Description
Item Description
Bryant Ridge Auction Company is pleased to present this WWII Era bolt-action rifle today for a penny start auction, this is the Steven-Savage Enfield No. 4 MK I*!
Here we present a C&R British Lend/Lease Act U.S. Property Marked Savage Enfield No. 4 Mk.1* Rifle, made by the J. Stevens Arms Company, which was a division of the Savage Arms Company, in Chicopee, Massachusetts. After declaring war against Germany in September of 1939, which was two days after Germany invaded Poland, Great Britain found itself in the dire situation with the threat of German invasion of her homeland and desperately needed small arms to defend it. In 1940, they turned to the industrial might of the United States to manufacture the British designed Enfield No. 4 Mark I rifle. These rifles are referred to as the “Savage Enfield” but were actually made by Stevens. In early 1941 Britain was running out of money, and President Roosevelt knew that it was necessary for the U.S. to assist them in staving off the Germans. Roosevelt got the “Lend Lease Act” passed in March of 1941. This act led to the U.S. taking over all existing British contracts with U.S. manufacturers. This included the Savage-Stevens and the Thompson contracts. All firearms manufactured under this act were U.S. marked. There were several thousand Enfield rifles manufactured by Savage-Stevens under the British contracts prior to the Lend Lease agreement that were not stamped as U.S. Property. After the agreement, the redesigned rifle was designated as the No. 4 MK. I*, as is this one, and represented the majority of Savage-Stevens Enfield production.
Here we present a C&R British Lend/Lease Act U.S. Property Marked Savage Enfield No. 4 Mk.1* Rifle, made by the J. Stevens Arms Company, which was a division of the Savage Arms Company, in Chicopee, Massachusetts. After declaring war against Germany in September of 1939, which was two days after Germany invaded Poland, Great Britain found itself in the dire situation with the threat of German invasion of her homeland and desperately needed small arms to defend it. In 1940, they turned to the industrial might of the United States to manufacture the British designed Enfield No. 4 Mark I rifle. These rifles are referred to as the “Savage Enfield” but were actually made by Stevens. In early 1941 Britain was running out of money, and President Roosevelt knew that it was necessary for the U.S. to assist them in staving off the Germans. Roosevelt got the “Lend Lease Act” passed in March of 1941. This act led to the U.S. taking over all existing British contracts with U.S. manufacturers. This included the Savage-Stevens and the Thompson contracts. All firearms manufactured under this act were U.S. marked. There were several thousand Enfield rifles manufactured by Savage-Stevens under the British contracts prior to the Lend Lease agreement that were not stamped as U.S. Property. After the agreement, the redesigned rifle was designated as the No. 4 MK. I*, as is this one, and represented the majority of Savage-Stevens Enfield production.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Manufacturer: Steven-Savage
Model: Enfield No. 4 MK I*
Serial: 90C8781
Caliber: .303 British
Finish: Blue
Barrel Length: 25"
Optics/Sights: Winged, Dovetailed Patridge Front with Adjustable Aperture Rear
Stock/Grips: Smooth Hardwood
Action: Bolt
Markings: Standard / U.S. Property Marked
Bryant Ridge's Analysis:
In 1931, the British Board of Ordnance began trials with a new rifle, the No. 4 Mk I, and for the next 10 years began the groundwork for the adoption and manufacture of this lighter and more efficient-to-produce rifle for the British Armed Forces. New Royal Ordnance Factory’s (ROFs) were established at Maltby, near Sheffield in South Yorkshire and Fazakerley near Liverpool. Birmingham Small Arms established BSA Shirley near Birmingham, and Long Branch outside of Toronto, Canada, was set up to manufacture the new service rifle. By the time the war came, only 1,200 No. 4 Mk Is had been made, and few of these were complete guns—most were tooling examples perfecting the interchangeability of parts. Due to the loss of nearly 200,000 rifles at Dunkirk and the 1.5 million volunteers of the newly formed Home Guard, the service-rifle shortage in Britain was acute.
It would be late 1941 before the three factories in England would begin producing No. 4s in any usable numbers, and it was mid-1942 before they started to appear on the front lines with UK troops.
The main improvements over the No. 1 Mk III the No. 4 offered was ease of manufacture due to advancements in manufacturing interchangeable parts. It had a 25-inch barrel and was manufactured with five-groove rifling as well as two-groove rifling later in the war. The No 4 also had a muzzle that was extended forward of the fore-end and allowed the adoption of the small spike bayonet that dramatically reduced the muzzle weight of the gun compared with the 1907 hilted-blade bayonet of the No. 1.
The No. 4s also provided the Board of Ordnance with a platform to upgrade the rifle with a No. 32 sniper scope and as the No. 4 Mk I (T), it was one of the best sniper rifles fielded during the war. Most of the conversions from No. 4 Mk 1 to Mk 1 (T) were carried out by the venerable gunmaking firm of Holland & Holland.
As Churchill had prophesied in his speech, the call to arms from the Old World to the New had not fallen on deaf ears. On Dec. 29 that same year, Franklin Roosevelt delivered his most famous Fireside Chat, which included the famous line, “We must be the great arsenal of democracy.”
