Black buttplates on Long Branches - when were they introduced?

[spinecracker]

Simple question with, I fear, a complicated answer :P

does anyone know when Long Branch/Canadian Arsenals began using the black-painted buttplates?

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[Brian Dick]

An uneducated guess would be 1944.

[jrhead75]

I've got an unissued, un-messed with '43 Maltby that has one on it.

[Brian Dick]

Your Maltby most likely had a broken pot metal buttplate that was replaced with a steel Canadian one post WWII.

[CIL]

All I can say is my 1944 s/n 69L have a brass buttplate.

[limpetmine]

None of my WWII Long Branches' have black steel butts. All of my 49's and 50's do.

[Peter Laidler]

I never saw a steel butt plate come through the Ordnance spares system. ONly brass. The black and obsolescent pot metal mazak were still fitted to zillions of rifles but not available through the VAOS system. That's only my observation and that of the senior examiners whom I've just spoken to. He did comment that the steel and mazak would still find their way into the spares trays but only if taken off scrapped or ZF Z-BER rifles

[Roger Payne]

My 90L 1945 4T's both came with blued steel butt plates. Of course they could be replacements, but I rather suspected they were original to the rifles. So, I suspect Brian's not far wide of the mark....

ATB

[spinecracker]

My 90L 1945 4T's both came with blued steel butt plates. Of course they could be replacements, but I rather suspected they were original to the rifles. So, I suspect Brian's not far wide of the mark....

ATB

You have 2 of them? To quote Stephen Fry from "Blackadder goes Forth" - "well, bugger me with a fishfork!"

[jrhead75]

Your Maltby most likely had a broken pot metal buttplate that was replaced with a steel Canadian one post WWII.

Good call Brian...I took it off and it was "CA" marked on the back side. Interesting in that the rest of the rifle is in nearly pristine original factory unissued condition.