Article written by: Mark Trope

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Part 1: The Lend Lease Act Of 1941

�Brother, can you spare a dime, a No. 4 Mk I*, a tank & a fighter plane?�

How the �neutral� U.S. supplied war material to besieged allies in WWII

Savage produced Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk I*

In the late 1930�s, hordes of aggressors swarmed over Europe, South East Asia and the Pacific Rim. The land was plundered for raw materials such as oil, lumber, and the ore to produce steel, copper, aluminum etc. Businesses and private property was confiscated without due process. Outrages were directed against women & girls. By the millions, men, women & children were simply slaughtered out of hand. Slave labor camps & factories were set up. Many were subject to hideous medical experiments, or murdered by the testing of new biological and chemical weapons. The aggressors claimed religious, racial, ethnic, or national differences made their victims �less then human�.

Since the end of the Great Depression, Americans had been enjoying an era of prosperity. The news media of the day, radio and newspapers, dutifully covered the events transpiring across the world. (Note 1) While all agreed the intentions and actions of the axis powers were immoral & shameful, many in the U.S. felt we had neither a moral or legal right to interfere in the business of other nations. They, the isolationists, thought the problems of Europeans, Asians and those residing in the Pacific had no bearing on the lives of Americans. They flatly stated we had no business taking a pro-active role in such activities. They further said the stability, or lack of stability in other nations did not affect the livelihood or security of Americans.

They pointed out that Japan had always been an Imperialistic society. They reminded Americans that the German people lawfully elected Adolph Hitler to office. So, how could we justify more then a passing interest in such matters? Besides, they argued, wasn�t that the job of the League of Nations? (Note 2) Also, WWI had ushered in the era of modern warfare. Death could be brought in new & horrifying ways to soldiers, on a scale never even imagined. The trenches were frightening places. The last thing many wanted was for Americans to be dragged into this new fray. It was also pointed out, and quite truthfully, that the US forces had been drastically reduced by the Congress after WWI. Also the Senate Appropriations Committee had failed to provide funding for new, modern equipment. Most of the US Army Air Corps planes were WWI bi-planes.

Many in the US Military and US Government knew that sooner or later the US would be dragged into the war. They especially wanted the UK to remain free of the Nazi yolk. US Forces would need a base to operate from when it came time to launch an invasion of Western Europe. The British Isles were a perfect jumping off spot. The short trip across the English Channel would keep troops fresh for the battle that lay ahead. However, the US was not at war with either Germany or Japan at this point. Since the United States was officially �neutral�, the Neutrality Act of 1939 forbade �direct involvement� in the war; our allies were technically on their own. How could we help, but not violate the law?

Crafty politicians & lawyers in Washington read the law extensively, and wrote a bill to give the president the power to put the vast industrial base of the US at the disposal of our allies, but not have to declare war, or have war declared on us by the axis. Thus, the LEND LEASE ACT OF 1941 came into being. Because the war material supplied was �officially� US PROPERTY, and so marked, it managed to squeak past the benchmark of an outright violation of neutrality. Thus, the US managed to keep our allies supplied with war material, yet, still remain on the correct side of US and international law (though just barely).

The LEND LEASE ACT OF 1941 can be viewed at: www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq59-23.htm

Especially read SEC. 3. (a), (1) & SEC. 3. (5) (b).

A well built, quality rifle!

US PROPERTY mark ID�s this rifle as part of �Lend Lease�, �flaming bomb� US Ordnance stamp, large �S� for Savage, and model designation.

So it was that Savage Arms Corporation in Massachusetts got a contract to produce Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk I* rifles. Savage produced over 1 million No 4 Mk I* rifles between 07/22/41 and 06/22/44. The exact number is in dispute, however, all sources do agree the total was far in excess of 1 million.

Most Savage rifles were produced with 2 groove barrels. However, a few 6 & 4 groove examples have been observed.

