'Nother WWII retread - an SMLE #4 Mk I

[Kraschenbirn]

Darn, but these old Milsurps are addictive. It was bad enough when I just had the Garand and M98k to feed but, first, I got the itch for a Trapdoor...then came the K-31...and now I've gone and added a SMLE #4 MkI. Actually, I worked a trade for the Enfield through the Cast Boolits "Swappin' & Sellin" board so, I guess, it's not really an "addition", just a "replacement."

Anyhow, the gun arrived a couple of weeks ago and I spent a few evenings giving the bore a thorough cleaning, degunking the innards, and steaming out the worst of the dents and dings in the wood. Piece had apparently been completely soaked in cosmoline at some point in its history and the barrel channel and trigger group were (literally!) caulked with gobs of hardened grease. All and all, though, it cleaned up pretty well. Except for touching up the screw heads and barrel bands with cold blue, I left the metal pretty much as it came so that it looks exactly like what it is...a well-used veteran of who knows what battles, skirmishes, and, most likely, innumberable long nights walking a sentry post.

Gun is a 1943 Lithgow with matching receiver, barrel, and stock numbers; the bolt's from a Longbranch (#0 bolthead), however, and the metalwork appears to have been arsenal refinished sometime long ago. The Australian coachwood stock cleaned up remarkably well and shows some nice grain in places. On the downside, it's got the two-position flip-aperature rear sight but, if it shoots well enough to justify the upgrade, I'll swap that out for one the click-adjustable LE #2 sights available from Numrich.

The really pleasant surprise came after running the final patches through the barrel. The bore is smooth and shiny, full-length, with sharp rifling that slugs at .313 (grooves) and .304 (lands) with a slug of the throat running a tad over .315. In other words, close enough to ordnance specs that it should be a decent shooter. (Previous owner said he was getting 2" groups with CBs but didn't say if that was at 50 or 100 yds).

I picked up 100 rounds of new Rem. brass and I've got a Lee 185 gr mold on order along with a .314 sizer for my Lyman 450. Only thing I don't seem to have is a set of .303 Brit dies (anyone who has a set they don't need, see my post in "Swappin & Sellin"). Otherwise, I guess I'm 'bout ready to rock 'n roll.

Bill

[armoredman]

The No4 is a good shooter. I have a No 4 Mk1* that will shoot MOA with one handload. Also the easiest shooting milsurp, much lighter recoil than the Mosins, the Mauser, or the Springfield. None of those rifles are still with me, but the No 4 is!

[KirbyAUS]

Bill,
you sure that's a No.4 Mk1 ? as Lithgow only made SMLE No1Mk3's.

Can you tell us of the markings on the butt socket ?

Kirby.

[PAT303]

Kirby's right,we only made mk111's.If the bolt is a longbranch the action could be as well. Pat

[Kraschenbirn]

Thanks, guys, for the correction. The fellow with whom I made the trade said it was a Lithgow and I took his word for it. However, after some research (I now know more about identification of LEs than I ever imagined...or really cared to learn) it turns out that the piece IS a Longbranch. Exterior markings on the receiver and butt socket were mostly illegible...last two digits of the date are (barely) visible but the mfg mark and the first characters of the original S/N had been pretty much buffed away when the gun was refinished. (Gun was a Century Arms import with their name and proprietary S/N electropenciled into the receiver for ATFE purposes.) Removed the forestock and handguards to get at the intact barrel S/N and...Lo and Behold!...it carried the Longbranch "OL1" code (the bolt S/N carries the Longbranch "C*").

Now, the interesting part is that the 43OL1XXXX S/N (and the 2-groove barrel) would seem to belong on a #4 Mk1* but the receiver's definitely a #4 Mk1 and, other than the bolt, all the major components appear to carry the same S/N...last four digits only on the wood and aluminum trapdoor buttplate. Probably assembled during the transition of production from the #4 Mk 1 to the #4 Mk1*, I s'pose.

