No4 Mk II: The Lee Enfields Final Standard Upgrade

Cool Forgotten Weapons merch The final standard pattern of the venerable Lee Enfield as a standardissue service rifle was the No4 MkII, introduced after the end of World War Two. The new pattern was adopted to resolve problems that had come about because of wartime simplifications to the rifle. Specifically, the use of kilndried wood for stocks. On the original No4 design, the trigger was pinned to the trigger guard, which was in turn connected to the front handguard. The sear was pinned to the receiver. If the handguard swelled, shrank, or warped (which was much more likely on the quickly kilndried stocks used during the war, compared to the naturally dried prewar wood), the trigger, sear interaction could be impacted. To solve this, the receiver was changed slightly to include a boss for attaching the trigger. This kept both the trigger and sear pinned to the (metal) rec