Hopefully Bear will come along and confirm it’s a Maltby. 

Perhaps Mick will come along and enlighten us! 

By the way, I don’t think these foresights were allowed in UK and Commonwealth Service Rifle (b) competition, they came in at the time of the Target Rifle Class in 1968/69. Again, something that Mick knows well. 

The front sight block needs to be cut to fit the dovetail IIRC. Plus your rear-sight settings will now need to be recalculated because of the changed LOS form the taller sight blade.

The cleaning kit is simply an oil bottle & a pull through cord.The bottles come in brass, Bakelite & some kind of clear plastic.

Top right of this little group, the rolls of "Foah Bee Two" were the "patches" you tore one off at the red line, but were not carried in the butt trap.

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Obviously you can shoot it using the standard rear sight, but if the rifle has been set up (stock bedded etc), it would be nice to complete it with a suitable rear competition sight.

Yes THIS!^^^

This is the type of sight that would suit your No4 rifle. this one shown is graduated for 7.62NATO cartridge, but they are available for .303 calibre.

DustOff wrote: Hi, thanks for letting me in.  Having a hard time figuring out this rifle. Looking to make it complete by digging for a cleaning kit for the stock, so need to know what it is exactly.

To make it complete (not just the cleaning kit), from what can be seen in your pics, that front sight makes me think you'll have to replace the front sight block and that front aperture sight currently mounted in order to go back to the front service sights.

As for obtaining the period cleaning kit: once you get it, look at it, fondle it a bit... and then put it away for safe keeping for whoever owns the rifle after you've sold it (or if like me, when it comes time to shuffle off this mortal coil for the long dirt nap).

Pull-throughs for cleaning in those days made sense.  Still made sense after moved from the No. 4 Mk1 rifles to the FN FAL (maybe even more sense with the FAL, because it has the flash hider to protect the crown).

But there's a reason the pams for armourers included instructions on inspecting the muzzle for cord wear to the crown, gauges for the muzzle, etc.

Most are probably like me: clean with a conventional cleaning rod and a bore guide insert in the receiver.

The Brits are still issuing 4x2s to the troopies - I have rolls of them my brother picked out of assorted Brit fighting vehicles, the much loathed Land-Rovers, etc. while he was still attached to the Brits at BATUS to fix what they broke out at CFB Suffield. 

So it shouldn't be hard to get together those period correct bits and pieces from EvilBay and elsewhere.

Landies were much-loathed when did that happen? We loved our Landies!

He's right about the butt-stock cleaning kits though. I have on in each of my Enfields butt traps & I have some 2X4, but I would never use it except in truly dire circumstances.

Shamu wrote: Landies were much-loathed when did that happen? We loved our Landies!

Those who wrenched on the Land Rover fleet, i.e. my brother, developed no love whatsoever for them.

Randy said the fuel they actually ran on was the hate of the mechanics.

Thanks for all the help on this.  This rifle is my friends that he purchased over 40yrs ago. He is Frogman Assassin....cough cough, I mean Sniper, from before they became SEALs. Not exactly sure what his plans are, but I believe it has to do with recent surgeries, age and prepping for that Long Dirt Nap Rick spoke of. He doesnt run the web like us 60+ kids do, lol, so he asked me to find out whatever I can about it. You all have brought to light some interesting questions like why did someone start modding the sights but only swapping the front sight and not the rear. My guess for my friend is he is trying to make it as valuable as possible for his family because they will have NO idea what to do. I am a former AO turned medevac, so from my AO days I kinda get some of it. Being medevac he feels comfortable telling me some stories, and I got to tell you DAAAAANG! That is why I "jokingly" referred to him as an assassin. If he had time he should get help writing a book.  

    I will definitely have to kick around the ideas of either going back to the blade front sight, or swapping in the dioptre rear sight. There is a gun show this weekend and I will go and do some digging for that cleaning kit.  

From the pictures it looks like the rear sight is cranked a fair way up its travel. I assume to make it shoot to POA with the tunnel (called a globe) front.

Honkytonk, They come in 2 diameters, if you have the larger one it won't fit without removing the foresight protectors. Some have the dovetail cut for the standard sight block, but some don't. You'd have to check the diameter (just measure "ears" I.D. & sight O.D. the sight has to be less than the ears. You cold check the dovetail be comparing it with a spare front sight blade.,

Geoff, you're spot on regarding the fact that these foresight conversions were not allowed during the golden years of SR"b" which I take to be 1946~1968.

The NRA (UK) changeover to 7.62mm from .303 at Bisley was a slow affair and the NRA (UK) allowed the use of .303 target rifles to compete alongside 7.62mm rifles from 1968 until 1973 but allowing .303 rifles to use ring inserts for the new style round bull targets which replaced the "tin hat" target.

I have a couple of converted No.4 protectors like the one in the image; their use at Bisley was a brief five years and probably slightly longer in club competitions. 

Some years ago I spent the day with the late John Good who made Brindles sights and was at one time the armourer for the NRA, he referred to these foresight conversions as "privateers". The reason they were called that was because the NRA allowed them but there was no official pattern to adhere to so shooters would get somebody with a bit of engineering know how to fix a foresight tube into a No.4 foresight protector. 

Some of them are things of beauty...others not so! 

From the photo, there does not appear to be much clearance between the tunnel sight tube and sight protector.  I wonder if the protector ear inner surfaces had to be machined or filed down to allow some clearance with the tube?  While not an issue with a TZ or PH 5C target type back sight which allows ample windage adjustment, not having a means to adjust the foresight for windage with the standard service Mk 1 aperture sight would make zeroing the rifle impossible. And as Shamu pointed out, the elevation of the Mk 1 backsight would have to be raised well above the range index marking to obtain a 100 or 200 yard zero. 

It may be best to remove the front sight components and install the standard issue foresight block band, blade and sight protector.  Then sell the tunnel foresight assembly separately. 

The Parker Hale 5C and Twin Zero windage adjustable target type backlights are getting expensive, $300 USD.  Hard to say if going that route will fetch more for the rifle than what the additional cost of getting one of these sights is worth.  The problem is that competition rules here in the US (Civilian Marksmanship Program) for vintage military service rifles do not allow target type sights, the rules state “as issued” sights except the aperture may be reduced in size.  

This rifle is somewhat of a curiosity, as it was unlikely used in competition in this form without the target backsight.  It’s possible the previous owner wanted to keep his PH 5C rear sight for use on a different rifle. 

Had your friend fired this rifle?  Is it still chambered for .303 British? Many were converted to 7.62 in the 1960’s for target shooting.

DustOff wrote: Thanks for all the info.  He has not fired it so I will dig also to see what it is chambered in. But the 3 areas I found the Ser#, grip band-mag.- bolt lever, all match?

Well, from your description he doesn't have much time to shoot it, so he better get on that.  But then, I'm from that class that primarily shoots them, rather than collect them.

On what you've told us, the easiest and least expensive route forward would be to replace that front sight with what it left the arsenal equipped with.  The front sight rig on there right now will have some value for somebody, somewhere.  You retaining it rather than selling to fund bringing back to original condition wouldn't add much value to the rifle, even for most LE fans.

Service rifle competition rear sights are increasingly hard to find due to the damned collectors getting involved on the hunt for them.  I would not want to have to try and replace my PH rear sight right now.