Tis The Season For Road Rage, a Raffle and Craziness!

Greetings and Salutations!
Yannow, I woke up this early A.M. (for me that is… Saturdays are usually ‘catch up on the ZZZs sort of days) BUT I did have to go out and run some errands.

OMFG

I forgot… 11 Daze Before Christmas!

The next time I go out to go even bare-bones shopping, I’m going to prep like I’m going downtown in Baghdad to pay the cable and internet bill. Not sure if I ever related that particular story, but every three months I had to go into a really sketchy alleyway in Baghdad and meet up with our Internet Coordinator “Abdullah”…

I say his name in quotes because that’s what he TOLD me to call him, and I have no clue if that really was his moniker or not. Back in 2004/05 Baghdad was sketchy and sus AF 24-7.

Now officially I was not a ‘legally armed contractor’. I was JAFO. Just Another Fucking Observer. Officially that is. But as stated in Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, “Full Metal Jacket” only “…the phoney-tough and the crazy-brave….” ran around Baghdad unarmed back in those days.

Add in the fully mentally retarded as well, ‘cos I did run into some contractor folks there that I genuinely wondered if they hadn’t been recruited from some home for the mentally retarded or something… Like sub-60 IQs… guys that made Indians and Somalis seem genuinely intellectual…. one guy I knew of who worked for us? He actually climbed into a car at the height of the Insurgency, left the base unarmed, and went on a ‘driving tour’ of the sights in Baghdad when he got grabbed by a patrol of US Troops. They pretty much brought him back, and told me (as I was the Operations Manager) they thought he was brain dead or something, and that we/I needed to get him the fuck out of their AOR (Area of Responsibility) as he was going to get himself and possibly OTHER people killed with his stupidity… we ended up shipping him home two weeks later after some other dumb shit he did involving ‘collecting UXO’ (unexploded ordnance) Yeah… this was a truly dumb motherfucker…

So anyways
Me being ‘none of the above’…leastways in relation to my combat skills/ethics/and survival capacity… I mean with wimmen, I am fucking retarded as y’all have seen up close and personal on Ye Olde Blegg. So while I didn’t necessarily go ‘strapped’ on base that frequently, when I went off base to pay the bills?

Well…. let’s just say this. I’d pull up to the Gate that led into downtown. I’d park my pickup near the Bradley at the gate, and then I’d break out a BIG parachute storage bag that I kept my gear in. The guards there knew me on sight, and knew what I was doing. I’d then go to the back of my pickup, drop the gate and get ready, which was sort of like this:

Now, I was not as nearly in as good a shape as Ahhhhnuld, but it was a lot like that…to include the M-67s and all… and yes it was necessary as the bills?

For whatever fucking reason, they had to be paid in cash. US Dollars only. Like $30,000.00 USD which made me a prime target for both straight up Ali Baba Thievery OR a Kidnapping/Head Chopping with the added bonus that that fucking Infidel was packing quite a o’pile of loot…

SOOOO to insure ‘best business practices’ I made sure I was insanely heavily armed as well as attitudinal as fuck. Like mentally chuffing myself up, and projecting “Murder Death Kill Rape and Pillage” vibes off of myself to where even the local dogs, who’d normally approach an American ‘cos we were known for being kind to the local doggos (as opposed to them Islamic Assholes) the local dogs would take one look at me, and haul ass aways away as I was in a “Killin’ Mood” so to speak.

It apparently worked as I’m still here amiright?

So it seems today made me long for “the good old days in Baghdad” whilst oot and aboot… even the fucking Dollar Tree was insane. I wanted/wished for a fuckin’ machete at one point I swear… I’m worn the fuck out I swear to God… from dodging shopping carts, trying to ignore pissed off “I want to scream at the Manager” Karens, to the ever-present obese and foul smelling Shaniquas who’s sole purpose in life seemed to be to cut the line(s) wherever I ran into them, ESPECIALLY if it was a white person they could do it to…

Like I said, I’m fucking exhausted.

Add on I went down to see GunGirl to do a 4473 for Sapper’s Christmas gift… I got him a neat lil toy that I’ll reveal later ‘cos on occasion, he does read this, and I don’t want to ruin the surprise. GunGirl’s place was a wee bit busy (which is a good thing IMO), and somehow I got roped into helping out mounting a Red Dot on a brand new Canik TTI Combat pistola:

Dude at the store had no clue how to do it…

So Since I was there, and able to, I mounted it with no problem. This of course in turn led me to another person whose having problems with his Turkish “Space Shotty” which is what -I’m- calling it ‘cos it’s covered in wannabe bullshit unneeded plastic doohickeys that make it more attractive to folks who don’t know any better… It looked like a Prop Gun from a bad sci-fi flick I swear.

