De-Bubba-ing A Lee-Enfield No.4 MK1* - Part 1

[@MilsurpDuo]

That's a rack number marking on the buttstock it was for identification in a rack of 50 or so.

[@MilsurpDuo]

I'm a military rifle collector. I also like to take projects on like this as well if you have any questions I am wiling to help out any means possible.

[@booliganshootingsports]

Yep, rack number and old BLR mark meaning it was deemed non-repairable at some point. Luckily it’s been fixed since then!

[@brettanderson6743]

Very cool. Personally I would blue it but I want to blue everything. Setting up the stock to barrel tension for lack of better word is very important. Bloke on the Range has some great videos on the Lee Enfield. Keep up the great work.

[@booliganshootingsports]

From what I've seen, these US built No. 4s were Parkerized, which makes sense. But I think I'm going to go with a baked-on high temp ceramic paint. It'll offer a better-than-new look that should last basically forever. Won't be period correct, but the goal of this isn't get it back to 100% new condition, mainly just something resembling what it should have looked like in new condition.

[@brettanderson6743]

@@booliganshootingsports And it will be easier to clean and more corrosion resistant with the ceramic finish. Looking forward to seeing it done!

[@AdamWeatherall]

Yes you have prestiged good sir! 😎

[@PaulDominguez]

Enfield is a beautiful gun on its own. Its sad to see antiques messed up. A gun that seen service in the great war should get handle with respect.

[@booliganshootingsports]

I'll be bringing it back to a nice factory appearance like it deserves.

[@AbolishTheATF1776]

@@booliganshootingsports it deserves to be left the way it is if anything just print a fancy stock

[@scowler7200]

Sporterizing occurs when the rifles are abundant. Intact rifles are abundant in Boomers' gun safes. Hoarders.

[@patriks_surplus_kitchen5251]

Hi, thanks for making and sharing this Enfield Video. FYI the hole on the left side of the Receiver near the chamber is the "over pressure/venting hole" if a case rupture happens that hot gasses can vent !! Please not plug that up! Also there is a Srcew hole for the Extractor Screw on the left side of the receiver and also intentional for ejecting live rounds !! Looking forward to the next Videos i personally would do a Bluning or Parkerizing on the Mettal parts. Oh btw. it has a "FR" stamp on the Butt so it was at one point "refurbished" in England and maybe got a 5 groved barrel instead of 2 groved one!? have a Nice Day.

[@booliganshootingsports]

I was able to find out a bunch of interesting things on the stock markings. The "BLR" paint mark means it was deemed "Beyond Local Repair" and was effectively a total loss, sent back for refurbishing or destruction. The follow up FR mark tells me that it was refurbished and should be safe to shoot. I headspaced it and it comes up as good to go. Sadly, it does have a 2 groove barrel, so it'll likely never be the most accurate shooter, but it'll certainly look gorgeous. You should follow along on Instagram, I've been posting updates prior to the next video on it when it'll be more or less completely back to stock appearance.

[@patriks_surplus_kitchen5251]

@@booliganshootingsports Hi, the 2 Grove Barrels " should" have the same accuracy up to 300 yards then the 5 Grooved ones... at least "not much" if the Bore is Good & the Bedding is Correct. There is a YT video on that from "Riflechair" he got me into Lee Enfield. I'm collecting them since a few years and habe a bunch of experience. How did you "headspaced" it? Or what gauges did you use... SAAMI or Mill Spec ? Standard Accuracy of a No4 is in the reals of 3-4 inches at 100 yards for what i recall. Oh and you have a new follower on Insta ^^ If you think about to put a Scope on it i highly recommend following "no gunsmith" mounts: BadAce, S&K or Adley precision. Have a good Day.

[@booliganshootingsports]

@@patriks_surplus_kitchen5251 I saw your liking spree on IG and it was much appreciated! Headspace was checked with a SAAMI gauge set.

[@Emdee5632]

By the way the official name is Rifle No. 4. No longer Lee Enfield. The British changed the nomenclature in 1926. The older rifles became No. 1, 2 and 3. Of course the name "Lee Enfield" stuck around...

[@DavidGarcia-nu5lf]

The White letters on the stock might be because it was a military issued rifle at somepoint ...awesome rifle

[@booliganshootingsports]

Possibly, but I've found zero similar images of stock painting like that online. If it was a standardized thing, you'd think that some picture of a similar one would exist somewhere right? Very strange, but either way, I'm going to preserve it and not mess with the painted butt stock at all, and instead purchased another walnut buttstock to refinish and install.