To this end, in March of 1941, FDR signed the Lend-Lease Act into law and green-lit the production of No. 4s at the Savage/Stevens plant in Chicopee, MA. These rifles were marked “U.S. PROPERTY” to comply with the Lend-Lease Act, but none were ever used by U.S. military forces.
U.S.-made Savage/Stevens No. 4s numbered 1.2 million, with Long Branch contributing another 910,000, Fazakerley 619,000, Maltby 737,000 and Shirley with 665,000 for a grand total of 4.1 million produced.
Return Policy:
We gladly offer a 3 day unfired inspection policy from the time that the firearm is delivered to your FFL. Refunds are available for all qualifying orders.
Model: Enfield No. 4 MK I*
Serial: 90C8781
Caliber: .303 British
Finish: Blue
Barrel Length: 25"
Optics/Sights: Winged, Dovetailed Patridge Front with Adjustable Aperture Rear
Stock/Grips: Smooth Hardwood
Action: Bolt
Markings: Standard / U.S. Property Marked
Bryant Ridge's Analysis:
In 1931, the British Board of Ordnance began trials with a new rifle, the No. 4 Mk I, and for the next 10 years began the groundwork for the adoption and manufacture of this lighter and more efficient-to-produce rifle for the British Armed Forces. New Royal Ordnance Factory’s (ROFs) were established at Maltby, near Sheffield in South Yorkshire and Fazakerley near Liverpool. Birmingham Small Arms established BSA Shirley near Birmingham, and Long Branch outside of Toronto, Canada, was set up to manufacture the new service rifle. By the time the war came, only 1,200 No. 4 Mk Is had been made, and few of these were complete guns—most were tooling examples perfecting the interchangeability of parts. Due to the loss of nearly 200,000 rifles at Dunkirk and the 1.5 million volunteers of the newly formed Home Guard, the service-rifle shortage in Britain was acute.
It would be late 1941 before the three factories in England would begin producing No. 4s in any usable numbers, and it was mid-1942 before they started to appear on the front lines with UK troops.
The main improvements over the No. 1 Mk III the No. 4 offered was ease of manufacture due to advancements in manufacturing interchangeable parts. It had a 25-inch barrel and was manufactured with five-groove rifling as well as two-groove rifling later in the war. The No 4 also had a muzzle that was extended forward of the fore-end and allowed the adoption of the small spike bayonet that dramatically reduced the muzzle weight of the gun compared with the 1907 hilted-blade bayonet of the No. 1.
The No. 4s also provided the Board of Ordnance with a platform to upgrade the rifle with a No. 32 sniper scope and as the No. 4 Mk I (T), it was one of the best sniper rifles fielded during the war. Most of the conversions from No. 4 Mk 1 to Mk 1 (T) were carried out by the venerable gunmaking firm of Holland & Holland.
As Churchill had prophesied in his speech, the call to arms from the Old World to the New had not fallen on deaf ears. On Dec. 29 that same year, Franklin Roosevelt delivered his most famous Fireside Chat, which included the famous line, “We must be the great arsenal of democracy.”
To this end, in March of 1941, FDR signed the Lend-Lease Act into law and green-lit the production of No. 4s at the Savage/Stevens plant in Chicopee, MA. These rifles were marked “U.S. PROPERTY” to comply with the Lend-Lease Act, but none were ever used by U.S. military forces.
U.S.-made Savage/Stevens No. 4s numbered 1.2 million, with Long Branch contributing another 910,000, Fazakerley 619,000, Maltby 737,000 and Shirley with 665,000 for a grand total of 4.1 million produced.
Return Policy:
We gladly offer a 3 day unfired inspection policy from the time that the firearm is delivered to your FFL. Refunds are available for all qualifying orders.
Shipping Details
Handgun Standard Shipping $50.00
Long Gun Standard Shipping $65.00
We strive to ship orders within the close of the following business day after payment and documentation is received.
Payment Details
We accept all forms of Payment including Personal Check, Business Check, PO Money Orders, Certified Check, Etc.
Please note we place a 7 business day hold on shipment, for all non-certified payments.
Return Policy
We gladly offer a 3 day unfired inspection policy from the time that the firearm is delivered to your FFL. Refunds are available for all qualifying orders.
Additional Details
Our #1 priority is customer satisfaction. We want to build a lasting trust in the relationship with our customers, so that you will always look to us for all your firearms needs. If you have any issues with your transactions please contact us, and we will work with you to resolve any issues you may have. We greatly appreciate your trust in us and we look forward to fulfilling all your future firearm needs.
Bryant Ridge also reserves the right to cancel any sales that may occur while gunbroker.com is experiencing technical issues that affects the entire site or a complete site outage, within an hour of the auction ending.
We have an amazing inventory of classic and collector firearms that we are adding to Gunbroker daily. Stay up to date on all of our latest auction by adding us to your favorite sellers list.
About Us
From a small town hobby, to a leader in the investment and collector grade firearms industry. Bryant Ridge Firearms is here to offer the best in quality and customer service when you are looking to unload your collector grade firearm collection.
