L42A1 current value?

[GeeRam]

Are you referring to the scope? Unfortunately the last owner sold it as they had a good offer on it.

What..........!!!

Surely this wasn't recently, as no one in their right mind any time in the last decade or more would think that a good idea

Could be a good candidate for fitting a L13A1 to it though, not that they are easy to find.

[Gil Boyd]

Mike,
Ask on here mate, you will get an honest value IMHO from members, but Richard at Devizes would also balance that out with an good value.
Its on the list and a good 71 bring back to life rifle, worth a good price.

[Mikehaspey]

Mike,
Ask on here mate, you will get an honest value IMHO from members, but Richard at Devizes would also balance that out with an good value.
Its on the list and a good 71 bring back to life rifle, worth a good price.

Thanks for your help mate.

I’ve emailed Richard, will see what he says.

[Promo]

I would leave the wood the way it was found, mine is also a lighter wood very similar to yours.

I would agree with you, if you can't by the darker edges clearly can see the stock was cleaned up and this huge contrast between where it was cleaned and made blonde and the areas where it is still dark. This makes it very obvious the stock had been reworked. Therefore I had suggested to stain it darker to reduce the contrast and make the colors better matching.

[Gil Boyd]

Promo,
Yes sometimes its eye catching when done like that, but if the rifle has good clean blonde wood now, I would leave it as it was.
My L42 was written off during the Falklands War and brought back to life by Peter Laidler on return to the UK, so one has to assume Peter changed the wood when the new action was fitted, he can't remember it individually as I have asked him as he must have dealt with thousands of them over the years.
So my view would be leave it as it was with all its patina and knocks......blonde is blonde!

[Peter Laidler]

Chaps.........., please....... The colour of the wood makes no difference and made no difference to us at the sharp end of the Armourers shops, believe me. We fitted or re-fitted what was available from Ord or that was on the shelf. And so long as it was all 'sort-of' the same hue, that's all that counted. I could be wrong here but so far as I recall, I don't remember a sniper coming in and asking if we could fit some different colour wood. Maybe I was out that day if they did. They ALL had multiple patches, whether you liked them or not. Big gobby sploshes of matt khaki and black paint soon solved the colour issue

As for the telescope, don't forget that there were a few knocking around with metric L1A2's - converted Mk2/1 telescopes when the shortages began to bite. So don't ignore an easily convertible Mk2 or even easier Mk2/1

[Bindi2]

I have two No4Mk2s that have never been issued just unwrapped both Blonde and darking differently similar to that L42.

[Gil Boyd]

The reality was you used matt green sniper tape and broke up all surfaces that reflected anything, so it really is, as Peter says immaterial what colour the wood was

[Strangely Brown]

The reality was you used matt green sniper tape and broke up all surfaces that reflected anything, so it really is, as Peter says immaterial what colour the wood was

I don't think green sniper tape had entered the service in my time, if it did the QM was just sitting on it.

We used black masking tape, or black nasty as I recall it was called by the lads. The only time I ever used it was in NI to mask out the broad arrow and MOD marking that had been engraved on the top of my issue Pentax Spotmatic camera with an electric pencil. The very same camera that I was supposed to mingle with the press with and pretend I was one of them!

[Gil Boyd]

Mick,
Absolutely not about in the 70's but gaffa tape and face veil did the job admirably. Yes the old ASAHI issue 35mm which I had in the Int Section. Great little camera and things always looked good in B/W and still do IMHO