"Ol' Number 1"

[Rick the Librarian]

I still have the first high-powered milsurp I ever bought. It struck me that I had never really taken any pictures or mentioned it. I'd be curious how many of you still have your first milsurp (assuming you've been "interested" for the last 8-10 years or so, or more).

It is a No. 4 Mk. I Lee-Enfield I bought in 1966, I believe, before my 17th birthday. I worked in a cold storage warehouse to earn the $18.95 that this cost. A local department store, had a rack of Lee Enfields, M1917s and a M1903 or two. Why, do you ask, did I not buy the M1903?? The Lee-Enfield was $18.95, while the M1917s were $29.95 and the M1903 a whole $39.95!!

This rifle had been refinished with the black enamel finish the Brits sometimes used, Suncorite, being the name, IIRC. The forestock had been replaced by what looks like birch, but it looked almost new to me! The bore is still pristine, although I admit I haven't fired it much. It appears to have a 2-groove barrel.

The rifle was made in 1943 at Maltby and it has one of the later micrometer-type rear sights. It has British proof/export stamps on the muzzle and a rather peculiar five-pointed star on the receiver. The star has been identified to me as Israeli, Thai, etc. Any other comments on the markings in the pictures?

Although FAR from my most valuable rifle, being the first of a LONG line of milsurps, it will remain in my "Only From My Cold, Dead Hands" section of my collection! Oh, by the way, showing early symptoms of the dread Milsurpitis, I managed to finagle enough funds over the next few months to buy a M1917 AND the M1903 from the department store!! :D

Anyone else still have "ol' number 1"???

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[ebeeby]

Nice. My No.1 was a Hakim because, like your case, I could afford it. Never did find any ammo for it and sold it off.

[JB White]

My first milsurp was an Eddystone M1917. My divorce attorney got the resale value in 1985 along with nearly every other one of any value at the time. Recovered quickly though and started buying milsurps again in 1990. Still have the 1955 Faz I started round two with.

[stratocaster]

My first milsurp was an M1 Garand that I got through the DCM in 1994. Man that was exciting when the mailman brought me that box!

[Hal O'Peridol]

My first milsurp was a M1888 Commission rifle. Badly eroded chamber. Only worth parts. Broke it down and got rid of it. BTW Rick, that star stamp is what is know as the Weedon repair/refurb stamp. It indicates the rifle went through a repair/refurb at the Weedon Royal Ordnance Depot ( http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/w/weedon/index.shtml ).

[Rick the Librarian]

Hal, thanks for the mention of the star. I'm familiar with Weedon - I saw a different type mark on the "Red Star" M1903s I examined a few years ago.

Stratocaster, the first milsurp I got in 1999, when I resumed collecting after over 20 years was also a CMP M1 - still have it today and it is my main shooter. I was equally excited to get the box, I remember!

[Allen Humphrey]

Funny timing on this thread Rick, I just bought my very first No. 4 MkI last night, but no pics yet. My first Milsurps ever was a M1903 built in late 1918. Bought it on GB. The stock it came with was butt ugly which is why I could afford it. By blind dumb luck the metal was perfect, bore was perfect, and the trigger is perfect. Has a new stock now, but it outshoots any of the other milsurps by a mile. I'll have to post some pics of the new No. 4 soon.

[joem]

My first mil surplus was a worn out M1 Garand. Cost me $275.00. I still have it although I've replaced the barrel and some internal parts.

[RCS]

I bought my first rifle from Golden State Arms Co, a high number 1903 with a SA 9-35 dated barrel, cost $39.95 plus shipping, a lot of money when in high school. Use to buy 30-06 for $7 per 200 rds. First M1 was a Lend lease from Milt Klein who was a customer at the gas station where I worked part-time. He said to just put the $80 in an envelope and he would have one of his gunsmiths put it in his car trunk. Later in the same week he came in to buy gas and told me to get the rifle from his truck. I still have both rifles.

[Rick the Librarian]

I heard that MOST of the M1s sold in those days, at least by Kleins, were L/L M1s.

I have a L/L M1 very close to yours (which I did NOT get in those days, unfortunately!), 329,895.

[sop2510]

My first milsurp was an M1 Garand that I got through the DCM in 1994. Man that was exciting when the mailman brought me that box!

Me too, in 1990. Dropped off on the front porch in a plain cardboard box. $275.00.

[John Sukey]

Just a note, your rifle was not refinished in suncorite, that was applied when it was made

[Rick the Librarian]

Thanks for the correction - I had thought that Suncorite was not used on earlier British rifles as an original finish. I also have a similar finish on a Inglis 9mm, as well.