The * indicates a simplified bolt release feature. This feature was approved to expedite the manufacture of rifles. Instead of having to pull the bolt back and press a spring loaded release tab, the * rifles have a spot relieved in the action by a simple milling operation. In practice, the bolt is slid forward (under spring pressure) until the bolt head is aligned with the relieved spot. The operator can now push up the pivoting bolt head assembly. Once the bolt body & head assembly are aligned, the bolt can be withdrawn. Reverse the process to re-install the bolt.

First step of bolt removal is grasping wrist of rifle and applying forward pressure to bolt handle.

Push bolt handle forward with thumb until�

Bolt head lines up with milled slot in action.

(A bit of white tape is in slot for clarity)

Bolt head and milled slot in action are aligned.

Bolt head pushes up easily with finger.

Bolt head raised.

Bolt withdrawn.

Savage produced the action, barrel, bolt, bolt head, trigger guard and stock, the remaining components were produced by about 30 sub-contractors (Note.3). The stocks & hand guard of Savage produced rifles are of high-grade American Black Walnut. This wood is usually superior to British made stocks.

Check out this wood!

Nice grained American Black Walnut.

On most WWII, Mil-Surp arms, adjusting the front sight is accomplished with either a �sight adjuster tool�, or a drift pin & small hammer. The Savage 4 Mk I* has one of the slickest front sight adjustment system I�ve ever seen! The base is kerf cut. That means there is a thin slot that goes across the dovetail where the front sight is retained. A screw tightens the base around the front sight. So, simply loosening the screw allows the front sight to smoothly glide from left to right in the base! There is one small catch. The screw doesn�t have a recessed slot for a standard screwdriver blade. It has a raised rib. The British designed it that way so only authorized personnel could adjust the front sight. British Armorers were supplied with a special, slotted tool for the purpose. DON�T try to loosen it up with a needle nose pliers. The screw-head will get ruined. I made a tool out of an excess 3/16 Allen wrench I had. I simply cut a slot in the Allen wrench with a cut-off wheel in my Dremel tool.

Front sight lock screw.

(A bit of �liquid paper� is on raised bar for clarity)

A 3/16 Allen wrench has been slotted with the Dremel tool.

This will loosen the front sight lock screw.

My gun locker was pining away for one of these rifles. Randy Ward, the owner of West Texas Military Surplus, 2413 � 34^th St, Lubbock, Texas 74411, 1-(806)-785-4867, www.gunsandblades.com came to the rescue with the super-clean Savage No. 4 Mk I* you see here.

My rifle is a 2-groove barrel example, and overall is really in great shape for a used Mil-Surp arm. Just how great that barrel would prove to be wasn�t evident until I got to the range.

Part II: The load, praise the load!

WARNING!

This section of the article contains information on reloading ammunition that requires a fair amount of reloading experience. We would not recommend this technique to a beginning reloader. This technique works for our weapons and reloads. As we have no control over others shooting needs, techniques or materials, we cannot assume any responsibility if you decide to use the technique on loads discussed. As always, reloading ammunition is a serious undertaking and needs to be carefully examined at each step to make sure all safety precautions and inspections are adhered to

Here at SurplusRifle, we have a special cast bullet load that can be used in virtually any medium bore, bolt action, Mil-Surp arm. The SurpRifle Cast Bullet Load is easy on the gun, shoulder & powder keg. What could be better? For the full story on this load and the loading procedure, see this article. http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/castfiller/index.asp

Since we are discussing the .303 British round, please read these articles also. http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/brasssizing/index.asp and http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/castingcouch/index.asp.

Fresh Remington .303 brass, primers, IMR 4198 powder, PSB filler, additionally some NEI 308180 GC bullets, gas checked, sized, and lubed were gathered at the loading bench. Loads were assembled according to the procedures laid down in the aforementioned articles.

At left, NEI cast bullet loaded in new Remington .303 case. Case fired in rifle at right. Notice how shoulder has moved forward after firing. This is normal for .303 Lee-Enfields.

Notice there is still a bare hint of flair at the case mouth. Success with cast bullets depends strictly on the details!

Part III: The excuses, the range, the payoff!

