Savage No 4 Mk1 T

[Surpmil]

Brian, I suspect that most of the LT rifles ended up disposed of in the US. They seem to be less scarce your side of the pond than they are over here. I kept a scoped up (or rather a Mk1* T that had been scoped up) from the batch for myself. I suspect it may be one of the two groovers. I'll check in a bit. I think Dave T kept one as well.

Yes, surpmil, it is a mystery with several possible explanations........I just have no idea which is correct! There are so many factors that are difficult to reconcile. The possible explanation for the LT rifles being set up at the death so that H&H could maximise their revenue before the wartime contracts were cancelled leaves me uneasy; it sounds entirely feasible, but a study of the contours of ALL (at least all that I have seen) front body pads shows them to be of an early profile, not typical of 44/45/46 set ups. Unless the conversion work was started early on but the final machining of the spigot was left as no brackets were available to mate the two together???? Could fit in with your thinking re bracket scarcity/bottlenecks in supply???

Just kicking an idea about.....

Wasn't it Elmbank Foundry that was bombed out interrupting the bracket supply? But not sure if that was their operation in London or Glasgow? Can't find any reference in a few minutes googling as to when that occurred either.

Considering Rose Bros. was so busy working on turrets etc. for Bomber Command, perhaps they gave it up at some point, or was it the case that both they and Dalgleish continued making brackets to the end? If so, perhaps a wise division of effort to avoid another such interruption?

Have never heard any suggestion that H&H dragged out the early rifles at the end of the war to keep the contract going - not sure where that idea originated!