EAL Type Longbranch Experts Weigh In

[Dogfish858]

It's all good. Look, frankly Peter, Lee, Brian, Vintage, Ax: you're all wrong. Gov't docs state that the Longbranch facility closed upon armistice to avoid paying, feeding, and housing 5500 people 24 hours a day. The charter was surrendered end of 1945, and in 1946, C.A.L. took what it needed from the S.A.L. factory to use in its own separate factory of 200 people, and the gov't disposed of the rest. Just the facts, man. Newspaper articles based on gov't docs and in person interviews. Unless you're willing to believe a factory made for thousands of workers producing thousands of pieces per month stayed open to produce hundreds of pieces per year with a fraction of the workers. Imagine the heating bill on a structure hundreds of meters across.

Regards your serial numbers, yes, you're right, most of the time. But the fact remains that I have in my possession a photograph from a reputable source of an early series EAL rifle with no EAL stamp, a Longbranch serial still on it, and a low two digit serial number identical to mine, and not placed on wrist or receiver.

I lifted the cartouche on the stock today; it reads 130 Broad Arrow EXAM. Whatever that could mean. The unknown K stamp evident on wood, bolt, and receiver appears to be a proof stamp of some sort, as I've found another on another North American No4. But it's clear that, in spite of some of your braggadocio, you actually don't know what you're talking about with regards EAL rifles. It's the great risk of asking advice, though, so in the end it's my fault.

You'll notice, actually, that nobody except Surp.mil has come even close to answering my questions: where and why the 02? Why does it match the bolt? Why is the butt stamped 130>EXAM? Why does the 02 match another two digit serial number on an EAL rifle? Why the strange, rare proof marks?

Was it aliens? Or factory gnomes? Some believe in them.

When you can offer some sort of answer or even mild speculation, I'll believe you actually know what you're talking about, because, frankly, your guess is as good as mine -- and it seems my guess is better.

Respectfully, ish. Thank you for your useful posts.