No4Mk2 Questions

[Seaspriter]

Should I take this to mean the bolt truly is original and should require no special fitting?

Sounds like the bolt was original. I'd be reluctant to change anything on this gun -- it could ruin the value. Less is better. Clean, preserve, oil, and little else.

The lightened bolt (hole in the ball) was used on the No.5's (which ended production in '47), and also on FTR's (Factory Thorough Repair) on No.4s in the late 40's (I have two post-war FTRs with lightened bolts on war-time production rifles). Apparently the lightened bolt versions that were still in inventory were used on both FTRs and new production (as SSJ ascertains) until the stock ran out in the early 1950s, when they reverted back to the solid ball bolts.