If you owned a Mk4No2 NIW

[Alan de Enfield]

If you are going to buy a 'new' rifle then why not buy a Remington or a Winchester ?
If you are going to buy a 'new' rifle why not use it ?
Why would you want to buy a 'new' historical rifle with no history ?

Part of the interest in Enfields is thinking / investigating where they've been, what they've done and who used them.

Personally I wouldn't thank you for a New In the Wrap - no character.

Example : Is the patch in my No1 (just in front of the magazine) as a result of stopping a bullet and hence saving the soldier's life ?
Maybe I'm just too romantic !!

Information

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[bradtx]

RED, This debate has gone on for years and neither side gives an inch. My NIW Mk.2 had already been pilfered for it's bayonet so unwrapping wasn't a big deal.

Once it's out of the wrap it'll be considered 'as shot' whether it has been or not so #2 isn't an option.

Brad

[JB White]

Once the paper was broken to obtain the serial number, all bets were off in regard to preservation. In the last 15 years the paper around the muzzle and buttstock has often been damaged as well.
There is no way to tell if the rifle is still preserved, or if all you have is a rust incubator. What about the wood? Is cosmolene good for it? Not a lot of cosmo on the wood, so then it needs to be oiled to keep it from drying out. Can't linseed oil wood that's covered in scraps of greasy paper.

Mine is unwrapped, rarely fired, and periodically maintained. A few more decades down the road and we'll know who did the right thing.

[Jim Long]

I thoroughly enjoyed the novelty of unwrapping my 50s era No.4 Mk.2. I had high hopes for it being a tack driver.. The worst shooting Enfield I've ever had.. Sold it to a guy that couldn't believe I was selling it.. I made money on the deal.. he was a happy camper too
I like the No3 rifle better.. smoother actions

[WHG2]

A few years ago I was lucky to find 2 in the wrap Enfields selling for $350 each. I bought them both and unwrapped & cleaned one just so that I could experience shooting a new enfield. The other remains in the wrap stored in my gun safe. After years of shooting my other Enfields that had seen less than the best of care over the years before I purchased them shooting the just unwrapped and cleaned rifle was an experience that is one of the best of my shooting life. The rifle functioned flawlessly, with the action working so smoothly It was a joy to shoot. I don't regreat unwrapping it.

[John Sukey (Deceased)]

Unwrapped both of mine. So who are you saving the wrapped one for? The guy who buys it from your estate? In the end it won't matter to you because you will be DEAD and it will be someone else's decision.
The next owner might even decide to "sportyize" your carefuly preserved "bit of history."

[Faulkner]

Just in case you're wondering, here's what a No4 MKII looks like fresh out of the wrap. Took me 5 or 6 hours to clean all the cosmoline off of it. Shoots good too.

[anthon94]

I unwraped mine and shot it.

[Capt Quahog]

This is one of those no right ~ no wrong type things. Had a brand new in the "sealed box" very early production Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum revolver. The only thing really known was that something in that box was sort of rattling around. Could have a been padded rock inside that carton?

Had the box for a little more than a year. It was suppose to be of the highest collector value being sealed in the factory original box. Every now and then, the carton would come down off the closet shelf . . held for a few seconds and then shaken a little. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! How marvelous!

Needless to say, I never physically saw that gun. One day a friend asked me to sell the unopened box with the dazzling Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum revolver supposedly inside. I'd grown tired of sniffing and shaking the box and sold the thing to him for a few bucks than I had paid. Was glad to be rid of it because, after thinking about it for awhile, the entire situation was totally stupid. Fact is . . . how much would the that NEW gun be "devalued" by taking it out of the box with wrapper and looking at it? Just the enjoyment of seeing it would probably more than offset any tentative asset
diminishment.

For all I can guess, that S&W wheel gun is probably still in the unopened box sitting on some guy's bedroom closet shelf.

On the other hand, the out in the open, excellent condition 1950 FTR - Lee Enfield No. 4 Mk 1/3 rifle has brought lots of enjoyment.