Enfield prices

[marlin39a]

Was in the LGS that I enjoy. They had a a #4 Enfield, beat up, nothing special, at $400.00. Also an Ausie from WW2, #1, beat to death at $700.00. Am I missing something here? I've got some that I bought 20-30 yrs ago that are as new. What's happening here?

[RustyReel]

Sometimes LGS's be crazy! Not helpful I know, but that is what I think every time I see one of these in a LGS or a gunshow.

[6901]

I have noticed the same thing with prices but also noticed they don't sell. My LGS has had a no1 mark3 at $700 on consignment for over 2 years. I had to thin the herd a while back and sold several at the $375- $400 range. Those sold.

[jugulater]

My LGS usually marks up collector items hoping to make a huge profit, I usually let them sit on the gun till i can talk them down to a reasonable price, sometimes half the marked price.

Now on the other hand ive gotten boxes of old reloading equipment for in the $50 range without even asking them to cut the price.

My LGS has $400 on a M38 K.Kale Turk, but id bet they would cut the price down in the $260 range.

[GhostHawk]

IMO as the Fed prints money ( which they have been doing non stop for 7 years) it dilutes the currency supply.
So prices rise, or money does not go as far. And generally speaking wages don't keep up as they tend to be pinned to so called "cost of living" or inflation.

This is "hidden" inflation.

Will get worse before it gets better.

[PAT303]

A nice MK111* in Oz will go for a $1000 no problems,thousand were butchered back in the day so not many originals left. Pat

[Hardcast416taylor]

Don`t make me tell you about the No4Mk 1* Savage I bought thru the mail from Speigels in Chicago for $13.95! I also purchased 100 rnds of .303 ball ammo for $7.95 from them. And it was all delivered by my mail person back then in 1960.Robert

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I remember when those ugly beasts were a big $12.

[Shawlerbrook]

Even as recently as the 1990's you could get smle's and P14/17's for around $100. Military stuff(as well as a lot of other stuff) has gone crazy. If I only had a crystal ball and a lot of $$ back then when I had my ffl.

[tbx-4]

Bought my first Enfield back in 1984, a No4 Mk1 with the original oiler still in the butt stock. Paid $45
Started reading about them and really enjoyed it so I checked all the gun shops and bought a few more... I think six total... Never paid over $75 and that was for a No5 Mk1. And an Army/Navy surplus store was selling out all their surplus ammo... .303 at 7 cents a round... 9mm 3 cents a round...

Haven't bought another Enfield till fall of '14, an Ishapore 2A paid $200. A bit high but I wanted it for the .308 factor...
Then I found a Parker Hale sporterized No4 Mk1 for $75. Bought a couple cases of HXP .303, per round was something like 44 cents... Not bad.

It's all luck of the draw... I found some good deals and missed some good deals but I'm content.

[Scharfschuetze]

Yep, the 60s were the halcyon days for surplus rifles and ammo. My first Lee Enfield came through the mail in 1964 or so. it was a No1 MkIII with a beautiful bore and wood. As I recall, it was made in 1916 in England.

Currently in my area, good Lee Enfields are hard to come by and are priced accordingly. I too wonder what happened as they were always the inexpensive way to get into military rifles for years. Supply and demand I guess.

Over the years, I have owned several that I let go for one reason or another, but I always seem to replace 'em. Here are the ones in the vault right now. These have excellent bores and all shoot very well. I also have a No 2 and a No 7 in .22 Rim Fire, but they are not in the photo.

[northmn]

Military rifles in general have gone up because of collector interest. At one time they sold them sporterized through the mail for a song, but now there are many that want them in original condition for collection Knew a person that started collecting cars when they told him if he could get it out of the yard he could have it. Got where he could no longer afford to keep his collection as they were worth too much. Old John Deere tractors used to be available for hobbyist like me, now the younger farmers collect them to rebuild and look at the miserable things with nostalgia. Got too expensive. Same with rifles.

