1942 NZ-marked Long Branch No.4 Mk.1* - finally mine!!!

[Demo]

Very nice. Congratulations.

[spinecracker]

What type of oiler would be correct for a WW2 Long Branch? One of the black/brown plastic ones, brass, etc? Would there be any particular markings?

[Bearclaw]

SpineCracker, Very nice, very similar to mine. Serial no 20L1506 but unable to confirm it is NZ.

Myles

[Brian Dick]

Any oil bottle will do. Brown, black, it really doesn't matter. i may have a NZ marked one left if interested. Let me know and i'll check.

[Peter Laidler]

In the past, KimW and others including me have put a load of info onto this and the old Jouster site about these rifles so I'm not going to duplicate what's already been said but while I was in NZ we had No4's that had a NZ mark and number on the bottom left hand side of the butt socket. I was at a big Ordnance Depot at Ngaruawahia and there were still unopened crates of brand new rifles in Ordnance there. Another Armourer Robbie Robertson broke one open prior to disposal of the rifles and they were rusted into solid lumps of virtually unidentifiable lumps of steel. This wasn't unusual as some of them had come over as deck cargo during the war. KimW also remembered these sealed crates. Alas, they've got to be good to keep the sea out!

The rifles on issue in NZ were always in good condition, especially those in our neck of the woods

[spinecracker]

Bearclaw, have you posted photos of the markings on your rifle at this forum? If these guys can't work it out, it can't be worked out lol.

Brian, if you do have a NZ-marked oil bottle, I would be interested in knowing how much it would cost. I thought that any oiler might do very well, but I just wanted to check. I have just picked up a very good condition LB-marked bayonet and scabbard, and I might have found a Canadian-marked breech cover dated 1942 that ended up in New Zealand. I do not believe in fate, but....

I did find the following website discussing canadian oilers:

http://www.enfield-stuff.com/oilers/...ers_Canada.htm

Mr. Laidler, I have been looking through your previous posts on this subject. I will repeat the exercise when I am not on Vicodin and have a chance of actually remembering some of the invaluable information you have provided

[Chris7171]

Hello
I feel that I must add a comment here as I live in New Zealand and a lot of NZ marked rifles have pasted thought my hands, And I have never seen a rifle that is marked in the way they seem to be in the USA all the rifles I have seen here and are in my collection are stamped on the left hand butt socket with a "rack number" and N^Z or N^ZD.
Not one rifle have I seen in NZ that are engraved as on your rifle (must be a USA thing?).
I may be wrong but I have seen hundreds of rifles in NZ and have been collecting for years and feel pretty qualified to comment on the subject.

Chris

[Chris7171]

NZ Marks

[Peter Laidler]

That's exactly how they were when I was an Armourer in NZ too. But our Army ones didn't have the lashings of varnish on them Chris!

We always went by the serial number but the NZ number was referred to as 'the NZ number' or officially as 'the census number' for some reason.

Any of yours originate from the Ngaruawahia sales Chris?

[spinecracker]

Chris, thanks for the information. I did find the following thread regarding the marking of No.4s sent to New Zealand at another forum (if I am not allowed to use links to other forums, then please delete), and it does mention electropenciling as a marking option, and that it "depended on what RNZEME workshop was assigned the work":

http://parallaxscurioandrelicfirearm...om/topic/24490

If this is incorrect, then I would like clarification ASAP so I can send the bloomin' rifle back if necessary!