Sunday morning, time to head to the range! One look outside and I started looking for a reason not to go! Cold, sky completely covered with a high overcast. The wind was blowing with more the its usual West Texas vigor.

Let�s see; spend day with wife. Nope, she�s spending the day with her best friend. Take to long to load the Durango. Nope, loaded it last night. Ah, I have it, too cold. Nope, have plenty of cold weather gear. Do I need gasoline? Nope, filled tank the other day.

Oh well, out of excuses, off to the range.

At the range the wind was really blowing from east to west. Not only that, but clouds of dust were moving with it. Should I just go home? What, and waste all that gas? Nope, I�m too cheap to do that. The only saving grace to the situation was; I had the range almost to myself!

By the time I was set up, I had dust in my hair, eyes and mouth. Wind grabbed my clean targets. Good thing no one was near me, I mumbled words best not said in polite society as I chased the targets across the parking area. A look thru the spotting scope revealed the target frame was dancing like some refugee from a 1970�s disco. On days like this, 100 yards seems much further away.

Ok, lets do this. Flip the �L� shaped sight to the leaf marked 600. Try to find the target between clouds of moving dust. For some inane reason, once I verify I�m on target, I shoot better by not checking after every shot. Try to treat every shot as if it�s the one & only shot of the day. I single load; gives me the chance to rub dust out my eyes between shots, Try to hold and do everything exactly the same for every shot. Ok, that�s enough; let�s see what we have. Peer thru the spotter scope. Holy crap! Yes, we have a winner!

The weather was against me, but the gun & loads were on my side today!

Floating the black.

Floating the orange. A four shot group @ 100 yards.

After seeing that group, it suddenly seemed less cold, less dusty and less windy as I collected my gear. While driving home; the grit in my eyes, mouth & hair just didn�t seem to matter. Some days it pays to go to the range! ;-)

Note 1

The usual date given for the beginning of television is 1948. Regularly scheduled network broadcasts did begin in 1948. However, television was alive & well in the 1930�s! Those first broadcasts were on an irregular basis. It might be on for a few hours on a certain afternoon, then off for days etc.

Few people had televisions then. Virtually all sets were hand built by experimenters in those days. A person owning a set could write and get a 2 or 3 page pamphlet covering all the broadcasts and their scheduled times for the month! (This was in the New York metro area)

The only visual news a person could get in those days was short �Newsreels� in a movie theatre. Sorry, no 24 hour news channels, cable, satellite, internet or bloggers!

Note 2

The isolationists confidently forgot that the League of Nations was nothing more then a corrupt, impotent, backslapping �Good Ole Boy� group. The League of Nations was unable to enforce any type of resolution against a malefactor. Say�that�s like another; present-day organization we could discuss, that organization�s also full of corrupt, impotent, backslapping �Good Ole Boy�s�! ;-)

Note 3

The British also had a group of sub-contractors making most of the small parts, such as bands, sights, sight protector ears etc. Each sub-contractor had an individual supplier code that was stamped on the parts they produced.

It was the practice of the British War Ministry to shift parts from one factory to another for U.K. produced guns. Depending on which factory had the need for a certain type part at any one time would determine where items were sent.

Many rifles were well worn after the war, and in need of rebuilding. The program the British started was called; Factory Through Repaired (FTR). New parts would be installed from whichever vendor had sent in a shipment. Since all parts were interchangeable, the rifle was still considered correct by the British Inspectors. A rifle declared scrap would be stripped for parts. During the rebuilding process serviceable used parts were utilized where needed. Many of the stamped parts used during the war were removed and high quality milled parts of pre-war quality were installed during the FTR process.

British Military Unit Armorers could also order a repair part through the Quartermaster System to repair a rifle from his unit. It was strictly potluck on which vendor the part would come from. This also applied to aircraft engines. The famous Roles Royce �Merlin� engine (installed in the Spitfire) was also produced in the US by Packard Automotive Corporation!

So, a fellow buying a British produced Lee-Enfield today need not worry that his rifle isn�t �original� if the codes on his rifle aren�t all the same. In fact, the chances are they won�t be!

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Article written by: Mark Trope