(Coincidentally, the Inglass was my first high-powered pistol -- although purchased some 33 years after the Enfield)

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[Beachbumbob]

Here's my first one. I got it sometime in October 1962. $12.95 and included 50 rounds of ammunition. Other than being almost a smoothbore now it is still in great shape. It's a 1917 Lithgow #1MkIII.

For those of you who complain about the lack of military surplus ammunition - this rifle and I are part of the reason there isn't any!

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[joem]

Quite a while back I ordered three rifles (C&R). They were dropped off on my front porch with no signature. Can't remember if it was the brown truck or not.

[rayg]

One of my first was a Winchester M1 carbine I bought back in 1955 when I was 15 yrs old before there were any legal carbines in civilian hands. Any of them around had been illegally liberated from the government with a few exceptions back then and were kept out of sight. I had saw an ad in the Shot Gun news for a carbine built up on a suplus receiver purchased from Winchester and with a bill of sale from same so legal. Sent the money in, $60, and I always remember when I picked it up at the Post Office, the clerk came out carrying the box and asked me if it was my birthday. I did have my 16th birthday coming soon so I answered yes. Well he said it looks like some one sent you a 22 rifle for your birthday. LoL.
I would go to the range with it and it always drew a crowd watching me shoot it as it wasn't until the 1960's that you were able to purchase carbines legally through the Government Marksman program. Ray

[Mr Hanky]

My first rifle was an M1 Garand that my uncle got for me when I graduated college in 2006. I still have it and like Rick it's in my never sell category.

[rifles4me]

My first was an old ratty Brazilian Mauser carbine in 7.62x51 got it when I turned 18 back in 2001. Oh the days of getting a box of LC 70's 7,62 for $6.25!

[swede49]

My first was an all-Inland 11-44 M1 Carbine that my dad bought for me thru the NRA in 1958--came with a case of ammo and I still have the rifle. I was only nine at the time. It was beautiful then and still is today. It would be the last of the milsurps to go.

:1948::1948::1948:

[John Sukey]

Might as well add my first one as well. A 45-70 Springfield trapdoor rifle for $40 Added another 30 before I got infected by enfielditis.. Only one left now, a rod bayonet model

[Conductor]

My first "milsurp" was a US Model 1861 contract musket made by Bridesburg. I got it in 1959 for $55, and shot my first deer with it in 1960. I didn't know anything about lubing or sizing bullets, and just used plain soft lead minie balls that I bought from a guy who was one of the first members of the North-South Skirmish Assn. DuPont FFg powder was $1.25 for a one-pound can, and could also be used to make some interesting home-made explosive devices.
I sold the musket for $60 when I started college. Money for dates more important.

[John Kepler]

My "First" is a L/E Fazackerly No.5 bought in 1965....yes, I've still got it. FWIW, my last (to date) mil-surp bought back in April is an 1901 Enfield Lock MLE "Long Lee".......the end of nearly 50 years of looking!

[phil441]

In about 1958 I bought a No. 5 Mk1 off a rack at a department store in down town Fort Worth TX. $12.50 as best I remember. Being a teenager I immediately took a belt sander to the stock to "customize" it and tossed the hand guard and front band. Still haven't been able to replace the damage I did back then......
Guess I was stupid even as a kid............

[Col. Colt]

As memory serves, I ordered two milsurps at the same time as a kid, back before the 1968 Gun Control Act. My primary interest was in the No.1MkIII*, a 1916 BSA, and an 1874 St. Etienne GRAS single shot. Both were outrageously cheap - I believe the Enfield was $19.95 and the GRAS was a "wall decoration" at $14.00.

I remember how horribly expensive I thought the M1917s were at $29.00, or the M1903 (what I really wanted) at $39.95!! CC

[smle-man]

Mine was a Spanish M43 8mm mauser for $35 in 1971 complete with bayonet that I bought when I was 17. I soon sold it and bought a #1mkIII* BSA 1917 date. Both are long gone and were the first and second of hundreds of surplus arms purchased and traded/sold over the decades.

[dogtag]

My first was a Rolling Block in 43 Spanish. I still have it and shoot it regularly.

[John Sukey]

First one was a type38 Arisaka given to me by a friend of the family. Never fired it since back then I was too young. He got it from someone who NO LONGER needed it.;)

[androck14]

Vetterli Vitali 71/87/16. From a yard sale back in the early 70s. Got a belt buckle from Louie's Little Forge, a two foot wooden level, and the Vetterli for $40. Still have the rifle and the buckle. One of very few firearms I own that I've never fired.

[Shooter5]

(Coincidentally, the Inglass was my first high-powered pistol -- although purchased some 33 years after the Enfield)


Got to see the Inglis factory buildings in Toronto before they were torn down. It was a huge complex.

[Shooter5]

Ishapore 2A1; an India arsenal made copy of the No1 updated to fire the 762 Nato cartridge and a No4 in 303. Paid about $75 for each twenty years ago.