Are the genuine (no reproduction) L42A1 7.62 magazines relatively rare to locate and therefore command a high price? One is currently for sale in Australia and is asking $400 (Australian) which sounded excessive?
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Are the genuine (no reproduction) L42A1 7.62 magazines relatively rare to locate and therefore command a high price? One is currently for sale in Australia and is asking $400 (Australian) which sounded excessive?
That does sound excessive, $400 = £216 at todays exchange rate they go for around the £150-180 (180 being for a new over here) you can find cheaper but would need to search, and a few of them about second hand. They are standard 7.62x51 Enfield mags that were fitted to Enforcers/Envoys/L39's and loads of No4 conversions so saying it's for a L42 maybe upped the price.
Yes prices are quite high here in the uk for the CR 1470 stamped military ones. £120 - £170 I've seen I think in recent years, although sometimes they can be had cheaper if you keep your eyes peeled.
CR1470 is the barrel for the L42A1. The magazines are marked CR141A and all of mine were made in 1965, I am led to believe for the abandoned L8 conversion programme.
The last one I bought cost me £5 after fortuitously spotting it in a box of .303 magazines. Fortunately, the seller didn't know any better.
The 7.62 No 4 mags are not all that plentiful in Australia, and command premium prices usually.
I went back through my records and found that in 1984, AJ Parker were quoting me 28 pounds for a 7.62 Enfield magazine, while 7.62 Sterling ones were 22 pounds. In 1985 Jansa Arms in Sydney were selling 7.62 Sterling mags for $35 while SMLE mags were $14.50. By the late 1990's Lawrence Ordnance in Sydney had 7.62 Enfield mags for $140. (I thought they were way too dear then... should have bought more :))
Today prices for 7.62 mags are rising quickly - I've seen Sterling mags advertised recently for $250, so at that rate an Enfield one should be about $320.
Tis often said - "you didn't pay to much, you just bought too early"
Where are the original dies?
Don't know about the original dies, but I was offered all the tooling that Charnwood used in getting the repro mags made. I declined. I shall need to live till I'm 143 as it is with all of the restoration & replication projects I've accumulated!