Doomed Long Branch Sniper Reborn

[Seaspriter]

About a year ago I saw a forlorn Long Branch advertised on Gunbroker. No one wanted this bare bones skeleton. Just looking at it made me sad -- this was once a beautiful warrior that had been sporterized, her snout snipped by 2 inches, then scavenged by vultures.
It was literally just a lock, butt stock, and barrel; nothing else; her pockets picked over and plucked clean down to her bare bones. But the price was cheap -- only $37 USD plus shipping. I don't normally buy cheap, but she was a rare Sniper heading fast to the dump heap for parts unless someone interceded to break the chain of parting-out. And the Scope serial number was still legible on the Butt, along with the evidence of screws where the cheek rest was once mounted.

What would you do with this poor soul? Do I restore her or just use the parts?
-Go for the restoration -- it's a rare gun! Might be expensive, but gallant glory deserves being reborn not a funeral.
Do I put a snout extension on the muzzle?
- No, that would be silly for a Sniper, so I found a barrel (No. 4 Mk2) that RW Snyder was selling.
Should I restore this myself?
- No, this calls for a pro. Brian Dick was the only person I'd think of in this country with the specialized skills. He studied under the guidance of Captain Laidler, and could give her the Armourer's professional attention that I couldn't -- insufficient knowledge, lack of expertise, inadequate tools, etc.

Here are the pics Brian sent me this weekend:


You can imagine my state of awe. Wow! Brian found all the old parts, replaced the barrel, tuned the trigger, phosphated everything, found some beautiful walnut stock, reached out to Roger Payne for the right scope pad and walnut cheek rest, received the right hand guards from BigDuke6, and SentryDuty donated a Sling Swivel (forthcoming) and brought everything up to MoD post war FTR standards. It's a work of art. It's a true global effort, sourcing from the UK and Canada to complete the project.

But how does she shoot? That's truly the hallmark of a Sniper. Would her Mk2 barrel be accurate?
Brian took her to the range and sent me a picture of this target:

Now she's the perfect target shooter -- both a beauty and dead-on accurate -- a true thoroughbred.

Still a few things left to do, but I wanted to thank Brian, Roger, Geoff and Peter for the long years of hard work and their sharing of ideas, standards, and methods that culminates in a result that commands accolades.

(Brian, I know you are very modest and would never toot your own horn, so I hope you will forgive me for tooting yours -- your skills are rare -- thank you for your hard work and expertise.)

Robert

P.S. She looks so good she needs a name. How about "Electra" because she's been re-charged.

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[bigduke6]

Very nice, well worth saving....... Kind of thing you could take home and show your Mum.

Brian nice Job, them hand Guards look familiar ?

[enfield303t]

Great restoration Brian. Good the old girl is back to her glory days!

[smle addict]

Outstanding job! And a happy ending for a sporterized T

[CINDERS]

Great save and excellent refurb Brian

[Brian B]

Great save!! I commend you for taking the long and expensive road to bring her back to life!!

Brian B

[Brian Dick]

I appreciate the compliments. Geoff gets credit for the handguards along with the others involved. It's not perfect but damned close! I found traces of Suncorite 259 left on the hulk so it got restored as it was in MoD service before "Bubba" got hold of it.

[Lee Enfield]

I appreciate the compliments. Geoff gets credit for the handguards along with the others involved. It's not perfect but damned close! I found traces of Suncorite 259 left on the hulk so it got restored as it was in MoD service before "Bubba" got hold of it.

Nice job.

I was thinking that it was awesome how you captured the (typical of Long Branch) torn up screw heads on the rear pad...then I realized that they were original

[Brian Dick]

I was waiting for that L.E.! In retrospect, I probably should have changed them but decided to dress them as well as possible and not put the heat to it since it was secure and collimated perfectly with the new front pad. A little reminder of what Bubba can do with an ill fitting screwdriver! I never understood the desire to tighten screws that are soldered in tight.

[Seaspriter]

I never understood the desire to tighten screws that are soldered in tight.

First, Bubba has to know the screws were soldered in -- something I didn't know either -- that's why there is so much to learn.

Second, I don't think Bubba was trying to screw them in, I think he was trying to remove them to strip the rifle (this Bubba was a Butcher and Vulture too!). He got the front pad screws out then whacked the pad off into oblivion. Perhaps when he failed to remove the rear pad, he gave up and moved on to his next butcher job.

How this gun ever survived from its most minimal condition without ending up in someone's parts-bin is a mystery; it's like fate had destined this gun for a rebirth.

Perhaps we should have an annual award -- the Enfield Phoenix Award (rising from the ashes of doom) -- for the best example of reversing a Bubba Butcher job. I nominate the Brian Dick Team (including Roger Goeff, Darren, and Peter) as one of the 2016 award contenders!