No4 Mk2 Contracts By Country

Every now and then I see the topic on No4 Mk2 contracts and the serial number ranges that belonged to certain countries (i.e. PF309348 - PF359347 was for the Irish Republic and PF361280 - PF401086 was for Burma). Maybe this has been discussed in length and I missed it, but are these serial number ranges and foreign contracts legit or just a fantasy?

Condition being equal, we know that a buyer is willing to pay a little more for a rifle in the "Irish Contract" serial number range than one that is not. But what about a rifle in the Hong Kong (11) or Trinidad (149) range, are they really from a small contract and worth a premium or are they just another batch of Mk2's that never left England?

Other than "British Contract", "Irish Contract", and "Burma Contract" rifles, I have never come across the serial number ranges of Sudan, Zambia, Singapore, Trinidad, or ... I'm sure they are out there, I just have never seen them, so where are they all?

I don't know if anyone has studied the Ministry of Supply records to see whether the "contract" number ranges were actual or just production planning statements. or which number batches actually got delivered. Whilst it looks like the larger batches such as the "Irish" contract were delivered (at least in part), rifles from the other batches turn up with no particular provenance that they actually went to the destination country.

Most of the territories mentioned do/did have No4s, but there millions of Mk1s/Mk1*s already available at the time Mk2s were being produced, so its likely that many customers simply received quick off-the-shelf shipments of Mk1s instead of waiting their turn for Mk2s.

I cannot attest to accuracy, but you'll find a list of No.4Mk2 contracts here by number and country--- google this: 'Re: Questions about the Lee Enfield Mk4 No 2 - ARRSE'