new member with unusual marked No 4

Hi everyone - new member here. I seem to have developed a love for No 4s after buying one in January. I just picked up two barreled receivers that are in pretty rough shape with the intention of cleaning them up and getting them back into shooting condition.

One of the barreled receivers has a mark on it I've never seen and didn't see mentioned anywhere here. The receiver is a 1944 Maltby, B0 series. The symbol is an empty triangle on top of the receiver. At first glance I thought it was the Iraqi marking, but there is no evidence of anything having been in the triangle. Any ideas?

Welcome to the forum, hang on a minute they'll be along to tell you what that one is.

Iraq ownership. I think I see the mark inside the triangle.

On the other hand, I don't think that it's Iraqi after having seen more than a few! I think that the triangle has been pretty roughly stamped with 3 individual chisel blows. It could be some other middle eastern Arab nation whereby the arrow indicates the direction in which to point the rifle

Possibly Greek ownership

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lance

Possibly Greek ownership

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I agree

Maby it is a arrowhead to show stupid soldiers in what direktion they should point the rifle 😜

jsne

The Greeks certainly had their share of them, as illustrated during the '74 war when men in civilian clothing were fighting in the streets along side soldiers. Picture a man in a navy blue three piece suit and tie fighting with a Sten gun...a sports jacket and a #4 rifle... Yes, Greek ownership.

I had 200 or so Greek owned Long Branch No.4 and C No.4 rifles and none sported any kind of ownership mark. I was told they were Greek reserve issue rifles. Some did have stickers on the sides of the buttstocks with the names and addresses of the troops to whom they were issued. I had a waitress at a trusty Greek restaurant in Columbia, SC translate a couple for me at the time.

Thanks everyone. If only it could talk...

My bigger problem now is the headspace. If i'm calculating things correctly, I need a bolt head that's about .640" just to pass the field gauge. The spare bolt I bought came with a "0" sized head that also had a 19T stamp on it. I was under the impression that was just for 7.62 rifles, but it looks like it has a 303 extractor. That aside, the "0" size measures right around .631 and needs a .010 shim to pass the field test.

Now for the age old and tired question: "What gauges are you using?". If they're SAAMI with a Field Reject of .070 or .071, they're useless. The ONLY gauges that are pertinent to checking Lee Enfield rifles are the .064 GO and .074 NO GO. That's MoD specifications and the only ones that count. I just wish one of the companies that make gauges here in the USA would manufacture them.

It's a .074 no-go/field. I've been reading through this forum and some others all night on issues with exceeding the max. I do reload, although I use pretty conservative loads. Case separation is probably my biggest concern, but the safety factor is up there too. I do use Prvi brass which seems to have a pretty good reputation for surviving excessive headspace.

You might talk to Ross collectors. I seem to remember this mark on Indian Ross rifles. Years ago and wasn't a big deal then.

Is it a real headspace gauge or a coin gauge from Okie?

Not sure on using a shim is a good idea I think the bolt heads on the No.4 went up in 3 thou increments 0,1, 2, 3 sizes plenty of the first 3 but the 3's are a bit light on besides its not just a case of putting a new bolt head on and passing the .074 besides the bolt head no matter what the stamping may have been an inbetweener and lathed down to fit this being done out of service of course.

Others will probably chime in with things to look for in regards to the head space issue could be the hard facing has worn where the bolt recoil lugs go into the receiver among other things anyway they know more than I do on the matter and will no doubt attempt to guide you to getting it back to spec.

Or if you so inclined get it to BDL and Brian will see what gives with the rifle. but I for one would get the rifle back to spec before going to the range.

I would chime in but there's been so much written on this subject by me and others - and repeated a zillion times again and again that I won't bother beyond saying read all the articles...............

I don't understand..."spare bolt"?

I've been reading and did email Brian. He was very helpful. Shim probably wasn't the right word, it was just some extra material between the bolt head face and the gauge to determine how much excess space there was - no intention of attempting to fire it that way. ...that would be very bad. Thanks again, all.

To the spare bolt comment - the receiver was purchased as just a receiver and barrel, nothing else. I've been collecting parts to try to restore the rifle back to working order.