Most expensive L42 A1

[xa-coupe]

I am wondering what the most expensive L42 A1 has been to date.
I have been keeping an eye on them in the belief that they would be cheaper than a No4 Mk1T or No 1 Mk3* T.
Apparently I am wrong. On used guns dot com dot au I see an 'excellent' L42 A1 for $10,000 AUD ( with the current exchange rate that would be about $9999 USD ) .
After seeing the M40 that apparently went for $36k and this, I am wondering where it will end.

I think I feel some replicas in my future.

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[limpetmine]

Why do you think an L-42 would be cheaper than a No. 4 Mk1(T)? Compared to the numbers of No 4's made, the # of L-42's is a tad over 4% of that number. Supply and demand!

You being in the land down under should get you one of those AIA L-42 clones. I wish I could!

[xa-coupe]

Regardless of whether I am right or wrong about the pricing, $10k is a lot of money. Perhaps it is worth it but not for this little black duck. I'd buy two No 4s which have some more history for that.
I might build up my own clone, I have the 7.62 No4 already. I might see how well I can follow Peter Laidler's instructions.

[Bearclaw]

Jeff, your dreaming again. It's only 20 x the price of a reasonable No4 down here. Sell the missus' washing machine, car maybe some of the furniture. I'm sure she said to me you could. for such an investment. Then go build a dog house in the back garden for yourself. Maybe not a good idea, that would be a bit close, when she found out.

Myles

[tbonesmith]

If I had a lazy 10 K I'd be on that in a flash, but if I were to buy it, it would fire one round, I'd be dead, and the wife would have it back on used guns for $11K. So unfortunately it's not for me at this stage...

[xa-coupe]

Maybe I will buy it with the left over from the divorce settlement ... after paying my medical bills.
I did see a possibly unfired no4 for 750 .. now that got my interest.

[Thunderbox]

I know of one that sold for £6,500 in UK.

[xa-coupe]

6500 pounds is near enough to $10k ... I guess I am surprised at how much they are rising by. I suppose with the left wing governments we seem to get ( even the conservatives are more left than right these days ) it is pretty well never going to happen that anything remotely contemporary will get released back to the public.

[bearhunter]

xa-coupe, does it have to be the real thing? The AIA clones are pretty close. I can vouch for how well they shoot.

I recently picked up a Savage No4 MkI* for $250. It isn't a jewel by any exaggeration. The serial number is in the 54C0xxx range. It is in full wood that is quite nice. Someone, did a very good job milling the receiver to accept some sort of low scope mount. I suspect, one of the commercial Weaver mounts that were used on some of the Canadian ERA rifles. The same fellow, modified a No1 MkIII magazine to accept and feed 7.62x51. He also glass bedded the action area and put in a fore end pressure pad. Oh, before I forget, he also installed a Canadian Arsenals 7.62x51 barrel. That was the rifles main selling point. For some reason, all of the markings on the receiver ring are filed off. There aren't any other marks on the bolt, so I doubt it was one of the DCRA rifles. For the price, its turned out to be a pretty good buy. I had a vintage Williams mount for a flat sided receiver that needed a couple of extra holes drilled into it to mount it to the three holes already d & t ed on the flat side. It also needed a cut out to clear the extractor screw. Not a big deal.
I also had a vintage Weaver 3X collecting dust and mounted it on the base. I had an extra cheek piece kicking around and mounted that on the butt. All in all, not a bad looking old girl. As luck would have it, it shoots very well. It isn't fussy either and will shoot milsurp as well as hand loads equally well.

I was going to cut down the fore end to make it into an L42 clone but then I asked myself if I wanted to take the chance of spoiling a decent shooter, just for looks. After all, the AIA B2 10 covers the cosmetic aspect quite well. It also looks great with the 6X Pecar scope that recently went on it.

Another thing, I don't know the situation in Australia for period scopes, brackets and pads but they are the next thing to non existent in Canada. When you do find them, they are very expensive. I saw an REL MKIII that went for $2000 less than a month ago. It never even went out on the display table. The fellow that was selling it, was well known for having "T" stuff and before I could get to him, another guy beat me to it. I couldn't afford the $2000 anyway. By the time I got the rest of the parts and put a "T" or L42 together, I would have as much into it as the real thing would cost and it wouldn't be real.

Good luck in your quest. Sometimes, I think the quest is as much or even more fun than the rifles. Not really but definitely part of the whole aspect.

[xa-coupe]

Hi Bearhunter,
I am in the process of working out how to get what I want to make a clone as I am clearly out of my depth with the real thing.
I already have a 7.62 no4 that has a local scope mount on it. I just need to trim the wood a bit, add a proper scope mount and somehow find a weaver K3 for a decent price. The only thing I have to work out is how to put a front sight on given the barrel profile. Might have to make a 'almost' clone.
Parts are not cheap here when you can find them. I am looking on ebay and gunbroker to source stuff. Some people don't like sending overseas which makes it tough but I will get there. As you say, the quest is half the fun.