Enfield No 4 Questions

[gman552]

I'm thinking of buying my first Enfield rifle, and I like the looks of the No 4 version. However, I have no idea of the prices or relative quality of the different versions.

My aim is to obtain a shooter in good cosmetic shape, not necessarily a collector's piece - however, collectability would be a plus.

I'm thinking of the following:

- No 4 Mk I* (Longbranch or Savage) - is a post-war rifle better than a wartime model?

- No 4 Mk 2 (Fazakerley)

Which version has better sights and trigger, and what should I expect to pay for these?

Any other advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[recce]

A post war Faz MkII would be your best bet in regards to triggers and sights. The Mk II had the trigger pinned to the receiver rather than the trigger guard as the Mk I's did, and will have the micrometer sight wich is adjustable in 25 yd clicks.

Not to say that the MkI's (Brit made only) or Mk I*'s will have a bad trigger, the operation is still the same, but there was a problem with warpage in some stocks and it was found that the trigger being pinned to the receiver solved most of the problems. I own an Irish contract MkII, a Savage MkI* and a Longbranch MkI* and have noticed no difference personally.

You can find early MkI's and I*'s with the micrometer sight. They then went to a sliding type and finaly a 300 and 600 yd flip sight like that found on the M-16's. There were no post war Savages to my knowledge and LongBranch stuck with the CMkIII sliding sight post war.

The quality of both Savage and LongBranch guns are very good no matter the time frame, you can always buy a micrometer sight to add on.

HTH
Gene

[csam]

Gman is right, there differences in the trigger are theoretical. In the field you should not notice a difference, unless there is something wrong with the rifle.

I got a nice No4 MkII two years ago for $125 in a pawn shop. Those are still out there, but since Springfield Sporters closed up shop, there is no good source for shooter grade rifles at a good price. SS used to sell them for about $90 to $100 bucks. There are a fairly steady supply of them at the auction sites, just llok carefully at what you are buying there. A lot of them are passed as collectors, and are not in original shape, hav ebeen refinished, or ar just way overpriced. Those are easy to tell though, they don't get any bids.

You should still be able to get a nice No4 for about $150. If it is real, real nice it might be worth going to $200.

I am with you though, on collectability. I would rather have a bunch of nice shootable examples, rahter than sweat over the matching numbers and so on. Not that I don't have a couple of those, and enjoy them, but I like to shoot my collection.

One last thing, just look out for barrel condition. It is once in a blue moon that you will find a decent replacement barrel for a No4. SS had new No1 barrels for $35, but good luck trying to find one now. I have seen two excellent/new No4 barrels on Ebay within the last several months, and they went for around $100.