DP

[BPJONES]

Yep, where I am it would have to be a well used non matching Enfield to not bring at least $400.00 today.

[leebuilder]

We never ever thought prices would go the way they did for milsurps. I remember the good times 20-30 years ago, you could mail order just about any thing at a bit more than scrap metal prices. Supply and demand. Prices here are insane to outrageous, some collectors with deep pockets will keep the prices up.
You talk to the older guys and I drool, the stories of 6 no4's in a case for 14.00$. Nothing but myth now.

[BPJONES]

Yeah, I can remember prices for various things from back in the 60's-70's that the young people today find hard to believe. As mentioned, they look at prices from years past as a myth. But I guess it's always been like that. I remember people that grew up in the early to mid 1900's that couldn't believe the crazy prices in the 60's! Going back to rifles. I remember if you did come across someone carrying an old milsurp enfield, one kind of thought to themselves , " oh, one of those things." If one only new!

[Geezer in NH]

Enfield's, really clean ones, were worth only $10 for a bet on the poker table of my gun club circa 1970 if the players allowed it.

[Mauser48]

I can never fund a clean enfield. They are always covered with rust and the bores are frosted.

[alamogunr]

I graduated HS in 1960. College in 1964. Had no money and just working to make a career left no time or $$ for milsurps. Most were buying them back then to "sporterize". I never could see the sense in that.

Now I just grit my teeth and pay the price if I see a milsurp I like. I've got a #4 Mk 2 that is in fairly good shape. Not looking for another one.

[marlin39a]

In the early 1990's I had an FFL and used to buy surplus Enfields from Jerrys Sport Center in Newington, Ct. They were about $65.00 ea. Interarms was the importer. I never got a bad one. One I still have is a Savage that came out of the box at near mint. Non- FTR. Another surprise was a a near new Lithgow from WW2. Imported by Jon Jovino. I kept that gun also. I miss those days!

[LAGS]

I have been offered $500 for my Long Branch and over $1000 for my Unfired #4mk2 as recently as last year.
I have had both for over 20 Years, and can't remember what I paid for either, but even the Unfired one was less than $200

[marlin39a]

I have been offered $500 for my Long Branch and over $1000 for my Unfired #4mk2 as recently as last year.
I have had both for over 20 Years, and can't remember what I paid for either, but even the Unfired one was less than $200
Those brand new surplus #4 mk2's were post war guns that came out of Ireland. I remember they had blonde wood. Wholesale was around $125.00. I wish I had put a couple away.

[TNsailorman]

Old military rifles were almost a dime a dozen in the old days. I remember Tuner Kirkland talking about paying .50 to .65 cents for trapdoor springfields in his younger days and would not buy them unless they were in excellent to new condition at that price. I was about 12 years old when I paid $8.00 for my first 98 mauser, a Oberndorf made 98K. My dad sold it for $50.00 several years later. It brought down deer in its time with us.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I have 2 and both were "Sporterized" before I got them. Paid $200 for one and $180 for the other. I shoot the #4Mk1 most generally monthly, and the #4Mk1* got converted to .35-303 and is still "in process."

I personally wouldn't pay more than that for anything that wasn't in nice condition. Those guns Always looked Bad and that's the main reason why they were so cheap. I think the English stacked them on pallets and then picked them up with forklifts off the pallets and then dumped them into crates and then dropped the crates. There may have been some additional mis-handling I am not aware of?

I have never personally seen a Military Dressed Enfield Rifle that wasn't beat to Ship! I have heard they exist.

Maybe in that condition they are worth $400?

I know there are some variants which do fetch higher amounts. #1 Mk5's are worth a lot more as they only made 20,000 of them. #8's which are .22's also are worth more.

But the common #1 Mk3 and #4 Mk1's are a dime a dozen and like I said they all look bad. They made 17 million of them so there's plenty to go around.

Randy