Odd No4 Markings

[justin_j_francis]

Hey,

I've just come back from putting a no.4 mk.1 on hold to be picked up tomorrow. Its in good condition and the guy only wanted 125$ for it.

We were all wondering what on earth happened to this rifle over its life, if i remember correctly it reads No.4mk1* on the side of the receiver but on the metal band between forestock and butt 2 sets of serial numbers one being S**** and the other being another set of digits. Very curious, and I'll have pics posted as soon as possible but can anyone take a guess as to what might be going on here?

Thanks,
Justin

Information

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[justin_j_francis]

update

I can't take it home! Mostly because there are NO markings on it anywhere of a manufacturer. No enfield bsa or anyyy marking of that type. Just the S2900 and 7 digit serial on it. AA*****, The only other marking is a star (asterisk, dont call me on my spelling) on the receiver bridge (not on the no4mk1 lettering) . It's rather large. It has the C with arrow so I think it was canadian owned.

Hopefully it gets processed this week fairly quickly so I can take some pics.

[stencollector]

The word "LONGBRANCH" on the side of the receiver indicates it was made in that location by Small Arms Limited (or, if post 46 it changed to Canadian arsenals limited)
The origional serial number on a Longbranch rifle should have had an L in the seconf or third position of the serial number, such as 12L3456. The AA type serial numbers were usually applied by New Zealand in it's service life. The asterisk is possibly the sale mark, where a broad arrow is counterstruck to indicate disposal from service.

Of course, photos would go a long way to a better analysis.....

[justin_j_francis]

pics added

[stencollector]

I see you have now posted the same pics on gunnutz, but I'll repeat the info here. Forget anything I said earlier about LongBranch....this rifle isn't one.
The * over the breech likely indicates rust or a cut in the barrel. A counterstruck broadarrow would not have had that many lines to it.
The C/i\ is a bit of an odd one, but not every workshop had the correct stamps, so it may be quasi-official as a Brit made rifle that found it's way into Cdn service.
I believe the AA to be a New Zealand serial number (although some say these are rack numbers). New Zealand would apply it's own inventory numbers to aquired weapons.