No. 4 barrel gauge

[Tatanka]

Hi there.

What would be the proper way to use this gauge?

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Information

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[Peter Laidler]

.303 USED to be the 'must-run' gauge for the No1rifle until the barrel making spec was tightened for Mk7 ammo* and then the No1 and subsequently the No4 spec decreed that .301" must run. Thereafter a .303" gauge didn't apply to a No4 rifle
Your gauge looks like what we used to call a 'GAUGE, plug, cylindrical' as opposesd to a 'GAUGE, plug, bore' which are parallel with a small step AND have a threaded hole at one end for the ROD, gauge, Armourers something or other! so the correct way to use yours, from using similar gauges in the old No2 revolver, is to hold the knob at the end and insert the other end in the wherever it goes. I suspect that it's from a Bren
*this might not be factually correct but is what I was taught and is in the old students lesson notes

[Tatanka]

I forgot to specify that it bears a C Broad Arrow marking and is also marked no. 4 rifle.
It also has a threaded hole at the end of the cylindrical portion.

[Peter Laidler]

Then I would venture to suggest that it's the original .303" MUST-RUN gauge for the No1 rifle. Quite why it's shaped like that is a bit of a mystery to me. The threaded end was so that if it did get stuck in the bore, then you could send the rod up behind it, screw it in and withdraw it instead of trying to push it past the obsruction!

The other one is the bog standard .040" - .050" striker protrusion.

One point that people don't seem to understand is that because a gauge is designatede, say, GAUGE, PLUG, No2 etc etc, that it's for a No2 rifle or a pistol. Nope..... It means that previous to that, there was a GAUGE, PLUG, No1

They all have what we call an SM number for stores purposes. So the stores number would be something like B2 (something associated with rifles) SM-123. The first two digits, such as B1 or B2 indicates the actual stores category. There, another little bit of useless Enfield info!

[Tatanka]

Here are the complete markings located on the tapered part of the barrel gauge:

C Broad Arrow
D267
M.T.W.
.303 DIA
RIFLE No. 4
BARREL

[Peter Laidler]

Mmmmmmmm Maybe someone could have a browse through the Canadian EMER's because this size gauge doesn't feature in our Inspection standards for the No4 rifle. No1 rifle, yes (very early) but not the No4!

[Tatanka]

I'm looking at a Canadian National Defence publication titled:

First Line Maintenance Instructions
Rifle, Calibre .303. No. 4 All Marks, with Equipment.
Dated 1991.


The apparatus and tools section does not list this specific gauge as far as I can see, however it does show a "Rod, Plug Gauge, Mk2", no diameter shown,
as well as :
"Gauge, Plug, Plain Cylindrical, NOT GO, .310 in dia"
"Gauge, Plug, Plain Cylindrical, NOT GO, .308 in dia" and
"Gauge, Plug, Plain Cylindrical, NOT GO, .307 in dia"

Could my gauge be an early version of the "Rod, Plug Gauge, Mk2" ?

[Peter Laidler]

No. On that basis, as far as your and our EMER's are concerned a .303" dia gauge did not feature on the No4 rifle barrel. The rod is just a rod that passes down the bore, adapted to take the gauges and at .303", it ain't going to pass down the bore. Not for very far anyway! Quite what it relates to on a No4 rifle is a mystery. All I can say is what I have said

[Tatanka]

Oh well, another Lee-Enfield mystery then... Thanks you anyways!