More like $650 to $900 up here for a decent, average example! Of course we have a bit more of a sentimental attachment to them up here, the $900 end of the spectrum being a Long Branch No.4. I would say the price of guns has about tripled in the 15 years or so I've been collecting.

I paid $100 about 4 years ago for a Parker Hale deer rifle built off a No.4 Mk.1 receiver and bolt. I reckon I got lucky, even 10 years ago Enfields were rare down here, and usually of wallhanger-only condition

I've got two sporter conversions. I traded my mil-spec pieces a few years ago, but I'll keep the sporters. First of all I won't get any money for them and I like the basement conversion pieces. There is just something about those DIY rifles that I like.

Sporters sure are fun, too bad someone had to tear up something that'll never be produced again to make most of them

Yes I feel that way at times as well, but I just figure they were done when the rifles were plentiful. Different times. Here is a photo of one of them with my Webley taken a few years ago. Note the green tape on the sling. That was there when I purchased this little sporter. Which ,incidentally, I paid $75.00 for. It shoots very well I should add. I paid a considerable amount more for the Webley. I picture some rough and ready backwoodsman living in Northwestern Canada in the sixties or seventies with this combo. Guy who doesn't have much money but makes do with what he has. Drive a 1950 Ford pickup or an old surplus Jeep. Possibly a veteran of France or Italy with the Canadian Army in WWII. Am I off the mark Nyles?

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...n1/Cast2-1.jpg

Definitely not with the rifle! Time was you'd find one of those and a Cooey .22 in every farm house in Canada. That said we never actually used Webleys, so they're not all that common up here.

They aren't? Oh well. Guess that makes sense from what you've written in the past. He's my fictional character so I'll have him carry a Webley. ;)

Haha, fair enough! If you do come across a Cooey down there you should snap it up. I've never found a more accurate .22 for less money!

I have an Ishapore 2A1 in 7.62 NATO, and a No. 4. I appreciate that the Ishapore is in 7.62mm, but I like the sights on the No. 4 a lot better.

Me too. I'm with you 100%.

And while we're on the topic of Lee-Enfields and Canada...

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/ca...e-temperatures

I like the Lee-Enfield, but I had no idea that the Canadian Rangers were still relying on the old warhorse. It's one thing to collect and shoot as a hobby, but for the rigors of day in and day out work......well that's actually a sign of neglect on the part of the Ranger's bosses. Long overdue.

I can't imagine they have to shoot every often. They cite age and parts availability, but I would've thought the main factor is the availability of .303.

Probably not, but it's one of those things that when you need it you really need it. Not sure about ammo. It's my understanding that the surplus 303 from South Africa has pretty much dried up. In the past few years I've purchased brand new 303 British made by Winchester and Hornady, but it wasn't cheap. Probably more than a governmental body would be willing to pay even with a gross tonnage discount.

Actually Industries Valcartier (the CF's ammunition manufacturer) still loads .303 for the Rangers periodically. And they actually probably shoot more than we do - reality of living up north. Their rifles tend to put a lot of meat in the pot, to say noting of the wild animal defense issue. In fact I have my doubts about the effectiveness of the NATO 7.62mm load against polar bear...

Its definitely high time the Rangers got new rifles, and the Tikkas are probably a good choice. They're not exactly known for being gentle with their weapons.

Between the shooting and the hard wear, I'm surprised the No. 4s lasted as long as they did then.

Well, there was probably a fair number of Long Branch No.4s in war stores after they were replaced - I know that in Kandahar in 2009 I was issued a brand new never-before-issued 1945 Inglis Hi Power out of the same. Plus I think they bought some more out of Pakistan (POF) back on the 90s.

Too bad you couldn't have brought it back with you. That would possibly be worth a fair amount of money to a collector or two. Not to mention it would have been a great addition to your collection.

Yeah, it was definitely a weird change of pace when my army Hi Power was nicer than my personal one! Especially since the ones we're used to seeing in the reserves are totally shot out.

You never know. I went through Army basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri in 1986. All of my fellow recruits had M16A1 rifles made by Colt. Mine was a 1960's era M16A1 manufactured by Hydramatic. A division of General Motors. I was really pissed that I had a ratty old antique until we started our basic rifle marksmanship training. Many of the newer M16's had issues, but my clunky old rifle didn't hiccup once.

