental rifles ...

There's also an excellent artticle by Terry Hawker...

Shortened No. 1 Mk III* Rifle

Regards,
Doug

[Peter Laidler]

That woman in the middle with the hat looks like she could beat the Nazis with just one good stare even before she starts berating them! She scares me already............

What is that just behind the No5 rifle........., is it a bayonet? Someone will come up with a LB No5 bayonet soon if it is!

Can anyone identify the whole row?

[rgg_7]

Great picture from SAL's Toolroom. Was it dated? My best guess on the line up;

1) Shoulder Holster Inglis (Browning) HP
2) Swift Trainer
3) LB Jungle Carbine
4) Bayonet { may be for JC }
5) LB No4 Light weight rifle (up to 50 produced...only a few in existance)
6) LB No4T MK2 REL scope
7) LB TP (Lyman Scope) with prototpye butt that was later used on the CNo67
8) LB CNo67 ( a scrace few in collections today)
9) No4 LB presentation rifle. Exhibition fiddleback walnut stock ( have only seen 2 of these. both sold for large $'s)

Tom....thanks for posting the picture.

Merry Christmas one and all,

Ron

[Homer]

Homers rifle is an Australian Short and Lightened. Serial Nos XP1 to XP100. Thats not the only one i have seen in that condition.
Do you have the bayonet for it Homer.

Bindi you've seen this gun before. It belongs to your old mate Demo.

[Surpmil]

This pic was just posted on Canadian Gunnutz by 6167. It's of a Dutch Royal Visit to Long Branch Arsenals during the war. Note the second rifle in line, between the Long Branch Training Rifle and the Lightweight Rifle.

Note the recoil pad...same as in my pics. It sticks out almost as far as the steel part. Not at all like the Brit version.

Also note on the LB Jungle Carbine, the mid band is the milled early round profile band, while on the Brit versions it looks to be the later flat band.
Note that in 6167's pic you can clearly see that the band is milled/round!


https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...lVisitLB-1.jpg

Well, that settles that!

And the bayonet on the table under the butt can only be for it.

[Bindi2]

Bindi you've seen this gun before. It belongs to your old mate Demo.

That greedy bugger owns just about all the lithgows left in Australia...... Chuckle chuckle

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Re the photo at:

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impor...lVisitLB-1.jpg

The cool Canadian J5550 carbine (one-piece stock) has yet another odd feature: TWO grooves on the left side of the fore-end.

Pity they got carried away with the lightening and buggered up the recoil transfer on that little carbine.

[Peter Laidler]

The British were reluctant to even trial the Canadian lightened rifle because of its flimsy one piece stock. The small arms school considered the small of the butt so marginal in strength that it would/could not possibly survive its first bout of bayonet fighting at the gallows.

It was this very same weak and flimsy wrist problem (with the first Remington Lee that DID break..... - now housed at Warminster together with one of the J-5550's) that ensured the retention of the large diameter stock bolt in the first place.

[Warren]

I have seen two (2) of the Canadian lightweights with stocks broken at the wrist........One in a private collection and the other in a museum. One was simply glued (from what I could see) back together and the other had a large round head bolt installed as part of the repair.

[Peter Laidler]

Any reason for the breaking of the two you know about Warren? I wouldn't mind adding a note in the paperwork relating to ours of the fact that '.......two others known do have broken stocks by reason of...............' Thanks Warren