The NZArmy No4 rifles were sold off in a series of tenders during the 1980's, the majority going to overseas bidders. One such tender (June 1988) that I was a bidder in was for 2,202 Drill Purpose No4 rifles which were all good rifles but the firing pin tips had been broken off. The successful bidder was Sarco Inc in the USA
. A very large quantity of No4 parts (including sufficient new firing pins) was sold to Springfield Sporters in the USA. Did those two companies work with each other to create over 2,000 serviceable rifles? My bid was conditional on getting both the rifles and the parts and was not quite high enough to beat the two individual bids, however I did win 1,000 L1A1 self-loading rifles and over 2,000 Bren gun magazines so I was quite happy and did very well out of the deal! I also got about 285,000 rounds of .303 Mk VII in chargers and 50 round bandoliers, which I sold off in 6 months to NZ shooters. The price of .303's has risen dramatically here in the last year or so and tidy original rifles (SMLE No1 Mk III and No4's) are now going for NZ $1,000 plus. I can remember selling brand new, unissued, ex NZ Army Long Branch No 4's in 1970/71 for NZ$29.95!