Saving another old vet

I found this one for sale recently.

It's a Canadian Enfield, #4, Mk.1, calibre .303. I found it offered in this badly neglected state. But as bad as it looks now, it was a battle rifle once.

Despite the chop job that someone did on the rifle's wood, it still retains it's military character. No shiny polished metal here, and no aesthetic curves or checkering to make it pretty. The original metal finish is thin on this one, and there's a bit of rust, but it's unmolested other than the woodwork so it's a prime candidate for a restoration project and I need a new project.

This one was made by Long Branch in 1944 in their factory in Toronto, Ontario.

Maybe it made it into the war soon enough to join the 3rd Canadian Division under Keller as they stormed Juno beach on D-Day? Or perhaps it got there later, and helped the Canadians liberate the Netherlands or push the Germans back to the Rhine. Pity it can't talk and tell it's stories.

Of course if it could talk, it could name the fool who sporterized it into it's present configuration, "the better to hunt deer with". And while it's definitely lighter and handier to carry like this, it's not how the rifle was made, nor is it representative of it's history.

Fortunately the one who did this left all of the metal alone. They didn't remove sights or shorten the barrel or commit any of those other heinous and irreversible acts that bubbas perpetrate on these old rifles. This one can be saved.

I've already tracked down a new magazine for it, and a new stock set. The other missing pieces and parts have been inventoried and they'll be here shortly too. I can and will fix this battered old warhorse and restore it back to the way that it once was when it helped free Europe and partnered with the other NATO countries in the 1950's. Maybe this rifle saw service in Korea with the soldiers of 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry? Again, we'll likely never know. But I do know that I can fix it over the coming weeks and give it back some of the dignity that it deserves. Stay tuned.