Ranger 303 rifles

[stencollector]

Enfield Mk2 you say ... sounds fishy to me, I thought they only had Long Branch No4's issued?[COLOR="black"]

As Englishman.ca mentions, we bought several thousand no4mk2 in the late 90s to supplement the existing stocks of rifles. I heard form a weapons tech friend in Edmonton around 2005 that they were doing in inspections on several thousand more rifles which he indicated to be of Indian manufacture, however when I talked with the LCMM on this subject a few years ago he did not know about them. One of the two is mistaken.

I remember when I first got into the regular force in the early 80s, about 300 no4s came from base supply over to us at base maintenance for destruction. The bolts came over about a year or two later for the same fate.

[browningautorifle]

That's the sad part, we only had so many and that was that. Not bad enough we're short of collector grade stuff, shooter grade is suffering. Then a huge purchase is done and these are culled off the market. Now through things changing...we've just deprived the collectors of those hundreds or thousands...whatever it actually was. They'll meet the same fate through time...

[bros]

Again to set the record straight........................
Anyone with a valid firearms licence can purchase a Ranger Rifle as long as it was a gifted rifle and acquired while the Ranger possessed a valid firearms licence. The "Crown" no longer owns it once the gifting process is completed and the rifle is treated as any other in "private possession".
Canadian Ranger rifles are by no means limited to just Longbranch manufacture...my Ranger rifle is a Faz No4 MK2 and I have seen others in our patrol that are the same while most still are Longbranch. I have examined all.......sorry no rare 1941 dated Longbranch rifles...the earliest I examined was a 1942.
I believe our gov't funneled a lot of their Enfield war stock no4"s in the early days to the Mujahideen in Afganistan and subsequently had to buy No4's from abroad to fill the gaps created by themselves........hence my Faz no4 mk2!!!! It is US import marked on the front of the barrel so it's been around the block a time or two.
Go figure.....Longbranch manufactured in excess of 900,000 rifles and as a Canadian Ranger I'm issued a English made Enfield that was probably purchased by the Canadian gov't from a surplus arms dealer in the US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No complaints from me about owning a Faz No4 MK2 though.....it's an accurate beauty, all matching and it will remain with me...sorry it's not for sale!!!

[mrclark303]

I think that covers everything Bros, thanks for the thorough breakdown.

Interesting to touch on the Afghan "donations", a friend of mine who logged and destroyed captured weapons in country among his responsibilities, noted many of the No4's where Long Branch.

[browningautorifle]

Again to set the record straight.

No, that's understood.

The difference is the ones held still in stock of wherever...worshop, stores... The ones the rangers have will go wherever but they comprise a smaller number than the holdings. The ones in hands of the gov't will not come available...

[303carbine]

If I do get the Ranger rifle, I will be glad to have another Enfield with a good background.
One of the biggest moose I ever shot was with an all original No1MK111 that looked like it had been dragged across the desert by a camel, the bore was good and it shot and functioned perfectly.
When all other rifles have frozen shut and fail to fire, my 303 will do as it was designed, to function under all conditions.
I never met an original 303 I didn't like...............

[bros]

If I do get the Ranger rifle, I will be glad to have another Enfield with a good background.
One of the biggest moose I ever shot was with an all original No1MK111 that looked like it had been dragged across the desert by a camel, the bore was good and it shot and functioned perfectly.
When all other rifles have frozen shut and fail to fire, my 303 will do as it was designed, to function under all conditions.
I never met an original 303 I didn't like...............

Well said..............couldn't agree more!!!

At -40 or colder a few times bolt was seized shut on my No4 but that was my fault for not running the action "dry". I've never tried powdered graphite but that may be a lube that would still work in the extreme cold. A couple drops of gas line anti-freeze kept conveniently under the snowmobile seat solves the frozen bolt issue rather quickly.

[mrclark303]

The only place you could shoot a Moose at -40 in the UK, is if you stole one from a zoo and shot it at one of our indoor skiing centres!

The great thing about the Lee action, is it just works, from the tropics, to the frozen hinterlands.

If I was way out north, alone and facing hungry wildlife, that viewed me a lunch, I would certainly want my Maltby No4 close at hand, hard to think of a better rifle for the job.

[Bindi2]

The only place you could shoot a Moose at -40 in the UK, is if you stole one from a zoo and shot it at one of our indoor skiing centres!

The great thing about the Lee action, is it just works, from the tropics, to the frozen hinterlands.

If I was way out north, alone and facing hungry wildlife, that viewed me a lunch, I would certainly want my Maltby No4 close at hand, hard to think of a better rifle for the job.

My go to work rifle is a No 5. Very handy as some critters found out to their detriment thinking I would be a push over.

[Frederick303]

Danes in Greenland prefer a M1917 rifle with a modified front and rear sight, forget the load they issue with it but something pretty big. Big bullet in a 30-06 seems like the ticket for a polar bear.