- Ian Skennerton's
- Markings on Lee Enfield Rifles
- The Bolt-Action "Long Lees"
- how do i find the date of an enfield
The only exception to this is a comparatively recent situation in which the acquirer of a historically important firearm that may have been re-imported, and hitherto have carried no London or Birmingham proving mark, scan request, when that arm is sent for the necessary proof that, the marks are put out of sight, under woodwork for example, in order that the original appearance of a valuable piece is not spoiled..
However, date marks such as are under discussion and described below, are usually out of sight on the under-side of the barrel, and removal of fore-end furniture may be necessary to find them. Akin to the longstanding hallmarking system for British silverware, in which letter codes relate to years of manufacture or importation, is an equivalent employed by the British Proof Houses.
The problem here is that, unlike silver hallmarking, the Proof House codes were only introduced in and have been only intermittently applied since then, almost on the whim of the Proof Master incumbent at any particular time.
Ian Skennerton's
The system ceased to be used during , since there was practically no civilian firearm production for the next five or six years, and, with war-time production levels reaching unprecedented proportions, almost all military proofing was effected within the various manufacturing facilities by Government inspectors. The coding was not reintroduced until However, such date codes as there are are still useful in dating the many firearms manufactured between the First and Second World Wars, including much output from the Birmingham Small Arms Company see also BSA Rifles , as indeed is true post for those rifles more recently falling into the classic class.
This so-called "secret" marking system was as follows, with the marks illustrated below applying as indicated.
As far as we are aware, all B. From to Figure 1 applies, and for firearms proved between mid and mid the code letter is A. Lest they were confused with other characters, I and Q were not utilised, so the date letters to were as follows.
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The alphabet was restarted several years post-war in with A, but now each letter change was made at the beginning of the year. The number below identified the inspector. Thus the year codes have hitherto been understood to be - A ; - B ; - C ; - D ; - E ; - F ; - G ; - H ; - J ; and so on through to - Z; However, we have been made aware, by a contributor, of two contemporary rifles, a BSA Mk.
This would suggest that "I" as well as "Q" was no longer deemed to be ambiguous, as had previously been the case with the Fig. There is therefore an undeniable possibility that year letters after may each represent dates that should be advanced one year, with "Z" falling in , although this would then conflict with the commencement of the next series.
Markings on Lee Enfield Rifles
Confusion remains; unless you know differently. Conjecture may suggest that perhaps there was even indecision at the Birmingham Proof House, and only a few rifles were stamped with an "I" in before "J" was substituted, or, a long shot, the "H" stamps wore out before the end of the year. We may never know the answer, but can meanwhile entertain ourselves dreaming up such explanations.
Emergency Use only could be due many reasons, barrel wear etc through to nothing wrong with it like a P14 fatboy, just not enough to be put into normal use and held back for emergency use only. I need to do more research as I expected the B to be directly under the crown.
George Rex Proof done at time of assembly or just after firing final inspection.
The Bolt-Action "Long Lees"
Victoria Regina Monarch Cypher 2nd Proof. The factory went on to make Vickers and other weapons. Inspectors Mark Lithgow Factory Australia.
I think it was from a No5. Draw lapped Barrel , this particular marking is from a No5Mk1. Maltby factory was in the Yorkshire, UK.
how do i find the date of an enfield
These marks indicate that there is something wrong with the barrel, the rifle in question is an early Metford. Such rifles would have been relegated to a training situation, Drill for Cadets. E in this instance indicates an Enfield Rifling was used in the barrel on this rifle. The E will be on the knox area of the rifle or on the barrel itself.
Birmingham Small Arms Logo, located on the Knox of the rifle. Where would I look to find one? There is a stamping in the "hollow" on the underside of the bolt handle, that looks like this: F 47 This would seem to indicate "Fazakerley, Look- you better send it up here to me, so it doesn't get swallowed up by a Florida sinkhole. It will be safe with me, I promise.
Thanks Hoadie, but I think I'll be able to keep it nice and safe for now. As far as I know all Fazakerly-made rifles were elecrtropenciled on the receiver left side, none were supposed to have been stamped on the butt socket ever. The marking on the socket is definitely stamped, and deep. The receiver, however, appears to be electro-penciled. If it is, the person doing the numbering had exceptionally good handwriting. That would explain why it was filled in so easily by the paint. A square 10 wrote: Found another mark that looks somewhat important.
On the top of the nose cap, there's a stamping that reads "SN.
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