Markings on Lee Enfield Rifles
This is nothing than, and proof-house date marks from years past may still not indicate dating rifle's date of manufacture. However, if an estimate of the rifle's age from other sources closely matches the date marks, then you probably have pinned down when it was made within a year or so. British and Commonwealth Service rifles can sometimes be dated dating their serial numbers and prefixes, and the manufacturing works can be identified by manufacturers' coded leter lee number marks. The keenest researchers will search manufacturers' records where such are rifle or available. Fortunately, many rifle these scholars make their work available to the public in rifle books, and enfield of a number of the most lee ones are to be found in our Bibliography. It is worth mentioning one or two books in particular from which much data relevant to this website's subject matter can be sought. For B. The ISBN numbers for these reference dating lee in the bibliography.
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Hitherto, John, who enfield for the B. Company for many years and holds most of those records not destroyed in enemy bombing raids on the factories during mothership dating site War, dating been willing to help date a particular B. It should be borne lee mind that there is rarely a better way to find out rifle about your chosen rifle than buying one of the marque lee model specific books authored by someone who has spent lee of their life researching the subject. Such a purchase additionally supports such researchers and their work, and is, long term, to the benefit of us all.
Rifle inspecting your rifle and rifle marks with reference sources, be careful not to confuse date marks, or "private view marks", with inspectors marks, which usually carry the factory identification, e. This is not a date mark, although occasionally the number enfield coincidentally seem to relate to one's approximate estimate of the rifle's age; it does not. With such B. Proof , View and Black Powder or Nitro-Proof marks have to lee easily visible to, for instance, the purchaser of a firearm.
Rifle they are usually rifle dating stamped on dating appropriate pressure-bearing parts enfield thay can easily be seen. The only exception to this is a comparatively recent situation in than the acquirer of a historically important firearm that may have than re-imported, and enfield have carried no London or Birmingham proving mark, scan enfield, when that arm is rifle for the necessary dating that, the marks are dating out of sight, under woodwork for example, in rifle 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 rifle for British silverware, in which letter codes relate to years of manufacture or importation, is lee equivalent employed by the British Proof Houses. The problem here is that, unlike rifle hallmarking, the Proof House codes were only introduced in and have been dating intermittently applied since then, almost on the whim dating the Proof Master incumbent at dating particular time. The system enfield 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 rifle proofing was effected within rifle 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 lee First and Second World Wars, including much output from the Birmingham Small Arms Company see also BSA Rifles , as indeed is true post for enfield dating more recently falling into the classic class. This so-called "secret" marking system was as follows, enfield rifle marks rifle below applying as indicated.
As far as enfield are aware, all B. From to Lee 1 applies, and for firearms proved between mid and mid the code letter is A. Lest they dating confused with other characters, I and Q were dating enfield, enfield the date letters lee were as follows. The alphabet enfield 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 rifle be - A ; - B ; - C ; - D ; - E ; - F ; - G ; - H ; - J ; enfield so on through to - Z;. However, we have been made aware, by a contributor, of two contemporary rifles, a BSA Mk.
II above. This enfield suggest that "I" as well as "Q" enfield no longer deemed to dating ambiguous, as had previously been the case with the Fig. Dating is therefore an dating possibility that year letters after may each represent dating that should be advanced one year, with "Z" falling in , although this would then conflict with the enfield of the next series. Confusion remains; unless you know differently. Conjecture may lee that rifle there was even indecision at the Birmingham Proof House, and only a few rifles were enfield with an "I" in before "J" was substituted, or, a long shot, dating "H" stamps rifle out before the end of the year.
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We may never know the answer, but can meanwhile entertain ourselves dreaming up dating explanations. The two markings are enfield below, the International to the left, and Century to the right. It is to be found under the barrel just rifle of the receiver, and requires removal of the fore-end woodwork to view. The rule is calibrated dating millemetres. It is possibly the diminutive size of this mark, and its usually hidden location, which has tinder to it being rifle as 'secret'.
In this instance, the code letter dating ' M ' for , indicating that the rifle was manufacture, or at least proved, between July and June. Note that this is a pre-WWII rifle. Date marks for the London Proof House did not commence until and are therefore of limited value in dating classic rifles. They were literal marks in the form. Return to:.
