ROF(M), Royal Ordnance Factory, Maltby was known as 'the pool'. ROF(M) had difficulty meeting production quotas and became a mostly 'assembly' factory which received parts and put them together into very serviceable No. 4s. Many of us older LE fans know Maltby rifles for their rather poor exterior metal finish (compared with BSA) but their very excellent functioning - not that they are 'target rifles' but rather that for their scrubby finish, they tend to shoot well. The black paint is not necessarily part of your rifle's original history but black paint was often applied in the U.K. at FTR and otherwise as a rust-inhibitor. Consensus of opinion has been that removal of the paint is 'ok' but NOT to be followed by 're-bluing' so the options are: black paint or whatever finish is under it. If one does not like what is under the paint, then a new application of black paint is the other option. One does NOT blue/reblue an LE. Period. If one does blue/reblue, one does not speak of it on this forum. 'Stock collar' = butt socket. 'BB 86' has nothing to do with a battleship, it is likely an inspector's stamp. The important markings are the serial numbers on the bolt handle and action body and nice to see on the barrel also. Some LEs have the serial number on the magazine, and the fore end and those are nice to have but not terribly important unless one is after a truly 'all matching' rifle and even then, magazine and wood serializing was a 'sometimes thing'. The typical No.4 will likely have dozens of stampings on the knox form of the barrel and in other locations but virtually all of these stampings have to do with production sequences and inspections during same. "England" stamped on your rifle indicates, I believe, that it was imported before 1968. Have you found any import stampings on the muzzle-end of the barrel, between the foresight and the muzzle? Photos will be welcome. Thanks for posting. ed

Hello, jaeckel. Being as kind as I am able, 'pro mag' magazines (LEs have 'magazines' which hold 10 rounds and 'chargers' which hold 5 rounds each and are inserted into the 'charger bridge' to 'charge' the 'magazine') are and always have been junk/a waste of $. One LE has one magazine - these were issued with the rifle with the intent that until the magazine required cleaning/maintenance/replacement, the issued magazine remains in the rifle for life. If you have a proper magazine on order with SARCO, that one magazine is all that you will need but Springfield Sporters may have what you want. The easiest distinction to make between the SMLE/No. 1 magazine and the No. 4/5 magazine is in the 'flutes' on the side-wall of the magazine; the SLME/No.1 magazine has two flutes/grooves that extend completely to the bottom of the magazine while the No.4/5 (same magazine for both rifles) has flutes/grooves that reach almost but not all the way to the bottom of the magazine. 'Blued': The 'bluing' process derives from 'browning' the metal and polishing it - a very interesting process intended to give oil a surface to adhere to. Painting was done to protect the metal above and beyond bluing, especially for tropical service; it was NOT done in lieu of bluing as a wartime expediency. Traditionally, here on this forum, touching up the black paint or removing it and reapplying black paint has been considered a legitimate way to do some restoration and removing the paint completely and leaving the rifle's metal in its 'blued/browned' state is also legitimate. "Bolt face piece" = bolthead. Boltheads on the No. 4 are interchangeable and were numbered '0', '1', '2' and '3' with '3' being the 'longest' in inch dimension. Rifles fresh out of the factory might have been fitted with any of these boltheads depending upon the headspace (new or worn tools might produce varying headspace). I have held LEs showing lots of wear-and-tear with a proper '0' bolthead and near-new LEs with a '3' bolthead - the bolthead number is simply an indicator and regardless of the number, so long as the headspace does not exceed .074", the rifle should be safe to shoot. The somewhat critical issue is not the 'number' of the bolthead but the inch dimension of the headspace and this is a topic for later discussion if needed. An average-skilled gunsmith should be able to check the 'headspace' for you but, generally, a LE with all matching numbers, such as yours, will typically be fine to shoot as received by you. Commercial .303Br ammunition here in the U.S. is 'downloaded' wrt chamber pressure as compared with military issue ammunition - lowered chamber pressure because the ammunition manufacturers are assuming the worst-case and want to avoid law-suits so most of the commercial loadings are quite 'mild'. ed

Earlier than your recollection is the fact that the magazines were chained to the trigger guard to prevent their removal from the rifle.