Un-serialed LB Mk I

[smellie]

I have an unnumbered LB No. 4 Mark 1*, 1944, absolutely new and unfired. Wood and metal finish both are to the highest standard I have seen on any military-type rifle, wood is carefuly matched (obviously from the same blank). Odd thing is that it has the late "British" type safety, original to this rifle.

I was thinking possibly a display rifle for all those War Bonds drives. It certainly wasn't Andy McNaughton's rifle, carried ashore by his cute secretary at Juno Beach! You know: the one that took the breechblock out of the 88 just before it could land a round on Monty's half-track......

All joking aside, I DO have the rifle and it is absolutely the prettiest LE I have ever encountered.

I'm not a dealer of any kind, but I have seen and handled a lot of rifles. In just-short-of-50 years at this, I have encountered TWO LB Number 4s without numbers....... and the other was somewhat ratty (I am being polite).

But we will wait until the Registry goes. The unregistered firearms in Canada number in the millions, not in the thousands; of this I am certain.

As to mine, it is registered; they sent me one of those stupid little stickers for the thing, along with stickers for a dozen or so others..... and no way to tell which sticker goes on which rifle...... and 10 years in the old slammer if you get it wrong. Typical Canada: coddle the criminals and walk on the law-abiding suckers who won't shoot back.... and then they wonder why so many Canadians no longer feel any patriotism or loyalty. You can't beat people into loving their country.

But the rifles exist. I just don't think they are as common as some folks would like to think.

And the rifle shown in this thread is just SO perfect for a very-early rifle....
.

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[boltaction]

I have an unnumbered LB No. 4 Mark 1*, 1944, absolutely new and unfired. Wood and metal finish both are to the highest standard I have seen on any military-type rifle, wood is carefuly matched (obviously from the same blank). Odd thing is that it has the late "British" type safety, original to this rifle.

I was thinking possibly a display rifle for all those War Bonds drives. It certainly wasn't Andy McNaughton's rifle, carried ashore by his cute secretary at Juno Beach! You know: the one that took the breechblock out of the 88 just before it could land a round on Monty's half-track......

All joking aside, I DO have the rifle and it is absolutely the prettiest LE I have ever encountered.

I'm not a dealer of any kind, but I have seen and handled a lot of rifles. In just-short-of-50 years at this, I have encountered TWO LB Number 4s without numbers....... and the other was somewhat ratty (I am being polite).

But we will wait until the Registry goes. The unregistered firearms in Canada number in the millions, not in the thousands; of this I am certain.

As to mine, it is registered; they sent me one of those stupid little stickers for the thing, along with stickers for a dozen or so others..... and no way to tell which sticker goes on which rifle...... and 10 years in the old slammer if you get it wrong. Typical Canada: coddle the criminals and walk on the law-abiding suckers who won't shoot back.... and then they wonder why so many Canadians no longer feel any patriotism or loyalty. You can't beat people into loving their country.

But the rifles exist. I just don't think they are as common as some folks would like to think.

And the rifle shown in this thread is just SO perfect for a very-early rifle....
.

Yes, it is a lovely example with all the nice early features. Pinning down the provenance would be nice, and I agree with Peter Laidler about the importance of that, but that is only if the inherent value of the item is the provenance. In this case, I don't really care about the provenance, although knowing its story would I think be interesting, and likely more than just a back door walk out. I really like the rifle, and if I ever find an equally nice serial numbered Mk I I'll certainly let this one go.........

As for faking up Monty's revolver, if I was going to do that, I'd choose someone more competent. Never thought much of Monty. Must be the Canadian in me.

Agree that the number of unreg'd firearms in Canada is in the millions. Back when Rock et al were planning C-68, my brother and I formed, along with 4 others, the Saskatchewan Responsible Firearms Owners, or SRFO. We lobbied against the bill, and did get the SK gov't on side. Canadian gun owners then were still too fragmented though, with the shotgunners saying who cares about the pistols, etc. Anyway, my brother and I did a cost estimate, which we presented in person to Rock and also did a billboard campaign about. The gov't at the time, along with Wendy Cukier of the Coalition for Gun Control were saying there were only a million or so long guns in Canada (I don't remember the exact number but it was ludicrous) and said the registry would cost 97 million. We estimated about 20 million guns, based on import numbers, production numbers of cooeys, etc, and costed it out based on the cost of registering a pistol at the time. We came up with a cost of 2 Billion, and Rock laughed in our faces. Now, several years later we've spent 2 1/2 billion and only maybe 40% of guns registered. GREAT system.

Ed