[@DavidGarcia-nu5lf]

Maybe its foreign...i had the same type of markings on an old m1...but thats different... And your rifle , it appears to be american issue.... im really intrigued by it ....i dont know... But if that gun could talk im pretty sure it would have a hell of a story to tell...cant wait till you finish it

[@booliganshootingsports]

So it wouldn't have been American issued, but it was US manufactured. We built these for England during Lend-Lease and then continued to build them for them going forward after we joined the war. But the paint markings on the stock are in the US stencil pattern that you normally see on other things, not the British stencil which you'd expect. My theory is that it came back after the war and was rack marked in the States in an armory somewhere. To what end, who knows, because we never ran these. Maybe a reserve or guard unit? Who knows, but it's a super cool piece and I'll be returning it to its former glory very soon.

[@SW0000A]

It might not be financially worth it to restore a bubba gun in most cases but it is truely gods work. I look forward to your project. Your really make cool stuff. I have a savage No 1 mk 4 that is in fantastic condition. I will be happy to see your progress. I got mine for $400 last January at a gun show.

[@booliganshootingsports]

Eh, the financial aspect only matters if you plan to resell the gun, in my opinion. Luckily I got the base gun so cheap that even though I paid more for the new wood than the gun cost, I’ll still be invested in this for less than what a really rough one is currently going for. The fact that it turned out to be a Savage model just helps the math in my favor. Plus, can’t put a price tag on a fun project like this!

[@SW0000A]

@@booliganshootingsports I look forward to your progress. I got my no 1 mk 4 in great condition for $400 at a gun show January 2020. Mine came with the early fine adjustable rear sight. I love the rifle.

[@hooks_and_horns]

Ain’t even lying I got one IDENTICAL sitting next to me as a type this. Same sport configuration, same wood, same holes drilled in the side of the receiver, savage, 67C SN (1943), except mine is missing the bayonet lug. Don’t know if the barrel was cut down but it still has the exact same sight, just with the ears chopped off. And the stripper clip slots are chopped off as well. Might restore it some day idk.

[@maxxpeterson220]

HEY I GOT MY ENFIELD MK2 ON UTAH GUN EXCHANGE TOO! I'm so glad I found this video, I'm doing the same thing to mine but it has a new front sight so I actually have to take it into a gun doctor to get the unsightly thing off

[@trail457]

I have a sporterized 303 and it works perfect.Similar to the Parker Hale. Great guns.

[@K5_Chris]

Doing the lord’s work here

[@NCrdwlf]

People will do anything to put a scope on a rifle ..ugh .

[@booliganshootingsports]

The scope mount very much looks like a ‘60s or 70’s era mount, so it was at least done when these things were $40 and you could find them in a barrel at your local hardware store.

[@teru797]

why do they always cut the stock down!? Uhg. looks much better with the full length stock

[@booliganshootingsports]

It was a common mod back in the day to “sporterize” them and make them easier to hunt with.

[@h2489-m2l]

Remember at one time after WW2 these were so common they were of very little value. Although it seems a shame to see rifles messed with today, at the time this gave someone a cheap hunting rifle.

[@teru797]

Yeah I just don't get why people think these look better with less of a stock. Like they do this with mosins now days

[@yesimbigwes]

I have a No4 mk1* Parkerhale Deluxe so the barrel was cut to 22 in unfortunately. I would love to put the original furniture on it but that would require me to take off the rifle sight and repining the original sight back on. Way too much work and money :/

[@LongCaster_]

1:31 my dad, my dad did, he also cut off some of the stock, it's just a mosin, so not that big of a deal, but still kinda dumb, in my opinion

[@wadekirby8575]

It should be a good shooter when you are done.(We were under less stress than most at that time so US barrels tend to be nicer.) If you don't have any use for the forestock and scope base I'd be happy to take them off your hands.

[@timothyruggles3031]

the lend lease was I think from 1932 to 1945 so you should check the date could be a war veteran

[@gregwilliams386]

It's a Savage 2 groove Enfield. Under the scope mount it should be marked US Property. The wood should be beech.

[@booliganshootingsports]

Yep, I did a whole ongoing series on this one.

[@SuperCinemaCraft]

Any progress on this rifle? I got one of these that was converted to 45-70 by Navy arms. Looking to restore sights to a ladder and nice front bead

[@booliganshootingsports]

I’ve completed it. There’s an update video on the channel.

[@immortal1189]

What filament do you use

[@robertl6196]

It came home!

[@booliganshootingsports]

Right? Such a trip this thing had, interesting stories for sure.

[@DaveLarson-f2u]

A true Parker-Hale conversion is not a "Bubba" job. Professionally done in England in the 50's they had several grades. P-H DID cut down the BBL but added their own sights and did a nice re-crown. I have a P-H Standard No 4 and it's well done. Not a true military collectable but a practical shooter.

[@booliganshootingsports]

Ok. This isn’t a PH conversion so I’m not sure that the comment is relevant to this.

[@DaveLarson-f2u]

@@booliganshootingsports I know, yours was def Bubba'd. I was saying if someone gets a PH it's something not to "de-bubba" as it's a well done piece of history hand sporterized in England by a reputable gun maker. I wish I could post a photo.