I told them to bring it by the shop next Saturday, and that I’d check it out then. I also told GunGirl that the transfer fee she normal charges me is null and void this time around, so that’s a plus. The whole gunsmithing thing… I’m going to seriously have to look into what it takes to do it for-really-real as it looks like I’m one of the only professionals in the whole area, leastways south of Tampa proper who actually does REAL Gunsmithing.

That shithole local chain store ‘Shoot Straight’ supposedly offers gunsmith ‘stuff’ but from the reviews and personal anecdotes I’ve gotten, they’re pretty much limited to minor ‘stuff’ like switching out muzzle brakes on ARs for folks who want to suppress their toys, and need the proper brake to use w/the hush-puppy. MAYBE the occasional installation of a new trigger or spring, but beyond that? Notsomucho.

Now, with all of that being said:
IT’S RAFFLE TIME!
THIS one is for one of the Fully Restore Lee Enfields.

In this case:
The 1942 Canadian Long Branch Number 4, Mark 1:

This one was restoration #3 (third rifle) and I really got it right so to speak…

Now as to specifics aboot said-item:

The serial numbers do not match as the Canoeheads did something -I- consider rather odd, which is when they shipped their Enfields to England during the War, they pulled ALL the bolts out of the rifles, threw them in one BIG box, and then reassembled them in England, thereby mixing up ALL the serial numbers…. like terminally so. ALL the Long Branch Manufactured overseas shipped-in-bulk rifles had this happen UNLESS they had been hand carried from point-of-issue to England itself… HOWEVER: IF they got boxed up? Yeeeeah… Good luck on rematching the bolt to the original weapon.

The odds of finding a matching number Long Branch Lee Enfield are positively astronomical if they were shipped overseas. The only matching number Canadian Mark 4s (bolt/barrels and receivers) were the ones issued to the Home Guard (who’s bolts stayed with their original rifles).

Also, a negative? The bore on this thing is pretty bad. It shoots, just not well. This is NOT a M.O.A. rifle, but a BASIC “Hey! Watch me hit that Barn Door!” kind of shooter. I mean what do you expect from a 84 year old heavily used rifle that used primarily corrosively primed ammo? It HAS been headspaced and it DOES safely shoot. I’ve put about 120+ rounds through it, as has Sapper and even Gretchen at one point.

The finish on it, both wood AND metal, as you can see is great. I tried to keep it (the metal) to the original coating, or as close to the original coating that it had. This was an early 1942 model, so initially it was blued, but poorly done at that which I found when I stripped off the secondary coating. The secondary and more common coating was called ‘Suncorite’ which is no longer made, as it’s apparently “tumor in a can” in that if you use it/get exposed to it/inhale the fumes/and/or look at it wrong.

I used black DuraCoat as the new coating… AFTER doing a very light ‘cold bluing’. Then I did a very light coating on and around the chamber and bolt, as I had discovered on the FIRST restoration (my MkIII), too thick a coat of the Dura on the bolt makes it almost inoperative, and I had to strip it and start from scratch. THIS one’s action is as smooth as soft butter. After doing the bolt, I then did the ‘normal’ coatings using black DuraCoat, which is a really good reproduction of the original Suncorite.

I found about these from the dozens of Lee Enfield board I went on while learning just HOW to restore these things the right way. Now some folks will say I’m a Philistine for restoring it…

That I should have kept it original (beat to Hell with rust and missing parts)

My own reaction is FUCK THAT NOISE!
Doing what I did? I just gave this thing another probable 80 or more years of life (depending on the barrel) and IF as rumors have been flying around are real, that as was Geissele recently teasing new barrels for No.1 MkIII SMLEs and Mark IVs is true? (It seems the founder of Geissele is (or as… not sure if he’s alive or what but it was on the Geissele Fecesbook page) it seems he is a rabid Lee Enfield dude like me, so his guys did him up a few new-barreled old rifles for him out of his collection…)

Well you can guess just who one of their first customers is going to be, no matter what the cost is. PLEASE God let these rumors to be true!!!!