Bill

[PAT303]

Mate come to Australia and check some of them,parts from everywhere.All part of the fun. Pat

[Kraschenbirn]

Mate come to Australia and check some of them,parts from everywhere.All part of the fun. Pat

Back in the late '60s, I recall a small gunshop in a suburb of Sydney that had three or four racks of LEs...many in 7mm and .25 calibers using necked-down .303 brass with exotic wood stocks...and, also, a goodly number of Martinis and even a few Ross .303s. Found the place by accident...myself and a buddy had been to our first Australian Rules football game and were looking for a pub when I noticed a "Fine Firearms" sign on the opposite side of the street. Wandered in and stayed 'til closing time, chatting with the owner, and browsing through his stock. After he closed, we all hit the "local", exchanged a pint or two, and swapped a few war stories with him and his mates. Perhaps the finest evening of a highly theraputic six-day R&R. (During that same short visit, my discovery of Watney's Red Barrel permanently wrecked my taste buds, too...ales and lagers forever!)

Bill

[PAT303]

Hey Bill do you remember where it was?Was there a large train station close by?Sporters on LE actions are a dime a dozen,from 22/303,243,257,270 and a few in 35 and 375 calibre. Pat

[JeffinNZ]

My gunsmith has 2 x 5 gallon buckets of LE actions under his bench. Can't give them away here..........or that is to say you couldn't a few years back.

[Boz330]

They were cheap here for awhile back in the early 90s when the Brits sold off their arsenal stock. Got one for $59, but those days are gone. Lots of folks have figured out what a bargain they are for the $. Swiss K31s are headed that way now.

Bob

[JeffinNZ]

I would LOVE a K31 but they are like hens' teeth o'here.

[Kraschenbirn]

Hey Bill do you remember where it was?Was there a large train station close by?Sporters on LE actions are a dime a dozen,from 22/303,243,257,270 and a few in 35 and 375 calibre. Pat

Sorry, Pat, I can't really recall much about where that shop actually was. After all, it's been 40 years and I was only in Sydney twice: the first time in June of '67 and, again, about a year later. It couldn't have been too far from some kind of railroad station, though, because we caught a train somewhere near King's Cross to get to the football stadium...I remember the bartender at our hotel wrote the train and station info on the back of a menu card.

Bill

[Kraschenbirn]

Shot the LE this afternoon. No reloading dies, brass, etc. yet but I managed to locate 9...yeah that's NINE...rounds of "FA 62" .303 ball ammo that were mixed in with a lot of milsurp stuff I bought off an estate auction a couple years ago. (Okay...so I'm a packrat; I never throw anything shooting related away 'cause if I don't eventually need it, someone I know probably will.)

Fired a couple rounds to foul the bore before sighting on a freshly pasted-over target. Next three shots went into the attached group. Moved to a 100 yd station and loaded my last four rounds into the mag; first shot was 9 o'clock about 6" out, second round misfired (dead primer?), third was about 2" above #1, and the last sounded (and felt) like a squib...cleared the bore but didn't cut paper anywhere.

Bullet mold, brass, and dies should all be here by this time next week. If the weather cooperates for the next month or so, I should be able to work up a decent CB load before fall rains makes shooting anything past 100 yds on our range an exercise in tactical mud-wading.

Bill

[robertbank]

The ladies in Toronto made a pretty good rifle. You should have a lot of fun with it. I posted some pictures of where the gun was made and by who. Do a search and you should find it.

Take Care

Bob

[Boz330]

I would LOVE a K31 but they are like hens' teeth o'here.

They are going to get that way here as folks find out how well they shoot. The price has doubled here in about a year and a half. I have a friend that loves all Swiss rifles. Everytime he went to get another case of 7.5X55 surplus ammo they were so cheap then that he just bought another. Or maybe there was some kind of rifle and ammo deal. Anyway he has a pile of them.

Bob