Need Lee Enfield stock parts!

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OldIron86

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I'm going to be picking up a No.4 Mk.1 Lee Enfield next week. I don't have any pics, but I'll update later. She's a 1942 manufacterd, like most SMLE's the stock has been sporterised. While the forestock looks like it was done well, and actualy looks good, I've always wanted a fully dressed SMLE. The butt stock is unmolested, so all I need is the fore stock and handguard. Problem is that I can't find the particular handguard I need. I need the long, no rear sight gap handguard(longbranch?). If you have one or can point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. Not worried about color, my dad makes a special stain that will turn them both blacker than my oil stained heart.
 
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A No. 4 is not an SMLE (aka No, 1)....

All No. 4s have the "no rear sight gap handguard" as all No. 4s have rear peep sights, and just so you are sure, all No 4s have two piece upper handguards .

Liberty Tree?

Rear half:
No4RHGGW.jpg

Front half:
No4.fhg.bd.jpg
 
Believe it or not, I've found the best source for No. 4 wood (new old stock) to be ebay. (I've restocked 3 of them.) Forends are the hardest pieces to find; handguards and buttstocks are fairly common. You might have to get a complete set just to get a forend. One reason why buttstocks are easy to find is that they were made in 4 sizes (to be fitted to the individual troops), so there were plenty of spares.

Rear handguards were made in grooved and non-grooved versions. I personally like the grooved version.

I would strongly suggest studying a Peter Laidler tutorial (online) on how to install No. 4 wood. It's easy to ruin a new stock if you don't know what you're doing. Stocking Enfields is an art.

Hold out for walnut if you can. There were lots of lesser woods that were used, but walnut is the nicest.

You didn't say where your No. 4 was manufactured. There were 3 British factories and 2 North American factories (Savage and Long Branch) that made them. I've found that the quality of the North American No. 4's is generally better than that of the British ones. (Remember that the British factories were under threat of bombing, and the North American ones weren't.)

There were 3 major types of rear sights. The early Singer micrometer sight is the best. Avoid the simple flip sight if you want a decent sight. That was strictly a cost-saving expedient.
 
FWIW. When I resto'ed my LongBranch from a "bubba sporter", I learned that LB used Savage parts later in the war. When the Savage contracts ran out, the remaining parts and pieces were sent up to LB for use. So it would not be incorrect to see a mixture of parts, providing the OP has a LB rifle he is working with.
 
Thanks for the direction guys. I love Lee Enfields, but have never had the time to read up on them. I'm getting this rifle to replace the No.1 Mk.III my grandfather gave me when I was young. I'm retiring the old girl because I feel guilty dragging her through the woods, and I can't bring myself to shoot bi-metal jacketed bullets through it. Also it ruins brass(headspacing?)and sometimes cracks the brass about 1/4 inch above the rim.

I'm not going to spend a phenomenal amount of time and money getting the new rifle perfectly restored. If I happen on a dencent stock ,i'll put more into it. Though I have seen some pretty attractive "jungle" style stocks that would fit my bill. This rifle might see some rough conditions, so I don't want an expensive stock, I hate synthetic stocks even if they are less expensive.

Also, I'm only looking for practical accuracy up to 100 yards. I live in a densely forested area, and can't remember the last time I shot a boar more than 75 yards away. My No.1 No.III is a tack driver despite its bad headspacing. 4 inch group at 100 yards would work. I'm not a master wood worker, but I'm patient and don't mind sanding slowly to fit a stock. Not afraid to hide some wood putty or JB WELD in spots I mess up either.
 
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Was thinking after many fruitless Google searches, could a stock from a different Enfield series be fitted to my No.4? I have have seen many No.1 stocks fairly priced. All the No.4's have been outrageously overpriced, like $300 for cracked rough shape stocks. Just me tumbling things around in my head.
 
Where did you find the no.1 stocks? I have one made in 1917 that bubba cut the forend, I need the wood and metal
 
Was thinking after many fruitless Google searches, could a stock from a different Enfield series be fitted to my No.4? I have have seen many No.1 stocks fairly priced. All the No.4's have been outrageously overpriced, like $300 for cracked rough shape stocks. Just me tumbling things around in my head.

The buttstocks of the No. 1 and 4 Series are interchangeable, the forearms are not and neither are the handguards without doing stuff that would basically guarantee stock problems (gluing and pinning infills, etc.)

GunnyUSMC could probably do it and even make it look somewhat right but due to time and effort, better to get a genuine product.

Lysander posted the correct handguards for your rifle, there is no long handguard for the No. 4 as the No. 4 does not have the rear sights mounted on the barrel--it uses a rear receiver sight. The No. 1 used such combined with a short one. Easy distinction is that No. 1 has a long and short, No. 4, roughly equal in length. The No.1 handguards have delicate ears to protect the rear sight, the No. 4 does not. Someone might have bubba'ed it to do so by mounting some sort of rear receiver sight on the barrel but that is not as issued. The No. 1 has a thinner barrel than the No. 4 (leaving aside Lithgow heavy barrels) so the barrel profiles are different.

The reason that you are seeing a lot of No. 1 forestocks is Indian (the country) sourced surplus rifles and reproduction stocks. The No. 4 right now does not have large numbers of stocks coming in from India and apparently few reproductions. Supply and demand means that No. 4 stocks will be higher.

If you are intending wood use for hunting, there is little utility in trimming out the rifle in full gear using an expensive forend (aka forestock). You can find a RamLine synthetic stock set for much less than a forestock etc. and feel at ease doing things like glass bedding the receiver etc. to get the most out of it for your no. 4. http://www.ramlinestocks.com/ramlinestocks.html#Carbine

Military rifles had handguards to protect hands from rapid fire which was especially important to the Brits under their Mad Minute. The military stocks were fitted carefully to the rifles either at the factory or by armorers and its two piece design is rather complicated to accurize. As Alex A mentions, Peter Laidler's tutorials on the British Military's way on milsurps.com Enfield subforum are the best way to fit a military stock. There is another book by Roger Wadham that is available and some of his methods were NOT used by the military but often by very expensive gunsmiths who "improved" what the military had wrought. Skennerton also co-authored a book on it that is between the two books mentioned. This may be out of print now.

On your no. 1, it might be able to be restored if there is no receiver recess setback. If there is not, you might try having a gunsmith fit a new bolt head and/or bolt body which is covered by Laidler in the Milsurps forum. Unlike the No. 4, the no. 1 bolt heads are not numbered, those stamped S were designed to be replacement bolt heads and then adjusted down to size to fit the headspace. If your headspace is excessive, then it will definitely shorten your brass life.

One last thing, are you firing Wolf's steel cased ammo? That would be the only bi-metal bullet with steel cased commercial ammo around and I believe it uses FMJ bullets to boot. At the age and storage of surplus ammo, it is not really worth shooting for hunting purposes using FMJ projectiles. If that worries you, then fire Prvi Partisan .303 which is not a whole lot higher in cost but does not use steel in their bullets or brass. They did have hunting softpoints and the like as well as do other commercial ammo makers.
 
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