I just picked up something special at the post office for my Irish collection - an Ulster Volunteers Mannlicher M1904 rifle. These were rifles made by Steyr out of leftover parts from their contract with Romania for Mannlicher M1893 rifles, except in 8mm Mauser instead of 6.5mm Mannlicher. The majority of them ended up being purchased by the Ulster Volunteers, a Protestant Unionist paramilitary dedicated to resisting the Irish Home Rule bill - the protestant majority which dominated Ulster was dead-set against becoming a minority in an independent, Catholic Ireland. The 10,000 odd UVF Mannlichers were actually smuggled illegally into Larne in a very elaborate operation.

The Irish nationalists responded by forming their own paramilitary to counter-balance them, leaving Ireland on the brink of Civil War before Home Rule was suspended with World War One. The UVF, which people tend not to realise was a much large, better armed force than the nationalists, volunteered en-masse and was largely wiped out in the Battle of the Somme, while the Volunteers (well, some of them, but that's another story) ended up rebelling in 1916 and became the IRA. The UVF Mannlichers ended up being placed in storage in 1914 and never used in anger, but represent an extremely important moment in Irish history all the same.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...psombiojod.jpg

Pardon my feet, its hot today!

Picked up a rifle a couple weeks ago I've had my eye on for awhile - there was always something else to buy but finally the owner started threatening to deactivate it and sell it to steampunk cosplayers and I had to shit or get off the pot! This is a Portuguese Kropatschek Mo.1886/89 - sort of a weird transition between the blackpowder and early smokeless era.

Portugal had the misfortune of always being short on funds and consequently a step or two behind on arms procurement. They were usually using one generation back of British arms until 1885, when they adopted the locally designed Castro-Guedes single shot rifle and then promptly realised that everyone in Europe was ditching their single-shots for repeaters. They then canceled the contract with Steyr (who was making it for them) in exchange for Kropatschek rifles (also used in small numbers by the French and Austrian navies) in a new 8mm cartridge using compressed black powder as propellant.

Of course they adopted this at roughly the same time the French came out with the Lebel and smokeless powder, leaving them stuck with a rifle that was obsolete when adopted. While the round was very advanced (for black powder) and could be loaded with smokeless easily enough, the rifle itself was not. They're long and heavy and use a tube magazine (which the French pretty much copied wholesale on the Lebel) with an odd side-mounted cleaning rod and bayonet, and the bolt has no front locking lugs, meaning its of marginal strength for smokeless loads. Interestingly enough the 8mm Kropatschek smokeless load, while no magnum, was still fairly powerful and the rifles seem to have held up well enough. Regardless the Portuguese didn't order any more than the initial contract and came out with the Vergueiro relatively soon afterwards.

The Kropatscheks did actually see combat use in Africa in WW1 in the hands of Portuguese colonial troops, mainly native askaris. Apparently white regular army sent to Africa used Vergueiros while the colonials got Kropatscheks, modified with an extra wooden handguard for African use. This is one of those, and as the Portuguese troops on the Western front were issued Lee-Enfields to simply logistics, one of the few actual Portuguese rifles to see use in action.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...psotc5e77h.jpg
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...psfwndlsvu.jpg

I also had an impulse purchase - after having so much fun with my High Standard Model B, when I saw this 1929 Colt Woodsman Target listed in a sale flyer with another dealer I just had to jump on it. At $300 it was too good of a deal to miss!

My first thoughts on seeing it were that as close as the designs are, a Colt is a Colt. The Hi Standard is nice but there's no comparing it to the fit and finish on the Woodsman. My second thoughts, on taking it apart, is that it was not John Moses Browning's simplest design ever! The simplified takedown on the Hi Standard was a vast improvement, I spent 10 minutes figuring out how to reinstall the hammer spring on the Colt.

I like the ergonomics better on the Woodsman, the trigger is slightly further forward and it falls more naturally under your finger, and the gun is overall slimmer and lighter. The safety on the Hi Standard is easier to use though. The Hi Standard has a notably heavier barrel and less muzzle flip, but neither kick much and they're both scary accurate. The Colt has adjustable sights, which is a nice touch - they're a little smaller than the Hi Standard, but its not like either is intended for combat shooting.

Overall between the two I think I like the Woodsman best, until I have to clean it. But of course I've always been a total pony whore. It is definitely nice to have a .22 pistol or two around, both for cheap shooting and for when I take the girlfriend. It's funny I spent so much time returning GSG 1911s and Sig Mosquitos at Cabelas, and getting frustrated I could never convince new shooters to just buy a real, non-tacticool target pistol, but it took until after I left to take my own advice!

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps4akp2fiz.jpg
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...pskg8gzljw.jpg

I had an interesting time last year when I did the initial breakdown and reassemble on my Woodsman. I concluded that would not be a routine procedure.

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps54133e00.jpg

$300 for a Woodsman. Wow. That's one heck of a steal. I'm impressed and envious.

