EAL Type Longbranch Experts Weigh In

[Lee Enfield]

...snip...

Heritage Mississauga.

C.A.L. was a separate company from Long Branch and employed 200 vs 5500, turning out over 30,000 units per month.

I get you, but regards lightened design -- which would make sense for air crews -- it wouldn't make sense to go to the expense to mill out a unit if it was a one-off to win a minor gov't bid. If they had a mill on hand, wouldn't they have used it instead of farming out the work?

If it was a surplus bitsa, then there's still the 02 serial, which would indicate the second No4 ever made at Long Branch.

"Long Branch" was never a company, "Long Branch" was a facility OPERATED by "Small Arms Limited" (a wartime Crown Corporation), on Dec 31, 1945 "Small Arms Limited" passed control of the Long Branch facility to Canadian Arsenals Limited (a post war Crown Corporation) on January 1, 1946 which then operated the Long Branch facility as "Canadian Arsenals Limited, Small Arms Division", a sister division to the Canadian Arsenals Limited, Explosives Division and apparently few others.

Small Arms Limited didn't cease to exist on Dec 31, 1945, it continued to tie up its operations until mid 1946.

Oh yeah, Long Branch, and EAL serial numbers are on the LEFT side of their receivers.