A Geissele Barreled Lee Enfield Mk III or IV?
O.
M.
F.
G.
They’d be Sub-MOA shooters is what I’d guess.
Anyways… to continue….

(wipes drool off of chin)

Another issue was I had to replace the rear stock. The CURRENT rear buttstock? It’s new. You can see int he pix… no dents or dings really. One of you awesome guys actually sent that to me a ways back when I was restoring like ALL the Enfields, saying he’d found it with his Granddad’s ‘stuff’… And that he didn’t need it (Thanks Bro again!) It was a brand new Mk IV butt, but just a wee bit larger, as they (the Lee Enfield series) DID come is small, medium and large sizes on the butt, hence why the brass butt plate is a medium (as was the original stock) and the new stock is a bit oversized, as it’s a large. You can see it in the pic. I did trim the wood down to fit perfectly however, as well as matching the color, which, personally, I find AMAZING that I nailed it so well. I mean that was a bitch getting the wood stain to match… I mean really… getting the 80+ year old forends to match a 80 year old-but-new-stock? Yeeeeah… quite a bit of work. It was a stone bitch TBH.

The reason for the replacement was the original buttstock wood had been completely termite infested and ate up… like it was a Religious Relic.

It was ALL sorts of Holey.

Bad-Dum-Dum <TING!!!>
Thank you, Thank you, I’ll be here all night and don’t forget to tip your waitress…

Damn… I think I’ve been under the influence of John Wilder on that particular one right? Him being the reigning King of Pez and Bad Puns.

OK… all bad jokes aside. The rear sights and front sights are perfect, and I added just a wee touch of red paint to the front sight blade. It helps with the sight picture, and is easily removable. It comes with a VERY GOOD 10 round Mag, and Hell, I’ll throw in 20 rounds in 5 round stripper clips for the winner, as .303 is sort of on the pricey side. The stripper clips are handy too. The ammo in question I have is 1974 NONCORROSIVE 174gn FMJ that Borepatch gifted me as an early B-Day gift last year… they’re great.

See, back in the day, Corrosive Ammo (from the early primer chemistry) is why a LOT of these older weapons bores are so fucked up… too much shewtin’, not enough cleaning.

Overall, it’s a sweet weapon. So, if you want it?

Here’s the Deal:
$5 Fiatbux: 1 Entry
$10 Fiatbux: 3 Entries
$25 Fiatbux: 10 Entries.

And I’ll give it say… until New Year’s Eve to do the Drawing.

That way people who want to snail-mail me their entries have plenty of time to do so. I’ll give out the Snail-Mail Addy to you who want to go that route IF you DM me on Gab or Twitter! On Both Sites I have the same handle which is/are @BigCountryExpat on Gab
and as well the same on Twitter. THESE are my Profile shots so you KNOW you got the right guy:
GAB First:

and then Twitter:

The PRIMARY PREFERED means of paying for Entries for this is PAYPAL. The paypal email is countryofbigness@yahoo.com OR the username @CountryOfBigExpat

I CAN do Venmo.
It’s @William-Coughlin-2

Venmo is actually a bit better as they don’t pork you as much on the fees.
Just sayin’.
And I’m NOT worried about DC doing anything again, as right now? I have a Federal Indictment for that last stunt hanging over her head, and IF she fucks with me, I’ll have her freeze dried and buried UNDER the jail… I already talked to the persecutor who told me that IF I want to drop the hammer, to just let her know… I let Gretch know about this, so she’d keeping an eye on things as we’re NOW trying to keep it civil…

Anyways
NOW: ALL the entries NEED TO HAVE A MAILING ADDY OR AN EMAIL ADDY SO I CAN CONTACT THE WINNER and arrange a FFL Transfer. The FFL fees on YOUR End are on YOU. All Entries HAVE TO BE RECEIVED BY December 31st. NO LATE POSTMARKS. If I don’t have it IN HAND by the 31st, well tough noogies. Plus YOU HAVE TO LEGALLY BE ABLE TO POSSESS THIS THING. NO FELONS WIFEBEATERS OR SCUMBAGS ALLOWED.

And what the Hell… I’ll pick a second place winner. They’ll get a case of MREs, either Case A or B… Because why the Hell not?

SO I think that wraps it up for tonight…
More Tomorrow
May The Odds Forever Be In Your Favor!
Big Country