AIM Surplus has No. 4 MK I stock sets

[kscchtrainer]

AIM Surplus is listing some complete No. 4 MK 1 Enfield wood and they are calling it Military Surplus in VG+ condition. $39.95 US plus shipping which in my case came out to just a bit under 9 dollars.

I just noticed the listing this morning. Previously they had some No. 4 MK I rifles for sale as well, but evidently only a few and they are no longer listed so must have sold out. The Ishapore 2A's are still listed so they probably have some of those left.

The 2A that I got from them looked pretty ratty until I cleaned all the black paint off it. The opinion of the wood is still out as I haven't gotten to it yet. After 5 heatings/scrubbings, it's still imbedded with years of dirt/oil/cosmolene so still a lot of work to do there.

Anyone needing furniture for a #4 MK I check 'em out. I don't know how many sets they have or how long they will last.

http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/E...Stock_Set.html

(I have absolutely no financial interest in AIM Surplus whatsoever)

Information

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[kscchtrainer]

Followup on the stock set from AIM. UPS tracking says the set will arrive 08/13/08 (this Wednesday).

I'll post pix here of the wood when it comes in, and again of the rifle once I get everything fitted properly by the manual.

[kscchtrainer]

Got the stock set from AIM late this afternoon. UPS showed up around 5:30 p.m.

All 4 pieces appear to be "new old stock" walnut. It has been stained very dark and preserved, but the surface oil was cleaned off by AIM prior to shipping. The buttstock has some dings and finish nicks from storage and rough handling, but otherwise is in pretty good shape and appears to never have been fitted to a rifle. The forend has a ding or two, but has never been fitted to a rifle. The same can be said of the two upper handguard pieces.

All of the wood is quite a bit oversized, and will require extensive hand fitting. The forend, where it is to snug up against the butt socket is about 1/8" to 3/16" too long (deliberately) and will have to be carefully shortened while maintaining the proper angle in order for it to mate properly with the butt socket of the rifle. Some inletting of the upper part where the receiver and knox form bed to the forend will have to be done carefully to match pressure points and clearances as specified in Canadian National Defense manual - "First Line Maintenance Instructions, Rifle, .303 Calibre, Lee Enfield, No 4, All Marks".

The first picture is a closeup of the trigger guard and magazine well so you can see that the forend has never been installed. Insteaded of a riveted strap across the butt socket end of the forend, there is a tensionable screw installed to allow a tighter fit. Not sure where this appeared in the history of the No.4 MK I. Maybe someone can shed some light on it. In the second picture, the buttstock is shown with the sling swivel installed, but that's one of mine that I did a check fit on and just forgot to remove for the pictures.

For $39.95 the complete set, if you're willing to do a bit of careful fitting, I believe this could be a pretty good value. The butt stock is far enough oversized that quite a bit of sanding will be necessary anyway, so I believe the dings and scratches will be easily removed and the minor blemish or two on the forend will be fixable the same way.

[stencollector]

Good to hear it's quality stuff. I ordered five sets last week and hope to pick them up next week.

[kscchtrainer]

Now I have some BAD news - the stock set from AIM is for a No 4 MK II not a MK I. At least the one I got is. Anyone ordering them should re-consider or cancel your order if they haven't shipped already unless you also need a MK II set.

AIM is listing them as MK 1 wood, and the picture of the forend isn't big enough or high enough resolution on their website to tell the difference. I'll call them this morning after they open up and see what they plan to do about that

[stencollector]

I kind of wondered about that when you mentioned that they had a screw through the back. Not the end of the world, there are lots of no4mk2s out there that need restoring as well. And if a guy really had to, one can fill the missing portion of the stock and replace the tie plate, which is usually still present on the sporterized wood.

[kscchtrainer]

Just talked with the folks at AIM. They are going to correct the website information and send me a UPS call tag so I can ship mine back to them.

They have corrected their site to indicate just No 4 stock sets and posted more higher resolution pictures so it is easier to identify the forestock as one for a MK II

As soon as I get the credit back to my account, I'll check with Springfield Sporters and see what they have available.

[Brian Dick]

I purchased some of this wood at the SAR Show East in York, PA in May. It's Pakistani manufacture and I think it's some sort of walnut. It's nice wood and well worth the money but not really correct for restoring British No.4Mk.2 rifles.

[Claven2]

It is Pakistani POF made replacement stocks (surplus). About half the sets will have the Ishy screw despite never having been fit to a rifle, pretty much confirming that Pakistan also used the Ishy screw. Seems pretty random as to whether the screw will be fitted or not.

Also, DO NOT shorten the stock from the back as suggested above. The correct procedure is the scrape the back only until it evenly contacts the buttsocket and then remove the rest of the material from the recoil draws inside the inletting until it fits.

The wood will be stained circasian walnut. Correct only for the POF manufactured No.4Mk2, but of course it can be fit to any Mk2 spec gun if you don't care about correctness.

[stencollector]

I got mine a couple days ago and it is very nice wood. No cross screw as claven suggests...Maybe someone else got all those. Wood is mint and has never been installed on a rifle. For $40, a guy sure can't complain. I suspect in a year or two, after this batch of surplus dries up, we may be paying that for the top guards.