Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Mausers and Military Rifles Lee Enfield MK4 no 2 magazine issue

I have a cherry MK4 and I never shot it. I did take the magazine out a few times and everything was OK. So I was putting a coat of oil on it, and I can't get the magazine seated. A flat spring fell on the ground and I put it back where I thought it belonged. So it fits, but does not lock into place. Any suggestions?

A No 2 Mk IV is a single shot .22. Is that what you have?

If on the other hand it is a No 4 Mk 2, there's a U-shaped flat spring between the trigger and mag catch, which serves as a sear spring and magazine catch spring. Is your trigger still functioning properly?

Here you can see it in its proper place:

[Linked Image]

HTH

Believe what you mean is a No.4. Mk. is used to designate variations within a series, i.e. No.1 Mk. III.

That's not as bad as calling all of them a "SMLE", or simply a "303"

Not as bad as referring to the US M1917 as a P17.

Oh yes, that too.

I resemble that remark!

Compared to the continuous barrage of grammatical and spelling felonies we undergo here, such offenses seem like jaywalking by comparison IMO.

And "mouser" seems to pop up from time to time too.

My Dad had a "three ought three" for many years. It was often shortened to just 'ought three', but mostly we used the appropriate title . .. . . . . . . .

Old Meat in the Pot.

Moose and deer. hated that rifle.

Personally, I'm fond of "Smelly"- - - - -a rifle that needs no ammo- - - - -just ugly the target to death!
Jerry

Ive heard the recoil of a SMLE jungle carbine is very unpleasant

Which is due to the design of the recoil pad/buttplate.

And a metal buttplate at that. I've got a Columbian Carbine (Mauser 98) in 30/06 with a 16" barrel - recoil is not all that bad but the steel buttplate will eventually leave a red mark on my shoulder.

I think you may be mixing up different SMLE rifles.

The jungle carbine I used showed no evidence of being altered, and it had a rubber recoil pad / buttplate. It was about as soft as a golf ball, and it was rebated so the area in contact with your shoulder was considerably smaller than the butt of the rifle so your shoulder took an extra hard hit. A recipe for bruising!

Still, I was happy to carry this jungle carbine for defense against polar bears when I worked in Canada's arctic because it was short & relatively light. I used it too, and was glad for the large magazine capacity on one occasion.

John

You do have to wonder about the people who design such things. I spent an afternoon with one of those Colombians at a range one time, years ago. I ended up with a bruise in which you could clearly see the corrugations on the buttplate, the screwhead of the upper buttplate screw, and the slot in that screw, all in different colours. The No 5 buttplate/recoil "pad" is another bad one, and probably worse now as the rubber insert has hardened with age.

I don't recall ever getting a bruise from the smooth buttplate of an SMLE or No 4, nor the almost identical buttplate on an L1A1, though when I was in cadets I did see a boy, about 13, who would have struggled to be taller than his rifle get a bit knocked around shooting a qualification with an L1A1..