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Smle no4 mk1 with 'u.s. Property' engraved on receiver


terryb

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"US Property" was the normal stamp on such equipment made in ( or for ) the US to issue as war aid - lend lease, basically.

 

The theory was that it could be issued to allies, but could not be sold on, or sold back, because it was marked as, well, US Property. As an example, Thompsons that were made for Britain and paid for by Britain were not so marked, but those that were made for, and paid for, by the US and then issued as war aid to Britain, were.

 

Your item could have been made in the US, unlikely, or made in the UK for the US as reverse lend lease, but marked as US Property so it could be loaned out again.

 

Confused yet?

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Not seen one of these before, does anyone have any info on this?

thanks

Terry

 

I had one of these when I was in the ACF back in the early 70s. In fact, several in our armoury were similarly marked. As I recall, they were made by The Savage Arms Company of Massachusetts, though Savage also built in Canada.

10 68

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Loads of them made it back to the U.S., or never left the states for the ones produced here.

Of the No. 4 Mk I rifles I've met, more than half have been so marked.

In the US those so marked don't seem to command any premium over those not so marked, which is interesting since almost anything else with that marking is increased in value to collectors.

I'm sad to say that a lot of these rifles get cut down into "replica" jungle carbines, which makes them lighter to carry but brutal to actually shoot. Not that the metal butplate on the regular item makes shooting them comfortable exactly...

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A funny feature is that they have a only two grove rifleing

 

I don't think it's universal for marked receivers to have 2-groove barrels or for 2-groove barrel receivers to be marked.

I know it's something that has come up on occasion, 1903 Springfields are sometimes seen with 2-groove barrels and a number of those wound up cut into a sort of liner for aftermarket companies to salvage M-1 Garand barrels.

I think they were all rush jobs, the ones I've shot have not done better than "acceptable" accuracy.

Of course, compared to the Sten Mk III barrels where they just cut some grooves in a flat plate and then wrapped that around a mandrel to weld they seem quite good.

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I don't think it's universal for marked receivers to have 2-groove barrels or for 2-groove barrel receivers to be marked.

I know it's something that has come up on occasion, 1903 Springfields are sometimes seen with 2-groove barrels and a number of those wound up cut into a sort of liner for aftermarket companies to salvage M-1 Garand barrels.

I think they were all rush jobs, the ones I've shot have not done better than "acceptable" accuracy.

Of course, compared to the Sten Mk III barrels where they just cut some grooves in a flat plate and then wrapped that around a mandrel to weld they seem quite good.

 

your correct, only some of the Stevens production had 2 groove barrels.

 

Some of the STEN Mk2 and 3 barrels were drawn over mandrel made, they were never flat sheet rolled and welded. They simply got a tube and pressed the rifled mandrel into the tube and then rolled the barrel under pressure. They then pressed out the mandrel and ended up with a barrel that looked like it had already fired 5000 rounds.

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