Honestly I have a friend that fell in love with my HS and I was thinking of selling it to her now that I have the Woodsman.... and then I took it apart.

Yeah I couldn't believe the price either. It's not a shop that typically prices low either. I half expected an issue but it worked beautifully when I test fired it. Wouldn't eject CCI Quiets (but then I didn't expect it to), Remington Targets work great. Yours is awfully nice too! What year is it? Is it set up for high velocity ammo?

1928 and I fire sub-sonics in it. It is not set up for the high velocity loads. Which means I have to work the action, but that's okay. I have a Browning Buckmark Camper for hardcore plinking. The Woodsman isn't a kit gun. Oh and I paid $750.00 for mine. Which I think is a great price, but you got me beat all to hell. Congrats.

Oh, so they're almost twins! Mine's also standard velocity only (as is my Hi Standard, actually). I prefer to use that stuff anyways, even if the guns could shoot it I'd probably only ever use it when it was all I could get.

Back before the Great 22 Panic I used to buy a brick or two of 22LR just out of habit. I have about 3,000 rounds of 22LR. None of which I can shoot in my Woodsman. I have 200 rounds of subsonic 22LR and I was lucky to find that. So the Woodsman is relegated to Safequeen status, but then many of my pieces are. They go to the range once or twice a year for six to twelve rounds. It's more about owning the classics. If you're a collector it makes sense. I have a few pieces that are Real World and go more frequently, but I don't consider myself to be an Operator.

Yeah, I'm very much the same. Honestly I'm lucky if I can make it out to the range once a month in the summer - to saying nothing of actually finding ammo for some of the more obscure stuff in my collection.

Yeah. I would really like a MAS 49/56 in 7.5mm French (instead of one of the .308 conversion jobs), but ammo is like non-existent. One of the big reasons that I try to stick to .38 special revolvers.

Picked up a couple of guns this month that, believe it or not, I've been looking for since 2009. They're both WW1 French issue "Spanish 92" revolvers, from when the French were desperately short of handguns and bought anything they could in 8 x 27mm M1892 from the Eibar gun trade.

The first is one of the best, a Trocaola S&W M&P knock-off. It's actually mechanically closer to a Colt on the inside, and has a couple clever improvements over a real S&W - a much wider rear sight notch than found on contemporary Smiths, better suited to combat shooting, and a wide hammer spur for the same. It's obviously not a S&W in terms of fine workmanship or materials but is still quite decently made, enough so that I wouldn't feel terribly badly armed with it.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps06ancq1w.jpg


The second is one of, and probably the, worst. It's marked "mle 1915" (modele 1915) and is obviously a knock-off of a Pieper revolver, but quite badly made and there's no record of by whom. It's covered in rough hand-cut tool marks and has just an awful trigger, and requires a bit of fiddling to open. The French didn't buy many of these and passed apparently passed them on to the Romanians as soon as they had anything else on hand to use instead.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...pszmheetsw.jpg

Any of these French WW1 Spanish 92 revolvers are very hard to find in Canada - I got a screaming deal on the Trocaola in an auction and probably overpaid for the Mle 1915 from a dealer, but I figure together they balance out.

I also picked up a couple of bayonets from a local antiques store, the first of which was a rather large and impressive Portuguese M1885 yatagan sword bayonet for my Kropatschek (note how its side-mounted):

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...psku5vrjg2.jpg

The other, though missing the scabbard, is a super-rare Finnish M27 made by Fiskars (they probably made your scissors). You won't find many Finnish Mosin-Nagant bayonets as Finn soldiers apparently preferred to fight with their hunting knives and often ditched their bayonets. Oddly this doesn't fit on my Finn M27, I'm not sure why.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps8vddmljz.jpg

I like the mle 1915. Reminds me of the Spanish S&W breaktop DA revolvers in 455 that they made for the Brits in WWI. The Spanish knock-offs are a hoot. My local gun shop had a 1930's Spanish M&P that was fun, but nothing spectacular. What was spectacular were the genuine ivory grips that were on it. The shop owner took those grips off and sold them on Gun Broker for almost three hundred dollars! The revolver he sold for $100.00. He made like a $250.000 profit.

WOW. I didnt realize ivory brought that kind of money, but I suppose it makes sense. The Mle 1915 is definitely neat. What really fascinates me is that a great power was desperate enough to actually use something like that. Not all Spanish guns are bad, I'd probably even use that Trocaola in preference to my M1892, but the Mle 1915 is every bit as bad as their rep suggests!

