No.4 Mk1 (T) restoration project

[peval65]

Hello everyone.
I am very new in the Enfield field so please I apologize for my ignorance.
I purchased the Telescope version of the No4.
When I bought it I was aware of the not good conditions, origin and coherence of the weapon. After a night reading plenty of infos here and in other forums, for the cost of just few hundreds bucks, now I am here asking for some help.

First of all I post some pics of the item in the actual conditions and this is what I realized:
-Receiver with S on the right side, Crown D6 E near the bolt slot, T on the left side...I assumed it is original for Telescope, not about the serial;
-Buttstock not original of the weapon, missed rifle serial on the socket end, some confused letters or numbers punched on the top but in strange position, missing S51 mark on the pistol grip;
-Original No32 MkII telescope, but I believe not of this rifle...?!....repainting job;
-Original scope mount but with some reworking job for the second large serial. The scope mount, such as the whole rifle, has been sprayed with black commercial paint. Strange (?) lettering on the mount rings;
-Handguard (unfortunately with the indian screw)...do not know if it is original of this rifle;
-Solid front sight...correct?;
-Mk1 rear sight but missing Enfield and SM marks;
-Marks on the socket with some reworking...I suspect renumbering....will follow more detailed pics;
Please take a look at the pics....more will follow.
Please let me know the first impressions and feel free to ask all pics or infos in order to make clear the story of this rifle and what I need to do to restore it.

By the way I attempted to contact BDL Ltd. for the order of the "An armourer's perspective" book but the email has not been delivered....someone knows the reason?...I need to purchase this book and the other pamphlet about the Telescope I saw on this forum!

I wish to thank in advance all folks will help me in this journey.
Paolo

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Brian Dick]

Hi Paolo,

I've got a few copies of the telescope booklet available but "Armourer's Perspective" is out of print and I no longer stock it. You may be able to obtain a copy from http://www.skennerton.com but they are at a much increased price.

Brian

[Roger Payne]

Hi Paolo,
Some close up photographs of the receiver butt socket & side wall would be nice, with the scope removed, as this is the best way to get a look at the body pads. However, IMHO the rifle looks like an honest but well travelled 4T. The rifle has been to India, as evidenced not only by the 'Ishy screw' but also by the crudely hand stamped 'No4 Mk1' on the receiver side wall. Many 4T's were converted to Mk 1/2 rifles by the Indians, & these rifle had the original markings completely scrubbed. However, not all rifles supplied to them were so modified - some were left as Mk1's, but they more often than not seem to have had the original receiver markings 'accentuated' like this.
The forend has the low side to clear the cut off, indicating that it of of earlyish manufacture & so not original to your rifle, & no doubt many other parts have been swapped about over the years - but as Peter will tell you, this is only to be expected in a rifle that has seen long & heavy service. I think the rifle is real. The problem is to what extent do you want to restore it; a minor tidy up of the tired woodwork, or a full rebuild?

[peval65]

Hi Paolo,

I've got a few copies of the telescope booklet available but "Armourer's Perspective" is out of print and I no longer stock it. You may be able to obtain a copy from http://www.skennerton.com but they are at a much increased price.

Brian

Thank you and please, let me know how me can manage the purchase of the booklet. Take count that I have a US shipping address and can pay with mastercard or Paypal.
I will email to Mr. skennerton.

[peval65]

Hello.
Here are some close up pics.
I decided to remove the black paint here and there...in fact I will remove all the paint...you will see how ridicolous it is the spraying job.
Please take a look to the pics and to the following new questions:
1-is the so heavy punched serial the original one? The surface under the bolt serial shows grinding job and also underneath the socket serial you can see other digits traces.
2-in the low portion of the socket now is evident a "T"....maybe what remains of the "TR"?
3-the wood parts you see is what I found after the disassembly...also the copper bands. Because of the Isha screw, the not correct type of the forestock, the mispunched, not matched and cracked rear bridge in the buttstock,....I am considering to change all wood parts with genuine old ones...at least not abused, with the exception of the 2 upper handguard parts...What do you think?
4-the simple lettering of the rings with single "E" and "F" letters instead of the 3 digits...is it correct anyway?
5-What about the mount pads?....for sure removed in the past more then one time..
6-What do you think on barrel and receiver ring marks?

Thank you.
Paolo

[rgg_7]

The No4 T that you have saw service and was refurbished in India...maybe bolt and barrel replaced...I see an "RFI" bolt head. The question you need to answer...do you restore to Indian spec's or do you take it back to Brit specs. It's just a question of part availability and the investment you want to make.

Is there a manufactures code on the butt socket with a date? { Viewed pic's again. See the butt socket is stamped "M 47 C" which is BSA and "1945" therefore serial number is not correct as first issued} I believe you can see a faint impression of a serial number beneath the current one. The heavy pantograph serial number "T 32294" is Indian. You can see a scope number stamped into the top of the stock wrist and its obscured...could clean with some lacquer thin or solvent to raise the number. The wood you have has been fitted to the rifle....I'd shot it to determine performance...it might surprise you! The scope bracket is puzzling...the match code on the caps is not typical Brit. Maybe somebody else has seen this designation.

Scope pads have been worked on a couple times from the staking marks. Are they still solder to the receiver.

Is your scope complete and functional?

Interesting Project.

[CINDERS]

The "T" book Ian Skennerton/Peter Laidler wrote Ian does not have the book for sale and as Brian said they are long OOP I asked PL if there was going to be an amended version to this book and pretty much got the drift "No"
It also appears to have had the "Draws" repaired at some stage (Vertical dowels and differing timber colour)

[Ridolpho]

peval65: If it were mine I'd leave it as is. The Indian features, like the galvanized steel bedding piece, are interesting and mean this "T" has a longer history of usage than many. I'd love to have one like that! Regards.

Ridolpho

[CINDERS]

I have to ask this question and hopefully PL or another member will answer it, my question is this ~ If the scope has been removed from the rifles bracket then placed back in the same bracket does this alter the alignment of the scope to the bore if so then would there be enough adjustment in the drums to eliminate the difference. As it is the bracket that is aligned to the bore on both Vertical and Horizontal planes is this correct.

[Peter Laidler]

If the tele is removed from its original bracket and replaced then in theory it would be a perfect match again afterwards. We would regularly do this.

If I was rebuilding this rifle I'd put the fitting of the fore-end back to what it SHOULD be. That was has been proved to be the best and most robust method for the No4 rifle. And accuracy was quite an important feature of the No4T rifle in my day!