L39A1 at auction recently

[PrinzEugen]

Ok then, Prinz...where do you see a "792" on the butt?

Mate I wasn't saying you were wrong - I was saying that it seemed a bit over the top to stamp the calibre on the butt...
Anyway Thunderbox has come up with the answer by reading the original description properly, which I didn't.

In the Uk the prices are lower than the $2k quoted, although there must be a few more L39s around - they're some currently advertised online for between £800 - £1000 - but I reckon you could have a decent one for around £600 probably.

[Peter Laidler]

There's even LESS available now as another 26 have recently been guilloutined

[Calfed]

Mate I wasn't saying you were wrong - I was saying that it seemed a bit over the top to stamp the calibre on the butt...
Anyway Thunderbox has come up with the answer by reading the original description properly, which I didn't.

In the Uk the prices are lower than the $2k quoted, although there must be a few more L39s around - they're some currently advertised online for between £800 - £1000 - but I reckon you could have a decent one for around £600 probably.

Sorry, Prinz, for the mis-understanding.

The L39's are a rare bird around here. I was hoping that it would go for quite a bit less than it ultimately did.

[John Sukey (Deceased)]

Have two L39's. One original and one AJ Parker. the only difference is lack of L39 markings on the Parker model and the fact it is in nicer condition since it's only had a couple of boxes of ammo through it.
For real sticker shock, price a L42A1!!

Bought my L42A1 while it was still on the boat. They didn't last long once they got here.

[Frederick303]

One advantage of living on the east coast was that the incomplete L42A1 rifles ended up being sold for next to nothing here. As a result I have one incomplete L42 and one complete one for less than 2 K for the pair plus the parts needed to replace the missing bits. It did take a lot of time to find the missing bits though……

[Brian Dick]

I've seen a few No.4 rifles with the serial number stamped on the wrist like that. Most were ROF Maltby rifles for some reason. I'd guess it was done to make it easily identified on the rack. This particular rifle may have got a paint job at some point but having had about 50 of them in the past 20 years, it still looks original to me. I had many that had perfect paint as original but a few dings and dents in the woodwork as this one has so I'm still not convinced it's been painted post UK service. It's got some wear on the paint finish too if you look closely. I don't think many of them saw much use during their time in service. Just my 2 cents.

[Calfed]

If you do not have the cash for the real thing you could put something together very close for around 750, as long as you are willing to do a little stock work yourself to make the forend and front handguard. You don’t even need a Enfield barrel, buy a good Krieger Palma barrel with the .297/.307 bore dimension and assembling it using any Fazakerly post war action. I did one for a friend using a beat up MKII forend, made the metal insert for king screw and made the hand guard buy mating two No 4 rear hand guards together, I have enough of the one guard to complete two more guards. Except for the markings and the front sight base, you could not tell it apart.

I've got a post war Fazakerley MKI that has been sported. Would this be a possible candidate?

sported No4

[Frederick303]

Yes, though the MK II action is a bit more correct, none of the L39A1 guns were made with MK I actions. You could do it with the MK I action, you will need a MK I stock that is complete out ½ inch past the lower band and has not been sanded to remove girth. The only possible issue is the stability fo the trigger pull, but if you add the metal tab under the front action screw, as was added in the original rifles you will have no problem with this.

You need to go to the Krieger site: Home

You want a Palma contour, either light or standard twist 1 in 12 to be exact, 1 in 13 will likely give better accuracy with L2A2 ball. I seem to recall the light contour was closest to the real Enfield hammer forged barrel, at least at the muzzle when the barrel was cut to 27.55 inches. You should check that, I am old enough that at times my memory is in error. If you like I can measure my rifles.

The cost has gone up since my friend made one, 310 for the barrel, 25 to contour the barrel reinforce and 290 to fit the barrel, chamber and do the extractor cut to your action. In my case he used a local gun smith who got a got a discount on the price of a chambered barrel and the barrel work including all the bits was under 600 dollars. I seem to recall he put on a Palma 95 chamber. I also seem to recall the final groove diameter was .307 or .3075. You should use no smaller then .307 and then you must use Nato ball with its small diameter and short driving bands, with a .3075 you can get away with US diameter 150 grain projectiles. You want the barrel cut to 27.55 inches as well. You might check with a local gunsmith to see if he can give you a slightly better price compared to what Krieger will charge you for the barrel work. You want to go to not any gunsmith, but one who works on match rifles and understands the importance of not doing sloppy work. You will pay more but get a better product. You will need to provide him your old barrel fro him to make the extractor cut, I seem to recall that was one of the things that took the smith the most time to set up.