My good friend (and best man at my wedding many years ago) owns three handguns, a rifle and a shotgun. His rifle is a Remington model 700 in .308 Winchester and the shotgun is Remington 870 Wingmaster in 12 gauge. He hunts deer, elk and ducks. Good guns. He spent some money.

His handguns are all Astras. A 4" bl Astra .357 Magnum, an Astra 680 snubbie in 38 Special and an Astra Constable in 380 ACP. I teased him about those handguns when he first purchased them about seventeen years ago. But they're solid handguns and they work. The 357 Magnum goes with him on his hunting trips. The 680 is his CCW piece and the Constable is just something he liked so he bought. They might not be as refined as a S&W, colt or a Walther, but they're solid and honestly made. And they cost him less than a S&W, Colt or Walther.

Pre-ban Ivory is very pricey in the U.S. He said that there was a bidding war for the grips.

Last weekend I took a trip to Brandon with my girlfriend (who's from there) for the big gun show, and also spent a morning at the CFB Shilo artillery museum, which I've wanted to go to for years but never had time in the many times I've been to Shilo for training.

I picked up a WW2 Bulgarian Mannlicher M95/30 carbine in 8 x 56mm Mannlicher. Now these aren't super rare guns, in fact when I first started collecting in what must have been 2002 there was a big import of them and they could be had for a song. I actually bought a M95/30 long rifle back then and to be honest it was never my favorite rifle so I never paid much attention to them.

I bought this one because, unlike the vast majority of Mannlichers on the market, it's an original carbine and not a cut down rifle - you can tell by the short rear sight leaf and the front sight being mounted right on the barrel instead of on a barrel band. I've since realised that since I bought my long rifle there's been a ton of research into M95/30s and we know a lot about them now, and that there's actually quite a lot of interesting variations on them - rebuilt carbines vs cut-down rifles, rebuilt in Austria, Hungary or Bulgaria, originally built for the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Army, Austrian Landwehr, Hungarian Honved or on contract for Bulgaria.... the list goes on.

Mine was built for the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Army (KUK) in Budapest in 1915, and rebuilt by the Bulgarians and rechambered to 8x56 in the late 30s, then would have been used by the Bulgarian army in the Balkans or the Eastern front in WW2. It's in lovely shape, they're actually nice handy little carbines, and it will kick like an absolute motherf*cker when I take it out shooting.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...psmrvtcevj.jpg

Haven't posted in awhile... or bought many guns for that matter, as we're doing some pricey renovations at home.

Picked this up in an auction a few months back... another Mannlicher carbine, this a quite rare M90 Cavalry carbine. This was the predecessor of the M95 - very few mechanical differences, but note the quadrant sight and lack of handguard and lower barrel band. This one is missing the front band as well, which is going to be a pain to fix as it's a rare gun, and has had the bottom of the stock sanded, but it wasn't very expensive for a very rare gun. These were adopted by the Austro-Hungarians specifically as carbines in response to the weaknesses of the M88 rifles, and were so successful with a couple of refinements replaced the M88s entirely as the M95. This one was made in 1892, served through WW1 and escaped all the postwar rebuilds because it was given to Italy as war reparations, and issued to their colonial forces in East Africa.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps3pdlikvz.jpg

This next one is more common, and probably more interesting for most of you! A late-WW2 Browning Hi Power, made at FN under German occupation and used by the German military (if you look really close you can see the German proofs above the trigger) - these were ostensibly mainly used by the Fallschrimjager and Waffen SS, although there's no specific markings on them to prove that.

This one was almost certainly a Vet bring-back (which was a lot less common in Canada than that States given our restrictive handgun laws), as it was recently found in an attic in Vancouver by a friend of a friend. He almost tossed it into the ocean, but thankfully it found its way to me instead! It certainly looks like it spent 60 years in an attic, but aside from the pitting the finish is actually quite good (by 1944 they were pretty roughly finished to begin with) and the internals are great - the bore looks like it's barely been fired. Certainly not the nicest gun in my collection but you have to love the story!

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...pspp9okjon.jpg

Just for fun, a Canadian Inglis and German FN, both 1944ish, that could very well have been used on opposite sides of Market Garden and the liberation of the Netherlands!

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...psr5mbmly0.jpg

Glad you saved the Hi-Power from a sea-salt bath. That would have been a real shame.

Cool scores!

I finally picked up a Mauser 'Bolo' Broomhandle today. It was at an auction and I got it. Mechanically it's in good shape. Most of the blueing is gone and the grips are aftermarket, but it's still a genuine Mauser Broomhandle with all matching parts (as in all matching serial numbers).......with the exception of the grips. This has been one of my grail guns for many decades. I'll post photos later.