Marking On 1949 Long Branch Stock

[HRA466]

"LT" in white block letters on butt of 1949 Long Branch. Anyone know what this means? Unit markings?

Thanks!

Information

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[Amatikulu]

Line Thrower - used on ships

[Peter Laidler]

Check the bore VERY carefully before you use it for anything. We used to have some Navy No4 (I think these were Merchant Navy from the tankers) and Royal Navy L1A1 line throwers under our wing. Cleaning and examination to them meant letting them slide around the decks while the ship to ship ops took place then putting them back in the store for 3 weeks while someone decided to run a pull-through through the bore.

They usually had bulges about 12" down from the muzzle too. I haven't ever seen one, but one of the others said that this was wher the end of the copper coated steel line weight was positioned until it was hit by the ballastite charge! They were also pitted and scratched to buggery (that's another technical phrase that you need to learn too) from that point upwards. The ones we had in our Armourers shops didn't have rear or foresights fitted either as I seem to remember and the gas plugs were solid, so that there was no gas bleed off. Ours had a (red - yellow?) band painted around the butt with LT painted on it. The L1A1 butts/butt plates were always split too because they'd put them on the deck, like a bloody mortar, and use their boot to support the side of the butt while it was fired. And there's not a lot of 'give' in a ships steel deck. We used to chuckle and hope that they looked after the big deck guns better than they looked after the rifles!

[breakeyp]

A Long Branch LT is a very collectable find. Sell it to a knowing collector and use the money to buy a shooter if that is what you want.

[Peter Laidler]

I ask the obvious question Paul, but apart from the obvious, wouldn't it be simple for anyone unscrupulous to make up an LT rifle? The only real way to tell whether it was a genuine Navy or Merchant Navy rifle would be the dire state of the bore, for the last 12" or so towards the muzzle. Then, on that basis, it'd make it, well...., worthless. Or am I missing something.

On a similar note, an MoD ammunition maker/contractor has just been instructed to make 'a quantity' of .303" and 7.62mm ballastite for three foreign navies who still use it on their ex-British ships. It has been categorised as specialised blank.

[breakeyp]

Peter you certainly have a point and that would remove all doubt but some may have been stored with little use. Also the buttstock could have been taken off a real rifle and put on a different rifle because it was better condition or missing. I would assume Naval issue would have naval property/rework markings. Often they are wire wrapped ala the grenade launcher rifles. I base these comments on rifles in my collection that were obtained over the years when nobody cared about them. Springfield Sporters brought in a huge number of line throwers from India--so many that they could not have all been Navy usage but may have been issued in construction and communication people for throwing lines --wires and rope across gorges and rivers.
I have posted in the past pictures of some of the odd ball line throwers I have such as Canadian wire wrapped Long Lees and British Navy No.4 with anchors stamped on the buttstock. Skennerton showed a few in his last book. Without pictures or handling it in person, it is hard to be anymore specific.

[Lance]

Here is an example of a LT that was barely used, formerly an unissued 1950 CNo.4. It is basically mint and would guess that the sights were removed, LT painted and then put on a rack. Its only fault is that someone crudely engraved the rifle s/n on the magazine and forend

[Peter Laidler]

Your photo is JUST like the ones we had Lance. Thanks too Paul. Very interesting thread in a nerdy sort of way except ours (? they weren't ours as such, but stored with us ....) had a red band around the butt and I always thought/assumed until now that this indicated that they migh have split butts.

Thanks for that, it's cleared up a mystery

[HRA466]

I am embarrassed that I made the original post and didn't get back here to read the responses until today. Wow, some great info from you guys and I really appreciate it. I am going to post some pics of it in about a week when a friend arrives to help me out. This rifle is as new/mint as any firearm I have ever handled and I have handled a lot of them. The story from the owner is that his father was a military attache in Canada and was given the rifle as a gift. It has no import mark. Everything matches. SN on stock, bolt, magazine, etc. The wood is a beautiful slab of walnut that doesn't have a single ding in it. It is a 1949 rifle. The butt plate is blued and there literally isn't a mark on it. I don't think this rifle was ever used. Bore and chamber are perfect. The "LT" on the left side of the stock looks EXACTLY like the lettering on the earlier pic. BTW, I did NOT pay very much for this rifle. It wasn't sold as anything special and I was shocked to get it for what I actually paid for it. I am really looking forward to sharing pics of it with you folks. Thanks again for all the information. You are a very good group.