Enfield L42A1
Printed From: Enfield-Rifles.com
Category: Stuff for Enfields
Forum Name: Wanted Items *Must Have 20 Points to Post.
Forum Description: Place requests for items people may have that you need!! ALL APPLICABLE FEDERAL, STATE & LOCAL LAWS MUST BE FOLLOWED!
URL: http://www.enfield-rifles.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=8997
Printed Date: March 26 2026 at 6:27pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.07 - https://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Enfield L42A1
Posted By: Honkytonk
Subject: Enfield L42A1
Date Posted: May 28 2018 at 1:09pm
| Has any of the Canadian members ever seen one of these for sale? Are they rare? Also, what would be the going price for a good one? I've got the itch to expand so I'm testing the waters! Thanks! |
Replies:
Posted By: Shamu
Date Posted: May 28 2018 at 3:40pm
|
Rare as rocking horse poo in Canada. Also not that great in reality. The L39/L42 were way obsolete in many ways before they were ever fielded. Personally if I was going for a "sniper-grade" Lee Enfield I'd go with a No4 Mk2. But as I hate (yes I know its collectable) the Mk 32 scopes I'd seriously upgrade the optics.  ------------- Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force) |
Posted By: Honkytonk
Date Posted: May 28 2018 at 4:18pm
| Shamu. I do have a No4 mk2 that I converted to my version of a sniper clone. Walnut cheek piece from England, DAI smithless scope mount and the new Leupold 1.5x4 Freedom straight tube scope. Next time buddies over with his iPhone I'll get him to take some pic's. I think it turned out ok and I am now working on a load for it. |
Posted By: Stanforth
Date Posted: May 29 2018 at 1:48am
|
Not in Canada but in the UK. There was one at the Arms Fair at Bisley on Sunday. In its case with all the bits including the scope tin.. £10,500 ------------- Life.. a sexually transmitted condition that is invariably fatal. |
Posted By: Shamu
Date Posted: May 29 2018 at 6:10am
|
MEDIC!  ------------- Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force) |
Posted By: britrifles
Date Posted: May 29 2018 at 6:11am
| Shamu, that pic of your No. 4 above got me thinking about adding a cheek piece to my No. 4 Mk 2 that I've put a no smith scope mount on. Looks like the repro check pieces are made of walnut. I'd like to have one made of beech to match the stock. I may have to whittle one myself (I happen to have a very large beech tree that came down in a storm at my cabin last year ...). |
Posted By: Honkytonk
Date Posted: May 29 2018 at 7:08am
| Too late for a medic. That dream is circling the drain! My No4 Mk2 it is then! |
Posted By: Shamu
Date Posted: May 29 2018 at 8:41am
I made mine out of what I could beg borrow or "acquire", in this case well seasoned white oak. Do not use well seasoned white oak, it takes some kind of nuclear-powered tool to sand that stuff! Its as hard as steel! I actually made mine a little taller than the originals.It just allows the cocking piece to withdraw fully & be removed!I have the dimenions overlaid on these images as an excel file if you want I can e-mail them to you.    ------------- Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force) |
britrifles wrote:Posted By: Honkytonk
Date Posted: May 29 2018 at 8:57am
| You built that by hand!!?? |
Posted By: Shamu
Date Posted: May 29 2018 at 8:59am
|
Yup! It started out as an off cut from a 3X4! ------------- Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force) |
Posted By: Canuck
Date Posted: May 29 2018 at 9:17am
|
Nice work! I wish I was that handy with wood. I just dont have the tools for woodworking, just automotive tools. ------------- Castles made of sand slip into the sea.....eventually |
Posted By: Stanforth
Date Posted: May 29 2018 at 10:28am
|
They are on UK Ebay at £44 + postage in Walnut and Blonde beech. They will ship wordwide. eBay item number: 132631056371 ------------- Life.. a sexually transmitted condition that is invariably fatal. |
Posted By: britrifles
Date Posted: May 29 2018 at 10:47am
|
Thanks Shamu and Stanforth. Doesn't look too hard to make, other than getting the inside radius cut out to the shape of the butt stock. I do like the idea of matching the existing wood using beech; I might have a go at it. I can easily split a chuck off that huge beech tree that fell; I'm still working at cutting it up. Beech splits very easily. What are the blond stocks that come out of the arsenal usually finished with? Sure doesn't look like an oil finish, mine looks almost like a varnish of some sort.
|
Posted By: Honkytonk
Date Posted: May 29 2018 at 11:05am
| The one I ordered off eBay from the UK was Walnut and unfinished. I used Shamus linseed oil recipe along with the rest of the rifle. About $120 CAD all in. If I could make anything out of wood except fire, I'd give it a go! |
Posted By: Shamu
Date Posted: May 29 2018 at 11:39am
|
Its not. I used mainly sandpapers of various grades & a set of rotary sanding cylinders in a power drill chuck! The base, where it fits the stock comb was roughed out the same way with a 1" Dia. sanding drum then fine finished with sandpaper wrapped round a spare stock with damage. That way I didn't beat up the original. I finished mine with Brownells Linseed oil. The shiny ones may be something called "Old London Oil". Its a 50/50 mix of she!!ac & Raw linseed. They don't really mix so you have to shake them like salad dressing. Then you hand rub, the same as you would linseed, let it dry overnight & wipe off any excess. Then repeat till it looks as you want it to. throw the rags out daily. I think Honkytonk did some with this? ------------- Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force) |
Posted By: Zed
Date Posted: May 29 2018 at 12:07pm
|
Regarding the initial post. An L42A1 was on my dream list; but prices have gone balistic; so I settled for an L39A1. The L42A1 is the Sniper variant; hammer forged heavy barrel in 7,62 NATO; built up from original No4 Mk1T rifles. Using the same scope recalibrated for the new round. I have read there are only about 800 L42 rifles out there. The L39A1 was built on new No4Mk2 rifles and fitted with Parker Hale match dioptre sights. These were specifically military shooting teams. They made 1280 L39's from what I've read. The advantage of settling for an L39 over the L42 is mainly price. Currently around 12-1500 pound's for the 39 instead of 10,000 for the L42. I have seen them up to 17,000 pounds for perfect with full matching kit. Consider that the L39's would be used in generally better conditions and probably used less than the L42 and you can see that's it's a good option! They do shoot very nicely too.  ------------- It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice! |
Posted By: britrifles
Date Posted: May 29 2018 at 12:29pm
|
My thoughts on shaping the inner radius: rough it out with a gouging chisel, shape with sanding drum on drill press, then final fit/finish with dowel wrapped in sand paper (not sure if the stock is a constant radius). My Dad's got a well outfitted wood shop, sounds like a project we could do when I'm up in the Great White North this summer. We can use the cheek piece off his real No. 4(T) as a pattern. I'll post some pics when I get this done. |
Posted By: Honkytonk
Date Posted: May 29 2018 at 2:52pm
| Trust me. I bought a cheek piece from Brownells about 6 months ago for a No4 Mk1. Walnut. Got it. Rocked like AC-DC when I tried it on the stock. 4 hours later with a dowel and sandpaper, icgot it toxfit. The one I got from England needed 20 minutes of tuning with sandpaper, although 2x the price. |