I would spend the money for a smith to do the barrel work; this is not something for a novice to try, especially cutting the extractor groove.

The reason to make sure the barrel reinforce is correctly done is it makes fitting the wood forend and getting the pressure fits correct a lot easier. It is easier to have Krieger do it then doing it yourself. They do not cut the receiver flat. I seem to recall the barrel came threaded, with a rough chamber. The gun smith cut the extractor groove, fit the barrel, cut the Palma 95 chamber, cut the barrel to length and crowned it with flat crown and then a 11 degree crown for half the width of the barrel face. The barrel was fit with a regular target sight base, the height I do not recall, the original L39 barrels are fit with a sleeve that fits over the barrel and si soft soldered on. That is sort of a pain but can be done if you can locate one of these sigh base/sleeves. In the case of my buddies rifle the barrel was just drilled twice for the sigh base, and the smith ensured the base was true relative to the rear sight. It might have been the sight base that came with the 15 dollar Parker Hale target front sight from Sarco.

Once you get all the metal bits the wood is very easy to do. All you have to do is carefully cut open the barrel channel, as long as the Knox from is correct (barrel reinforce). I did it with a wooden dowel and 80 grit sand paper. You must take care to ensure the barrel channel is widened just enough, as when you get done there is not much wood left on either die of the front of the forend.

You must also mill out the bottom of the forend to take a small metal plate that is fit into the wood to ensure the front action screw maintains constant pressure on the forend when tightened up. You can make the cut to fit in this small metal piece by using a Dremel sanding bit that is about .75 inch diameter, it cuts a near perfect cut. If you do that I will send you one of the metal plates

The hand guard is a wee bit more difficult. What I did was to remove the rear hand guard metal plate by driving out the two brass rivets. I then took another hand guard with the same color and did the same to it. I then make two cuts in each of the hand guard so that the wood splines of the one guard fit into the wood cuts of the intended rear hand guard. The area used to make the cuts was where the rivets were. Then I used a very good glue (tribond) let it sit for 24 hours, shortened it to the correct length and cut a groove for the rear band. With a little linseed oil the entire shebang looked just dandy.

My recollection was my buddy used the old .303 extractor, he did not want to pay the freight for a 308 one. The .303 extractor works quit fine, but he rifle does not eject, he has to remove the case by hand.

Were I you I would first take the time to find the rear sight, front sight prior to getting started. At the time of this project these parts were still cheap, I seem to recall we got a PH 5C sight for 75 and a Whitaker sight for 50 at the same show, the front sights were 15 dollars with the base from Sarco. The sights we got from a fellow that specialized in American sights that had a few British sights. The final step was to pain the gun, not with suncorite but some other epoxy paint he got from Brownells. What it was I do not recall but he had to do some prep to get it right. Actually he did that prior to me fitting the wood.

In my buddy’s case it took a lot of time to do this, from talking to Kreiger, writing it all up, taking it to his gunsmith etc. This is a labor of love.

The result was pretty good though, the rifle shot MEN 87, IVI 68 and FNM 84 ball very well at the short ranges we tested it at (300 yards). My buddy never did shoot it at a real range in a real match. I think that was because he then got a tube gun and the 155 grain match kings work a lot better then the limited quantities of old GI ball he could get in the 2006~2007 time period. For various reasons, shooting and 155 grain projectile down a .3075 pipe, in a 27.5 inch barrel on an Enfield action is not a wise idea.

Hopefully I have hit most of the things one has to do, though I might have missed one or two steps. I had the action wrench for the No 4, which cut down his costs as his smith did not have one and borrowed it. If you have questions, feel free to ask.

[Peter Laidler]

Marking the rifle number on the top of the butt as in this case wouldn't make any sense at all because our armoury racks line the rifles up with the top of the rifles against the wall and then they're chained in along, through the trigger guards.

[Brian Dick]

I wondered about that. I've seen it on Maltby No.4's as I mentioned and I think on one of the L42's I had through here years ago. Definitely an oddity.