A No4 receiver mystery. Actually, two mysteries. (help)

[louthepou]

Hi folks, here's a question over which I hope some of you will be able to shed some light. (wink wink, Mr. Laidler)

I got a few years ago this stripped receiver, and never really looked at it until a few months ago. I then noticed that on the right side, there was a "22" lightly etched. I though, that's odd, maybe someone thought it was a weak receiver and decided to label it as only good for .22lr... or something like that.


Then a few weeks ago, I received some parts boxes in which I found a barreled receiver... and on the right side of the receiver, you guessed it, the same "22" lightly etched.


Now, I'm thinking this can't be just pure coincidence. These two receivers are unrelated; they came from totally different sources. But if there is some "official" reason for these markings, well they are really faint, and could very easily go unnoticed. So, dear friends, what's going on here? What should I do with these receivers?

Lou

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[Thunderbox]

Are the receivers the same make?

The "22s" look like a non-military inspection mark of receivers that are already stripped. This might not be a complete mystery, or a fantastic random coincidence. Most of the hundreds of thousands of No4s in N America originated in just a few depots in UK, and were surplussed through just a small number of dealers - of course the majority actually went through a single dealer. It could be that one of these dealers checked and marked a few pallets of receivers - maybe this was mark to confirm that the receiver needed a refinish or similar, maybe from stocks that had been awaiting FTR. Since you obtained both of the receivers in stripped condition, it wouldn't take much of a chance for them to have come from from the same source. Its a bit like if you have a mint condition No5 with a BJ prefix - presumably they are all in mint identical condition with close numbers because they all came off the same pallet...

[Peter Laidler]

To be honest, the markls are just toooooooooo lightly marked to have any significanmce to anyone really. Can you imagine being an Armourer at Base Workshop, being told that rifles marked with the figres 22 on the right side are to be earmarked for, say, crack testing or will have loose charger guide bridges........? It'd be a joke and you'd have cross-eyes after a few minutes of looking out for them! No, can't offer any explanation there

[Frederick303]

Gents,

I have one like that as well. It is a 1941 Maltby, with (at least where they exist) matching numbers (E123xxx, Bolt, action body, forestock and barrel). Commercial proofs indicate it was sold out of stores in the late 1950s/60s. Now on the left hand side of the action (where the stock inserts, there is a BB 6606 electro-pencial mark, with the same mark on the trigger guard. I wondered if the marking was applied so that the correct tigger guard would be matched back to the correct stock/barrel action assembly in some kind of rework or inspection.

[Peter Laidler]

The number BB xxxx dating from 1941 would appear to indicate the old, original Ordnance part number. Originally, No1's and No4's didn't have part numbers but just an Ordnance designation. Later they had Ordnance part numbers with the V=AOS code B1 followed by the War Department Ordnance category BB, then the part number. Later in the war, when the old Ministry of Supply took over the factories, they instigated their own numbering system (I'll go into the why's and reasons later if anyone is really interested........) and these numbers became the numbers that we all now know, starting B1/CR-1234 A, or GA and so on and so on that we know. So on that basis, the BB will be an old Ordnance part number prefix.

Just my 2c's worth

[louthepou]

Many thanks for these infos, gentlemen. Here are a few more pictures, of the left side now. The observant eye will notice that a previous owner of one of these receivers used care, skill and quality tools to... man, what was he even trying to achieve?!?!?!?! Looks like a primitive **** erectus used a stone to attempt de-blueing, or whatever. What a sad, sad receiver. But I digress. Both receivers bear the ROF marking on the left side, and there seems to be quite a lot of info all jammed into a pile of nunmbers and letters.





---------- Post added at 08:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:40 PM ----------

You know, looking at the seriously scrubbed receiver, one question came to mind tonight. How much metal can you scrup on the outside surface of the receiver before reliability becomes an issue?

Lou