[@booliganshootingsports]

Gotcha, yes, some professionally converted military rifles are absolutely worth keeping in their converted forms!

[@HarshmanHills]

Should be an awesome project

[@booliganshootingsports]

I've been doing so many design and print projects that it's kind of nice getting back to wood and steel.

[@StyxHGuiltyDV]

Yes, more accuracy killing wood please.😂

[@mutelatedLEMON]

Cant wait!!

[@Micha-ge3ws]

I really enjoy watching your builds, i watch every single video on your channel (one of my fav channels on yt btw !) .

[@SW0000A]

He is one of the more real gun tubers out there. And far more creative.

[@JohnDoe-nf7up]

Honestly I'm more interested in bubba guns over stock milsurps because of how ridiculous the prices are for fairly mediocre guns

[@christopherwallace826]

UGE makes me sad with all the stupid high prices.

[@booliganshootingsports]

It is absolute batshit crazy sometimes, especially with ammo. But occasionally you can find a gem like this for a surprisingly low price.

[@jacobsnyder6888]

Lolololol my friend talked me in to getting a no5 (jungle carbine) and I was so against it because it was such an ugly cherry red stain on it and we de Bubbud it hahaha years ago and this is the first time I've ever seen someone else do a enfield this must have been a big problem with these guns idk why but thank the lord it wasn't drilled for scope like this one because it has all matching serial numbers and it was made in the bsa so it's a rare gun and only 81,000 where made in that factory before it was bombed

[@toddsteel8377]

Those marking are military that stock was issued that way this is not a ww2 rifle it's a ww1 from 1909 if I am correct.

[@booliganshootingsports]

Nope, it's a No. 4 Mk 1*, so it's from 1942 at the earliest.

[@toddsteel8377]

@@booliganshootingsports that is a lee speed stock they are all over you tube look it up again those marking are rack and or unit markings the military uses them and still do that firearm was issued that way.

[@booliganshootingsports]

It's not though, lol. The Lee Speed is a completely different firearm. It's a bog standard No 1 Mk 4 stock, even has the Savage marking on the wrist. They are visually similar because all of the buttstocks from the Lee Speed through the No. 4 used a visually similar style of stock. I agree that the paint markings MAY be rack/unit numbers, which is why I'm preserving the stock as is and purchased a different one to refinish.

[@toddsteel8377]

@@booliganshootingsports if it's a savage then it was made that way the savage usees lee speed patents. It was made that way from everything I've found unless the guy you got it from put a regular ass enfield in a savage stock witch my reply is why mess up a specialty gun with shit?

[@booliganshootingsports]

It's a Savage rifle with a Savage stock. Look at how the buttstock looks compared to every other No. 4 Mk 1* stock, they're the same. Everything from, call it the receiver back is as it was from the factory, aside from the receiver holes for the terrible scope mount. It was sporterized at some point, probably the '60s or '70s judging by the scope mount. The front handguard was chopped down and the upper handguards removed. It didn't leave the factory in that condition. What I will be doing is returning it to visual factory No. 4 Mk1* condition. This isn't a specialty gun. It WAS a somewhat special gun as a US made Savage, that someone sporterized. I'm un-sporterizing it. Not sure why this is hard to understand, lol.

[@toddsteel8377]

Keep the stock.

[@booliganshootingsports]

Oh for sure. I ordered a whole additional walnut buttstock to refinish and install so that I can keep and store the stock from this one in the same condition as I got it.

[@leighchristopherson2455]

These are all over Canada. Most gun owners own one.

[@losonsrenoster]

Why are ammo manufacturers disregarding hundreds of thousands of Lee Enfield .303 shooters? It is virtually impossible to find any bullets and brass for reloading in South Africa, except if you are willing to pay REALLY crazy inflated prices. I shoot a BSA number 1 mark III* made in 1941, still in authentic condition.

[@Oncewasthelostone]

Are you on lbry?

[@booliganshootingsports]

Yep. Booligancustomgunworks

[@mrguiltyfool]

@@booliganshootingsports will follow on lbry

[@michaelsmith8028]

Why do people sportarise old guns?

[@booliganshootingsports]

They did back in the day because they were super cheap and plentiful. This was probably sporterized in the 60s-70s when these things cost $20 each.

[@jonathanlunger2775]

Just chopped one of those old garbage rifles down and tapped it for a scope, going to break it in honor of this in my recommended feeds, think I might glue a little extra comb on stock, not well built for ascope

[@toddsteel8377]

Dude stop I think that is a lee-speed from back in 1909 it was built that way. Stop look it up first because you could be about to bubba a relic stop stop stop please double check.

[@derwones]

I don’t think it is, they have wayy better looking bodies with an imprint on it, this is just basic looking