Wrapped Enfield (Before and After)

[Thunderbox]

More on topic - I have a UF55 No4 Mk2 I bought last year (re-imported into the UK and with CAI US import stamps). It is unwrapped (not by me), but doesn't look to have fired many rounds at all. In the latest Lee-Enfield Rifle Association (LERA) newsletter, there is an article about getting your service rifle to shoot well. There is a comment about the 1950's rifles:-

"So, what about one of the brand new 1950's, unissued No.4 Mk2 rifles that comes straight out of the brown paper and cosmoline grease; surely that'll shoot well? Sorry to disappoint, but it'll still need some TLC if you want to dial in a sight setting and have bullets consistently go where the sights say they will. (Indeed, if you start to shoot it before it's had that TLC, you risk expensive damage to the vital bearings where the metal action attaches to the wooden furniture.)

For someone like me, yet to fire their 'new' rifle, is it a question of ensuring all screws are tight (particularly the front trigger guard screw), or more radical 'tender loving care'?

The new-in-wrap rifles frequently do not have proper forend fit, either from wood seasoning over 50+ years, or - more likely - the forends were never fitted correctly at the factory. Often the handguards are also a little on the "fat" side in the barrel channel, and need some attention. The front trigger guard screw bushing is usually unfitted/untrimmed as well - leading to poor receiver contact at the bedding points. I guess the factory intended that the end-user - the unit armourer - would do the final set up of each new rifle.

Finally, the bore of a NIW is new and often the rifle's performance improves over the first 200 rounds or so.

A lot of NIW owners express disappointment over the poor shooting performance of their mint rifles, and are dismayed that a tatty old No4 at 1/4 the price they paid for their beauty can often out-shoot them!