Question on a Long Branch 1943

[boltaction]

Good evening:
My Long Branch addiction received another fix at a recent auction, and it is an interesting one. It is a 1943 LB which seems to still have its original forewood, C Broad arrow stamped and serialed to the gun. However, it has that black Suncorite coating on it, a BNP proof mark indicating time spent in England, a serial number punched magazine, and the buttstock seems to have British markings and a 1952 date on it, if I'm reading it corectly, and has no C Broad arrow on it. In addition, on the right butt socket just above the factory serial number is a '46, the significance of which I am not certain.

Would it be correct to assume this was sent somewhere or other in 1946, then was refitted in England in 1952 at which point it got a matched mag, new butt and a coating of black, but retained its forewood??? If it were just the butt I would assume it just got that at some depot level as a replacement, but it seems to have been all tarted up at the time. If it was a thorough refit, why would it not then have an FTR stamp on it?

It's in excellent condition, and I expect it will shoot very well. Just curious about its history and why it's got what it does.

Thanks

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Information

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[Brian Dick]

I'd guess it went through workshops in '46 and got refinished. The '46 date stamped on may denote European workshops. The '52 dates stamped on the wood may be later inspection dates. They are unusual.

[mrclark303]

Nice example, I wonder if it spent time in pooled ordnance in the immediate post war period, then through a REME workshop before being sold off to civvy street at some point

[Peter Laidler]

The SOU and 2/3(5?)/52 tells me that it went through a full Base Workshop overhaul at 18 Base (South West Command) Workshop at Bovington in Dorset and was out-inspected on that date. I'm not sure that I'd agree with Brian (thread 2) that the 46 indicates a factory repair date. If it did, it'd be marked as a factory repair date. There, a little bit of history for you.

[Brian Dick]

Several of the ex-Greek owned Long Branch No.4 rifles I had sported the '46 date stamped on the butt socket. It was always an assumption that this was an inspection date for a workshop someplace. Maybe it's CAL or maybe it's Europe. No one seems to know. Maybe it's more likely to be Canadian as they never distinctively marked their rifles with FTR. It's definitely not a British FTR date.