essayons21
Member
Last week I ordered an No. 4 Mk. 1 SMLE from J&G Sales. It arrived yesterday, and I thought I would share my experience with anyone who is interested in one of these rifles.
This was my first purchase with my C&R, and my first dealings with J&G. I like to collect old military arms, mainly from the WWII period. Unfortunately I have noticed in recent years that milsurps which were not too long ago cheap and plentiful are becoming more rare and prices are going through the roof. I've already missed the boat on K98s and M1 Carbines, so I have been looking to pick up a Enfield before they become hard to find.
I ordered the Enfield, +$10 for handpick, and 2 boxes of Sellier & Bellot .303 ammunition. The whole purchase, plus shipping, came in right under $300. J&G has a comment area in the purchase form, and I requested an early manufacture date rifle with the best available bore.
When the rifle arrived yesterday, the first thing I noticed was the bolt handle protruding through the outside of the box. It didn't appear damaged, so I signed for the box and opened it up. The rifle was shipped in a standard cardboard gun box, put inside another cardboard box, with only a small bit of crushed up newspaper near the front end of the gun. The blunt bolt handle had punched through two layers of thick cardboard... thanks UPS. While not their fault, J&G could prevent this by putting a bit of newspaper or bubblewrap around the bolt handle or entire receiver. On closer inspection of the bolt handle, it may have lost a bit of finish, but its hard to tell if the wear is new or old.
This rifle was the absolute dirtiest firearm I have ever seen, and after 6 years in combat arms in the Army, that is saying something. At first I thought it was just standard milsurp cosmoline, but when I started cleaning the gun it seemed to be a mixture of mud, carbon, and a heavy weight oil applied to the entire gun, including the wood, probably 50 years ago. I am confident that this gun had never been fully taken down in its lifetime, every screw was in pristine condition, and there were seven decades of grime in every crevice. I even found what appeared to be decaying plant matter in some crevices, including around the chamber. This rifle seems to have been rode hard, dragged through the mud, then soaked in oil and put on a rack for the last 70 years.
The barrel and bore were dark, with pitting, but the rifling is very strong, and the apparent lack of cleaning means there is no muzzle erosion. The metal finish is probably 85%, and the wood is pretty beat up. My biggest gripe is a large chuck of wood missing out of the left handguard. It appears to be a very old injury, so I'll just chalk it up to the character of the rifle. Much of the damage appears to be crushed wood, so I may try to steam it out a bit later.
Unfortunately I didn't take any before pictures, but this is what she looks like after about 4 hours of cleaning.
Some research has shown that it is a relatively early BSA production rifle, manufactured in 1942. Numbers are matching except for the magazine, which may be original but I can't find any stamped numbers, and the bolt head assembly which contains the boltface and extractor. We'll see how this affects accuracy.
This thing has stampings everywhere, on both the metal and wood parts. While I know most of them are for the manufacturing process, I have been looking around to see what, if anything, they can tell me about the history of the rifle. Any ideas?
Overall, I'm pretty pleased. I'm not a hardcore collector, so the mismatched numbers and stock damage don't really bother me. I like to think about the history that this rifle has seen, the mud I cleaned out could have been from Dieppe or Normandy, or any host of battles around the world.
I will post an update when I shoot it next week at the range.
This was my first purchase with my C&R, and my first dealings with J&G. I like to collect old military arms, mainly from the WWII period. Unfortunately I have noticed in recent years that milsurps which were not too long ago cheap and plentiful are becoming more rare and prices are going through the roof. I've already missed the boat on K98s and M1 Carbines, so I have been looking to pick up a Enfield before they become hard to find.
I ordered the Enfield, +$10 for handpick, and 2 boxes of Sellier & Bellot .303 ammunition. The whole purchase, plus shipping, came in right under $300. J&G has a comment area in the purchase form, and I requested an early manufacture date rifle with the best available bore.
When the rifle arrived yesterday, the first thing I noticed was the bolt handle protruding through the outside of the box. It didn't appear damaged, so I signed for the box and opened it up. The rifle was shipped in a standard cardboard gun box, put inside another cardboard box, with only a small bit of crushed up newspaper near the front end of the gun. The blunt bolt handle had punched through two layers of thick cardboard... thanks UPS. While not their fault, J&G could prevent this by putting a bit of newspaper or bubblewrap around the bolt handle or entire receiver. On closer inspection of the bolt handle, it may have lost a bit of finish, but its hard to tell if the wear is new or old.
This rifle was the absolute dirtiest firearm I have ever seen, and after 6 years in combat arms in the Army, that is saying something. At first I thought it was just standard milsurp cosmoline, but when I started cleaning the gun it seemed to be a mixture of mud, carbon, and a heavy weight oil applied to the entire gun, including the wood, probably 50 years ago. I am confident that this gun had never been fully taken down in its lifetime, every screw was in pristine condition, and there were seven decades of grime in every crevice. I even found what appeared to be decaying plant matter in some crevices, including around the chamber. This rifle seems to have been rode hard, dragged through the mud, then soaked in oil and put on a rack for the last 70 years.
The barrel and bore were dark, with pitting, but the rifling is very strong, and the apparent lack of cleaning means there is no muzzle erosion. The metal finish is probably 85%, and the wood is pretty beat up. My biggest gripe is a large chuck of wood missing out of the left handguard. It appears to be a very old injury, so I'll just chalk it up to the character of the rifle. Much of the damage appears to be crushed wood, so I may try to steam it out a bit later.
Unfortunately I didn't take any before pictures, but this is what she looks like after about 4 hours of cleaning.
Some research has shown that it is a relatively early BSA production rifle, manufactured in 1942. Numbers are matching except for the magazine, which may be original but I can't find any stamped numbers, and the bolt head assembly which contains the boltface and extractor. We'll see how this affects accuracy.
This thing has stampings everywhere, on both the metal and wood parts. While I know most of them are for the manufacturing process, I have been looking around to see what, if anything, they can tell me about the history of the rifle. Any ideas?
Overall, I'm pretty pleased. I'm not a hardcore collector, so the mismatched numbers and stock damage don't really bother me. I like to think about the history that this rifle has seen, the mud I cleaned out could have been from Dieppe or Normandy, or any host of battles around the world.
I will post an update when I shoot it next week at the range.
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