A friend at work is considering the sale of this rifle. He knows very little about milsurps. I admittedly do not know much about Enfields, though I've been wanting to add one to the collection for some time. I want to get it for a good price, but I'm not trying to rip the guy off either. Any input welcome.
If the bore is in good condition and the wood has no splits/cracks ect a fair price for me would be in the 3-400 buck range . They used to be common and fairly cheap but times have changed .
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I have one just like it and I’ve been told 450.00
I have one as well, it looks to me like the rear sight is wrong... possibly as mine has a flip up battle sight for long range shots. If you can, I would check headspace or fire a known round and then check the case. It is not hard to correct on these, but I suspect the bolt faces are getting hard to find.
That appears to be in better than average condition. The sight is correct-- they came both ways depending on when manufactured and by whom. If the bore is good, I'll go with $400-450.
That rifle is a No.1 Mk1* produced by Savage, a highly collectible piece which would bring $600+ in original, unaltered condition.
Output from Savage began in late 1941 and lasted only 3 years compared to the Canadian Longbranch production which lasted into the 1950's. Very early North American production resulted in some No4 Mk1 rifles but the main body of output was the war expedient No4 Mk1* which made certain concessions to the No4 design such as the cut out in the receiver for modified bolt release vs the plunger styled bolt release of the typical No4 Mk1.
Only the North American factories of Longbranch and Savage produced the No4 Mk1* rifle - when Savage closed its doors all spare parts were sent to Longbranch and it is due to this that some Longbranch No4's can be found with Savage marked parts. Savage rifles are generally marked U.S Property on the left receiver face, serial number is located on the left butt socket wrist with a letter prefix of C included - for example 96CXXXX would be typical; the C stands for Chicopee. Late war Savage No4 Mk1* rifles are nearly always without a year of manufacture, based on serial number surveys these are estimated as 1944 production.
The first rifle contract was for 300,000 No4 rifles at a cost of $75 each and of the 96 parts required to complete the No4 rifle about 86 came from 30 parts sub contractors. Savage only produced the receiver, barrel, bolt, trigger guard, bolt head and stock and the entire package was assembled at Savage by them. Overall averaged output of Savage No4 rifles is placed at 1,196,706 and with 40,000 on lend lease to China.
The first Savage Stevens No4 rifle was test fired on Friday, July 25th, 1941 at Chicopee Falls plant but the early rifles did not meet specifications and were sub standard - this was improved over time until production was at quality standard for export to Britain. Britain placed another order for 720,000 No4 Mk1* rifles in June 1942 including bayonets to run concurrent with the original order. Many pre Lend Lease U.S No4's were rejected by the British Inspectorate for various reasons of standards... the later Lend Lease agreement reduced the British conditions of control and payment as these were now considered direct British Contract.
Once the rifles entered England however the British still inspected them and marked them with a B beneath the serial numbers on the butt socket to indicate British standard of inspection and a pass based on same. Savage rifles are generally found to have a 2 groove barrel and all parts should be found with the square Savage S or standard S ... receivers or various parts carry the U.S Flaming Bomb ordnance proof as well.
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I have an all original Savage No. 4. Perfect bore, all matching, with the best rear sight. A friend just offered me $500.00. Heck, I paid $90.00 for it back in 1990. I’ll keep it.
Here's a few more pictures. Thanks for the info thus far. Now I need to get him to sell! He's set on a 9mm carbine for some reason.
Its a nice looking savage I'd say if the bore is good and all the serial numbers match then 450.00 - 500.00 would be a fair price. The savage #4's bring a little bit more then the british made ones the only draw back is the mk3 rear sight but that can be swapped out to a mk1 if its a good shooter just keep in mind its going to hit high at 100 yds.
I will shoot it, but I primarily want it as a collector piece. It will be lucky to get 30-40 rds through it. Attempting to gather one of every (attainable) WW2 small arm.
Shoot it with cast,never wear it out, 12 gns Unique 173 gn pill open sights 1.25” 100yds most days,like shooting a hornet re recoil. Much fun!!
Cheers Mal.
If you can, GRAB IT!! $450.00 is a very fair price to offer.
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The new No4 mk1 milsurps hitting the market now sold from the big C&R vendors start at 350. Ones in respectable condition are hundred more. And those puppies seem to be selling well.
Oh and I should add, those are for the nog standard English makes. RTI (who I'm not a huge fan of, full disclosure) last I checked charges a $100 premium for a Savage or Long Branch.
Had a Long Branch no4mk1*, I think it was. Two groove barrel on it. Wish I never had to sell it.
Hanzy 4200,Originally Posted by Hanzy4200
Nice find. I own too many SMLES of all flavours. I reload for them all and cast boolits are my favourite; especially the Lee 185 grain RN 312. The .303 headspaces on the case rim, so fire a light charge to fireform new cases to each SMLE chamber and then Back Off the resizing die to get a slight "crunch" fit and you will enjoy long case life.
The range of $300- $400 seems about right without inspecting the rifle.
Adam
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