So I ask you all.

 

I've tossed up a few calibres (min .30) with a red dot sight for a quick handling close country carbine .  But I don't know!

 

 Lets call it "Enfield-Rifles Aussie Number 5 Project Rifle".  I put it to the people!

 

It'll never be 100% again but you can get pretty close.

Pull screws into the tapped holes, grind off and re-blue, you'll hardly see them

You can get a 'new' flash-hider c/w bayonet mount.

 

It'll look 99%

 

Alternatively bubba it completely and make the remaining ones worth a little more.

 

Your rifle, your choice.

 

Sometimes you'll see flah hiders advertised, still mounted to the cut off muzzle portion of a No.5 barrel. Shouldn't be too difficult to get one of those loose and use it to restore yours.

 

If the barrel can be lapped out thats an option, if not and no No.5 barrel can be found one might alter a No.4 barrel, cutting to length ,etc, and making the lightening flutes if you wished, but these wouldn't show unless the handguard is removed anyway.

Only a Five groove should be considered for this purpose, and not always available here but probably easier to find in the UK and former possesions.

An otherwise good No.4 barrel with muzzle wear or damage could gain a new lease on life cut down to fill in in for a carbine barrel.

A cutdown barrel removed from a sporter undergoing restoration to military spec might be another source.

Like as not a few phonecalls to gunsmiths in your area would turn something up.

 

Should you wish to convert to 7.62X39 these seem to be reversable conversions, if you tired of it you'd have a future project to look forwards to, and if parts for a full restoration came along the 7.62 barrel and other parts could be transfered to a No.4 action later on.

 

I've had my eye on a cutdown early production No.4 thats about half way through conversion to a No.5 clone. I saw the gun before the barrel was cut and in that case cutting away the damaged, bent and badly rusted muzzle was the only way to salvage the barrel. The fore end was also toast, whatever bent the muzzle had done for the forend as well. Otherwise that rifle had a lot of good points. The rest of the barrel was in very good condition, five groove, with a sharp tight bore and good chamber. The non matching bolt and bolt head were replaced by new condition replacements, resulting in extra tight headspace with long case life, and outstanding accuracy.

 

Were I to have run across that rifle in recent years I might have restored it, and been left with a orphaned barrel perfectly suited to a Carbine restoration project, along with a fre end worthless for any other purpose than trimming to a No.5 configuration.

So its not unlikely that similar discarded parts are laying around the back room of many gunsmiths who've restored No.4 rifles.

http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Detail.aspx?pid=254060&catid=5833 - http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Detail.aspx?pid=254060&catid=5833

You could probably sell that buttstock and scope mount for enough to score a good or restorable carbine butt or replica.

 

Whats the finish like?