[JWagner]

I was reading an NRA booklet about "British Enfield Rifles" which had a few paragraphs advising that firing the Number 4 rifle could be hazardous. The claim was the British MOD had some rifles blow up. The apparent cause was "severe craze cracking of barrels". The warning went out in july 1987. Is anyone aware of this and does it affect rifles from all factories? I have a pretty nice Number 4 Longbranch rifle and would like to know if I should be concerned about this.

[sputnik1988]

I would have thought that it would have been caught LONG, LONG before now

They stopped making the No.4 in the 1960's IIRC. It was probably a warning to rifles that were still flowing into the U.S, though that's still late.

[25-5]

Many were factory refurbished and restamped.
Including a new barrel.

[c3shooter]

There are literally millions of No 4s out there, still being used. However, I think I MAY know what you ran across. In about 1960, the Ministry of Defence had a test program to convert No.4 rifles to 7.62 NATO. And yes, there were enough problems with the L8 (as it was known) that they dropped the test.

The L8 is different from the Ishapore rifle that was designed and MADE for the 7.62 NATO.

Unless you are trying to shoot seven six deuce in an Enfield, I would not be overly concerned.

[davemccarthy707]

Originally Posted by JWagner

I was reading an NRA booklet about "British Enfield Rifles" which had a few paragraphs advising that firing the Number 4 rifle could be hazardous. The claim was the British MOD had some rifles blow up. The apparent cause was "severe craze cracking of barrels". The warning went out in july 1987. Is anyone aware of this and does it affect rifles from all factories? I have a pretty nice Number 4 Longbranch rifle and would like to know if I should be concerned about this.

You have a Canadian built Longrbranch No4 rifle. The best bolt-action battle rifle of all time. If you shoot properly loaded ammunition it will never give you a problem. Canada still issues this rifle to it's Army Rangers. It is a tank.