odd serial# on a 1942 longbranch.Any ideas?

[breakeyp]

Various reasons for odd ball LB serials based on examples I have or have encountered:

1. Unassembled and often incomplete receivers were sold at auction when Long Branch closed and were made into rifles by various groups/individuals. A number of C No. 7 .22 rifles will be encountered that way.

2. Ordnance people may have changed numbers to cover a missing rifle. Somewhere I have a Long Branch with a Savage xxCxx replaced serial number.

3. A plant fellow may have just picked the wrong stamp. If the stamp size is Long Branch size and done by Long Branch there is the possibility that the fellow grabbed a J stamp instead of an L. They screwed up that way on a few sniper rifles.

4. Various gunsmiths in Canada have built up rifles and altered serial numbers--at one time it did not seem to be a big deal. I saw a No.4 built up as a .308 with the serial number scrubbed. The owner told me it grew a new number to remove issues. A missed opportunity as it was years ago and I was a bit nervous about it. If the guy hadn't said anything, I might have bought it.

Looking at the picture, I think a hobbist/tinkerer has been at it.