No 4 Mk 1 (T) just the rifle...without scope and mount just sold for $2,078.00 on GB.
IMHO - Quite an unexpected price point. I did not bid on this item. Adding this one to my graph. Congrats to the new owner.
Lee Enfield NO.4 MK 1 (T) .303 England 1944 : Bolt Action Rifles at GunBroker.com
Attachment 54754
A lot of money yes, but they don't come much crisper than that. Looks to be one of the 'scopeless' rifles. Very nice.
ATB.
Nice rifle... One question and apologies if it's been covered before..
Would it have come out of holland and holland with the 2 different colours of wood. For some reason I'd assumed a rifle would have arrived at H&H with all matching wood from its original manufacturer, which would have then stayed with the rifle during its conversion process.
Or were the scopeless rifles made from odds n sods at the end of the contract
Pretty sure I've seen the odd well used 4t's with non colour matching wood that still have the S51 and original serial number to indicate that they maybe un molested original h&h build.
So I guess my question is - did rifles commonly leave H&H with non colour matching woodwork & it's just the passage of time and battle and the odd tidy up and time in the BLO tank in service that makes them the same colour nowadays.
Cheers....
It all depends upon what you call 'colour matched' If you mean a lighter or darked shade of brown, then that was perfectly acceptable. Aesthetics don't have a big role to play in war!However, the what I'd call 'bleedin silly' scenario of an almost whiote and dark brown would not be acceptable. In service we would have a large linseed bath that contained a stain. But even then, some of the light woods just would not take it. Maple being the worst offender!
I thought when it hit $1k it was over priced.
Makes me feel good at the scoped ones I got at that price!
Nice rifle.
Thanks peter, that makes sense....70 years use and several linseed baths would work wonders on a nice even patina...
I have a question for everyone as I'm still relatively new to collecting. Why is the bolt hollowed out on this example? I thought that was only for jungle carbines and mismatched bubba pieces?
It's a long story but VERY briefly, manufacturers were allowed a relaxation in standards and could leave a hole or no hole as was their wish. Some utilised the hole as another mountinmg point within a jig so it remained throughout. Replacement bolts came from all the manufacturers and post war, the lightweight bolt for the No5 was declared obsolescent. Replacements were big hole, small hole or solid and guess what? We just fitted what was available from Ordnance and/or on the shelf!
Of course what Peter says is right, but sometimes prospective owners like to know if a rifle has its original bolt or not, & as most 4T's were set up on BSA produced rifles, & as BSA utilised the small hole hollowed out bolt knob throughout No4 production (or so I believe), it is fairly safe to say that a BSA 4T with a solid bolt knob has had a replacement bolt fitted. Just a useful rule of thumb when giving rifles the once over...........
ATB.