Does anyone have any info on these Belgian .22 coversions of #4Enfields?
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Does anyone have any info on these Belgian .22 coversions of #4Enfields?
Although not a .22 caliber reference, I did find this under Belgian Enfields, which I thought might interest some collectors.
Regards,Quote:
http://www.angelfire.com/nh/milarm/fakes.html
No. 4 “Collector Grade” Savage or Long Branch, often advertised as “new” or “unissued.” Watch out. It is possible that a legitimate unissued No. 4 rifle will turn up, but it’s not likely. Most of these “collector grade” rifles were arsenal reconditioned somewhere along the line--but somewhere other than Canada or Great Britain (who marked their reconditioned rifles “R” or “FTR”). Look for black enamel or flat black paint on the metal parts--this is a tip-off that the work was done in Pakistan or in South Africa or in some other country. Original No. 4 rifles have an oil-blackened finish (or possibly a blued finish on 1950 or later Long Branch rifles). Also, look for non-British or non-Canadian ownership or acceptance marks. We have reports of a number of unissued Long Branch rifles re-imported into Canada from Belgium by Districorp. The story is that CAL sold a bunch of No. 4 rifles to the Belgian government in the early 1950s, and that they were kept in storage and never issued. These all have 95L serial numbers and 1950 dates and look quite nice. They are probably the real McCoy. (We’ll look into them further and report as soon as we have additional data.)
Badger
I don't know where to begin addressing hte problems on Milarm's site... grr...
LB NEVER oil blackened anything. Early LB's are blued and post-war LB's are mostly parkerized. LB post-war FTR's are parkerized. LB NEVER marked an FTR with "FTR" or "R"
And Suncorite (cured black enamel paint) indicates British FTR, not Pakistan!?!?!?
Beware the DEALER providing FREE information about antiques they are SELLING ;)
Here are some photos of my AS Arms .22. The barrel is sleeved, and the ejector is unique compared to anything I have ever seen in a Lee Enfield .22 conversion. Mine came from Districorp about the same time they had a batch of unissued LB No 4 Mk I* from 1949 and the 1950s.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...markings-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...0ejector-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...20proofs-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...markings-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...0chamber-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...lt20face-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...0chamber-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...3/sleeve-1.jpg
Interesting rifle! Never seen such a thing...is it single shot, just drop a round in the groove and close the bolt?
Who made the Enfield rifle originally, what markings are on it?
I remember Distribicorp having some unissued 1950 parked LB's about 10 years ago, I wasn't even interested at the time...they were reasonable too.
I don't think it's AS Arms. It's A.S. Arm. which is an abbreviation for something else. I've heard they were converted by Belgium for training, but who knows for sure?
The proof marks on the gun "look" Belgian, but I have never been able to track them down in any of my books. The rifle is single shot with a sleeved barrel. I think the original manufacturer is Maltby, but the markings are pretty badly cleaned off the receiver. I can make out what looks to be a capital M beside 1942. The rest of the parts are a mixture of all different makers.
Belgian converted on any No4 they felt like. The two I saw several years ago seen were built on very battered Brit No.4's. Interesting trainer, but not comparable to a C No.7 and with very little real collector value.
Nice curio and good "poor mans " C No.7 though.
Geoff
That stamped rear sight calibrated for .22 is interesting...they must have made those up new for their conversions.