Nice Bubba Enfield No4 MK1

[waverace]

recently picked up a nice sporterised Enfield No4 MK1 ,has M47 on the stock band that makes me believe its a BSA gun also has 1943 as the date , serial No is AL0042 .

My Question is..Is this a very early BSA ? the machining on the reciever is very rough and from what i can find out the 4 digit serial numbers were from the tooling setup run .
Doesnt make much difference either way as its been sportered , nicely I might add . Bore is pristine and chamber is tight , shoots well .
If it is of some historical value then its a shame that its been bubba'd but would it really be worth putting it back ? bolt doesnt match anyway and any replacement forestock would not be the original .
I love the gun as is and will never sell it so Ive scoped it with a non gunsmith scope mount and will use it as a hunting/target rifle.
If anyone knows any more on the history would be interested to hear from you.

 

[Wheeler44]

Is this a very early BSA ?

Probably not. BSA started making the SMLE in 1904. IIRC they just "recycled" serial numbers, so a "low" serial number isn't necessarily early.

But a nice Lee Enfield, even "bubbafied" is a pleasure to own and shoot.

 

[waverace]

Yeah I appreciate that BSA have been making guns for a very long time ,I was asking more specifically about the No4 Mk1 if this was an early BSA one of those ?
Your right about shooting them they are fun , this is the second No4 ive shot , had one when i was younger back in England with globe target sights fitted , from the prone up to 300yds was really accurate , wow must have been about 12 then , AH memories

 

[Sunray]

"...Bore is pristine and chamber is tight..." Check the headspace anyway. Especially with a replacement bolt. Thousands of 'em were assembled out of parts bins with zero QC.
"...BSA started making the SMLE..." A No. 4 Mk I is not an SMLE. Only the No.1 Mk 'whatever' is an SMLE.
Serial numbers were repeated but with a letter prefix after the standard 5 digit serial numbers ran out. BSA rifles started at 3XXXX. Then A3xxx, etc. So your's might be a BSA. The M47 should have a 'C' or 'A' after it if it is a BSA.

 

[waverace]

No letters after the M47 just one of the little anomalies that makes me think that this was a rifle produced during the set up period .
The stamps are all really deep and clear so no it hasnt been worn off as I have seen suggested elsewhere also all the numbers were originaly electro stencilled and then stamped over , the No4 Mk1 on the reciever is also electro stencilled , other than that it has all the nitro proofs from after the war and an "England" stamp from the importer there is also "B" stamped on the safety lever and the barrel also making me think that this is a BSA.
as for the chamber specs I have a no 3 bolt head (hard to come by)and measuring the fired brass against a new round they are pretty damn close , an empty case that was fired from another rifle is a very tight fit in there which also makes me think that this ones good .
anyhoo got the rifle for a reasonable price $175 and it shoots 4" groups at 100 yds with the open sights so with the scope should be able to tighten that up a bit , it will probably shoot better than I can LOL .
As Ive read elsewhere getting into milsurps is a fascinating hobby so much history in such a short space of time , this will not be my last thats for sure

 

[waverace]

To further my suspicions as to the tightness of the chamber , just reloaded some second hand brass that had been fired in another rifle , I full length resized it then loaded it up , tried it in the rifle and it was still a tight fit ,had to push that last little twist of the bolt and that formed it to my chamber not much just a little squeeze on the back of the neck/shoulder so I think that once it is all shot in that rifle ,just neck sizing should give me pretty good case life .
cant wait to get to the range now to sight in my scope and try out the handloads