Factory converted No 4

[Surpmil]

I've always wondered about the reported failure of the L8s to group as the same barrel (AFAWK) was used for some years by DCRA shooters with good results. Nor have I heard that those surviving DCRA Long Branch conversions fail to group properly.

Must be something more to that...

[Peter Laidler]

I saw a large handfull of assorted L8 rifles that came through a large Base Workshop in the early/mid 80's. They were from the big Ordnance Depot at Thatcham and came mixed within a large quantity of No4's and included an L8A2T that was scope and bracketless. In fact it was in just as a No4. They were all marked the same and as soon as I have access to one again, I'll photograph the sidewall markings although the marking of the L8T are shown in the No4T sniper book that was being written at the time.

Being oddballs, the rifles weren't worked on but sifted out and scrapped. The barrels were definately bayonet-lug less. One feature was that the top right hand side of the fore-ends, below the bolt head track had the marks L8Ax stamped into the wood.

I heard that one very naughty Armourer 'swapped' his clapped out old .303" shooting rifle for one and commented later that his old .303 shot better than the 7,62mm version. Even after he'd re-adjusted the fore-end. Another is still owned by its liberator that I'll photograph later. They were ALL pantograph engraved and not stamped or electro pencil etched and the original marks were barred out in the usual Army way

[Alan de Enfield]

Another is still owned by its liberator that I'll photograph later.

Do you think the 'liberator' will mind being photographed ?

Sorry - just remided me of an advert I once saw : "For sale, table, by lady with Queen Anne legs"

[Peter Laidler]

Or the other one. FOR SAIL. Genuine EX WD DUKW. You've got to think about it..............

[terryinvictoria]

Is the reason we do not see the L8 rifle's in private ownership --that they were still in government hands when the decision was made to "NOT" sell surplus firearms to the public.

Further to that-- Might I ask when that decision was made in the UK?
Was it in Tony Blair's stewardshp of the country --or earlier.
Of course I am referring to bolt action rifles not auto loaders.

I would assume that the decision was made as a general decision widely sweeping to include all firearms in military ownership and that no exceptions were made in the "sale exclusion order"

Cheers
Terry in Victoria

[Peter Laidler]

I think that I have written several bits and pieces about the L8 project in the past.

About 10 or 12 or so turned up in a batch of about 100 N4 rifles at a big Base workshops in the early 80's, to be refurbished for Cadet use/issue pending the completion of the trials and issue of the Cadet L81 target rifle. Nobody quite knew what to do with these 7.62mm L8 rifles or even that they WERE 7.62mm rifles. It would appear that they'd been returned to Ordnance and put in with the standard No4's.

Look................ I'm not going into the why's and wherefores but by some dint of accounting, the same amount of rifles went out as came in and I, and another/others mistakenly and quite tragically ended up with 7.62mm L8's. It's a difficult life and sometimes I feel it's all going against us but there you go. These mistakes happen.

Let me tell you a few things about them. They were ALL engraved, quite deeply, on a pantograph engraving machine, as per the book. None had bayonet lugs and all had Canadian made barrels. None were fitted with the special charger bridge although a couple had a sort of 7.62mm charged bridge sweated into place. Maybe they all had them originally but were missing or lost. And certainly mine shot like it was tired and worn out. It was rubbish!

Just realised that I'd written up most of this earlier. Sorry about the duplication!

[Nate]

I have a 7.62 conversion of a Longbranch #4, a one off for a customer by Cogswell & Harrison. The mag is a .303 that has a spacer for the shorter cartridge and holds only 5 rounds. A new charger bridge is installed that is slightly forward of normal so as to line up with the spaced mag. There is a spring loaded plunger to help ejection but it favors ejecting cases from the right side of the stack. It looks exactly like a .303 with no red stripe to clue in a shooter.

[breakeyp]

I briefly corresponded with the German Arms Dealer that had the L8 rifles. I don't know how many he had. He told me that he could not export them to the US because he could not certify them to the US as meeting all import requirments. I left it at that as there was no point in beating the dead horse.

I have handled one L8 in the US. My friend obtained it from a gentleman who brought it with him when he imigrated to Canada and later the US.

[Mk VII]

I had one of these at one time. It was based on a late Mk.2 action and the original markings (barred out) were NO.4 MK2 F57 FTR A15579. The L8A1 bit was electro-pencilled on. The magazine well was not altered so feeding was a bit unreliable. I got it as a smoothbore for various reasons, and after some years got Fulton's to put a new (Belgian I think) barrel on it (with lugs) and found a little-used Mk.2 fore-end for it after their stocker looked at the patched Mk.1 one that was on it and said "what am I supposed to do with this?" . They did it with their 'New Zealand' centre-bedding. The twist rate was about 1:10 which was hopeless for the sort of 144gn surplus stuff which we used then. Only with 180 - 190gn projectiles would it shoot well. I got the charger bridge adaptor from Westley Richards, who still had some at the time, and later two more from AJ Parker after someone borrowed it and lost the first one.

[Surpmil]

I've always wondered about the reported failure of the L8s to group as the same barrel (AFAWK) was used for some years by DCRA shooters with good results. Nor have I heard that those surviving DCRA Long Branch conversions fail to group properly.

Must be something more to that...

And there is: 7.62 No4 MKI conversion question