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1942 New Zealand Long Branch Enfield - New to me
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The NZ Army No4 rifles were sold off in a series of tenders during the 1980's, the majority going to overseas bidders. One such tender (June 1988) that I was a bidder in was for 2,202 Drill Purpose No4 rifles which were all good rifles but the firing pin tips had been broken off. The successful bidder was Sarco Inc in the USA. A very large quantity of No4 parts (including sufficient new firing pins) was sold to Springfield Sporters in the USA. Did those two companies work with each other to create over 2,000 serviceable rifles? My bid was conditional on getting both the rifles and the parts and was not quite high enough to beat the two individual bids, however I did win 1,000 L1A1 self-loading rifles and over 2,000 Bren gun magazines so I was quite happy and did very well out of the deal! I also got about 285,000 rounds of .303 Mk VII in chargers and 50 round bandoliers, which I sold off in 6 months to NZ shooters. The price of .303's has risen dramatically here in the last year or so and tidy original rifles (SMLE No1 Mk III and No4's) are now going for NZ $1,000 plus. I can remember selling brand new, unissued, ex NZ Army Long Branch No 4's in 1970/71 for NZ$29.95!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Woodsy
2,202 Drill Purpose No4 rifles which were all good rifles but the firing pin tips had been broken off. The successful bidder was Sarco Inc in the USA
I ended up with one of those rifles. A friend of mine bought it as a dealer and flogged it to me as it was about new. I went to shoot and found to my surprise it had a broken firing pin tip, he'd procured them in lot through Sarco way back then and had no idea. OP rifle is a nice example of Mk1. Nice...
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Nice rifle. My first Long Branch No.4Mk.1* is a 1943 New Zealand owned rifle. I've had it since the late 1970's. It's used but original and matching throughout. The others look as if they have never been used. Here's a list of my NZ owned rifles.
Long Branch 1942 2L7823 / N^Z 5408 - stocked in birch
Long Branch 1942 15L5364 / N^Z 28044 - stocked in walnut
Long Branch 1943 24L2145 / N^Z 38408 - stocked in birch
Savage 1943 39C7452 / N^Z 47415 - stocked in birch
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Brian, the Long Branch No4's I mentioned that we were selling for NZ$29.95 in 1970/71 were all walnut stocked, unissued, with N^Z stamped on the butt and no non-factory markings on the metalwork. We had them in cases of 10, packed top and tail in two levels. They would have come from the NZ War Reserve stocks as they were replaced with L1A1's. When I was at Burnham Camp in 1962 we were issued No4's as our personal rifle but trained with L1A1's which had been on front-line issue since 1959. At that stage L1A1 shipments were still coming from Lithgow and it was not until 1969 before we had received the last of the 15,633 ordered.
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Hi Woodsy, My 15L rifle fits your description perfectly except it has the NZ ownership mark and serial number stamped on the left side of the butt socket. It still has a yellow crayon mark on the left side of the butt so they don't come much newer than that. They must have sold off some of these rifles prior to 1968 since Curio and Relic milsurp rifles were banned from import to the USA from 1968 until 1986. My well used and favorite 24L which is also a pre '68 import to the USA, has the NZ ownership mark and serial number stamped on the socket and also engraved on the top of the breech with a "scratchy pen". Wouldn't it be great to have a case of ten with a glass top? The ultimate LE collector man cave coffee table! I've found the NZ owned rifles to be some of the most unaltered original wartime Long Branch and Savage rifles out there. I reckon because most were never used. Brian
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Some NZ No 4's did see service in Italy but the principal WW2 rifle was the SMLE No 1 Mk III*, not only WW1 rifles but also new Lithgow WW2 production. No 4's were also taken to Korea but our main involvement there was artillery and naval. NZ's next military excursion was to Malaya where the No 5 Jungle carbine was used, as well as some British Trials FN FAL's. Vietnam was L1A1's, L2A1's (artillery support use), and M16's. Virtually all NZ No 4's were Long Branch, including a batch of No 4T's fitted with the Lyman Alaskan scope.
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I am restoring a sporter NZ marked LongBranch no4 mk1* that I picked up in an online auction. I cannot afford the prices for any no4 mk1 forend or full sets other than a repro at the moment so that is what I will use. The butt has been sanded and refinished so I may leave that be for the moment or I may go ahead and order a replacement LB butt as well.
So far I have not found an import mark or a factory refurb mark but until I take it apart and really look it over I will remain skeptical.
I have found a replacement LB front band and the retainer band but I am still searching for the middle band and a forecap. Likely I will have to order the lower forecap and an upper handguard with the cap to get both nosecap pieces.
I do have one question...I see the stacking pins listed on some sites but I have not been able to confirm if that is something used for the NZ models or not. If i could avoid having to pay out for one more part that would be lovely as the Brits say. We would not say that in the US but we are talking about Enfields after all.
I am also on the lookout for a proper NZ marked bayonet but the only one I have seen advertised on ebay is not convincing me that it has NZ markings. The photos are poor and it looks as though the No4 is mistruck rather than being a true NZ mark.
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Stacking swivels were not used after WW1 and never on No 4's. A few NZ surplus No 4 fore-end sets are occasionally turning up for sale here and are selling for NZ$150-200 at auction. Postage would probably bring the price to the same amount in US dollars. I can keep an eye out for a set and advise you if you like. The NZ No 4 bayonets were often not marked at all, and those that were had a crude N^Z applied with an electric pencil to the side of the socket.
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I missed my shot at a replacement for all my parts through Royal Tiger. They had a no4 with a bad receiver and barrel for around 150$ US that had an L serial number. It was sold before I could get through to a salesperson or I would have gotten my wood and metal in one go.
I keep perusing the online auctions hoping for an NZ bayo but I know odds are long.
I should also note I landed an MA marked 1944 model 07 bayonet recently. It needs to be broken down so I can remove the rust from all but the blade. Of course now I need to find the no1 mk3 to match that one.
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