Help with info on No4 Target Rifle

[louthepou]

Hi everyone,

I know so little that I don't even know if it should be called "Target Rifle", so that should be an indication

Acquaintance of mine acquired this 1944 LongBranch No4 Mk1* equiped with a Parker-Hale 5C rear sight. What info can I bring to his attention? Where can I read about it? What should I look for on the rifle for any positive identification?

Thanks...

Humbly yours,

Lou

Information

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[Strangely Brown]

Lou, there isn't a lot to tell really; if the rifle had been used at Bisley pre 1968 then it would have shot in the class SR"b", all other Lee Enfields with "issue" sights would have been classed as SR"a".
The story of Lee Enfield target rifles only really gets interesting when you start to look at post 1968 converted 7.62mm target rifles and the differant builds utilising differant stocks with higher combs, a good example of this would be the L39A1 fitted with a butt from a No8 ·22 trainer.
In the picture we can't see the foresight, is it "as issue", or does it have a foresight "tunnel"?

[Hal O'Peridol]

Lou, check to se if the barrel is marked CMk3 on the Knox form. If so, then it has been fitted with one of the 6 groove "bren" barrels.

[louthepou]

Thanks guys, will relay the info to my buddy. Lucky man, he got it for a really, really reasonable price,

Lou

[RJW NZ]

and PS thats one expensive looking eyepiece, the one I have is an iris like a traditional camera shutter. Costly to make I bet.

[Surpmil]

Nice Canadian government sale mark on the reinforce. That coloured filter on the backsight reminds me of a school friend's father's No4 target rifle. First one I ever saw or held and it was a beauty. He was a crusty old vet who used to keep clips of ammo on the picture moulding at strategic locations around the house in case he had to repel boarders - not very likely!

[Maple_Leaf_Eh]

... He was a crusty old vet who used to keep clips of ammo on the picture moulding at strategic locations around the house in case he had to repel boarders - not very likely!

Now that might be an inaccurate assumption. I read a very interesting (and now lost) internet page that talked about the steps of predatory processing for street crime. If a person looks like he is easy pickings, it will happen. The fact that there was an armed presence might have been the determining factor in NOT selecting his house for burglery. The act of being vigilant removes the appearance of victim-hood, and sends criminals onto other more vulnerable prey.

[KimW]

What is a No 4 target Rifle ?. You have what looks like a Club Pattern target rifle, the pride of an individual shooter and possibly his club Armourer.

One subset of my Lee Enfields is the Commonwealth target rifle - at least the variants found in NZ. Having started out as a NZ NRA Target shooter in 1965, the acquistion of a target rifle was easy - either you paid (Pre decimal currency) $92 for a "Regulated by Fulton" No4, or you paid your Rifle Club membership fee, got a certificate to that effect, went to the nearest Police Station and asked for a "Permit to Procure" - in later years, I was to wonder at the name - the said permit permitting you to obtain a rifle. You then went to Trentham Camp Ordnance Depot and paid $10 (Used, serviceable), or $20 (Never Issued) for a No4. Both my first two (Used) had immaculate barrels and were Longbranch 2L and 3L series. Within 28 days, I had to take them to the Police station and Register them (cost $1) - for the UK readers, both the Permit to Procure and the Registration were just paper transactions, no restrictions, no inspections. Some shooters used the rifle with 5c sight put on just as issued. By far the majority took the other path, into Darkness and horror.

Now the horror. The rifle was handed over to the Club Armourer, who rasped out the barrel channel to free float the barrel, drilled out the brass rod at the rear and substituted a long machine screw and nut, put brass shims on the Draws, adjusted the trigger, ensured that the Knox form bore properly on the wood, packed the side of the action cutout with Brown Paper - varnished - and put in a wood bearing at the 11.5" mark on the barrel - epoxy Plastibond was a godsend in a few years. My part in these proceedings was limited to purchase of a Parker Hale 5C sight and purchasing a 1/2 gallon Flagon of beer for the Armourer.

Both rifles shot rather well - better than myself. Later acquistions included Rifles stamped by Fulton, ParkerHale and AG Parker and 4/1/2 and 4 Mk2 variants.

[RJW NZ]

Hi Kim, nice description of these cool rifles,did you make it to the cadet auction? Roger

[KimW]

No, circumstances prevented it. I already had a No2 MkIV* and a No8 and thought really hard about getting a No9. At an average of $900, just a teensy bit out of my range but - had I been there !! - I would have bid.

I got nostalgic when I was doing the rifle description above, it being common for shooters on a all day shoot to complain bitterly, disassemble the rifle on the Clubhouse bar and alter the bedding - usually with silver paper from a cigarette packet. The 2L got me a 99 on my 21st birthday, finishing with 19 consecutive bullseyes - I promptly rebarreled it with a new Lithgow No4 barrel - shot just as well and much later, when .308Win and Omark rifles came in, I converted it to a scope sighted sporter - knocked off quite a few deer and over 1200 goats - still grouped 5 shots under 1MOA. The 3L remained in Target configuration and was donated to the NRA of NZ - hangs on the wall of the NZ NRA Boardroom with the other historic target rifles from the 1853 Musket onwards - they did not have a No4. I often look at it during Council meetings.