Enfield Serial Number Axxxxx - No UF or PF?

J

jamesomara

Inactive
All,
Thanks in advance for your time and any constructive feedback.

What does it mean if an Enfield has a serial number of Axxxxx, but no PF or UF?

I am thinking about buying a rifle from someone that claims there is nothing before the Axxxxx.

She is supposedly in near perfect condition. Thus, I would have expected it to be a UF - late model No4 MKII.

Thanks
 
You are presuming a lot ... there are zillions of other letter prefixes for Enfield rifles, let alone No4's - not every Enfield is going to have a UF-PF letter prefix. If you can tell me what the first number of the serial number series is after the letter A, I will tell you what manufacture it is.

Tiki.
 
Hi

Hello and thanks for the reply.

The serial number is A23xxx.

I thought that at the very least it should have some month/year combo preceding the above number.
 
A23xxx should be a 1942 Faz, No4 MkI.

ROF Fazakerly was assigned the number block of 20000-29999

It could possible be a late 41 rifle as Faz made 3-4000 No4's in 1941. "A" would have been the first prefix used starting at A20000.
 
I have two of them, A29xx, and A89xx. They're part of the Ulster 'hoard' that came in a few years back. Should of bought a cratefull....
 
Ulster

"Ulster" hoard?

Are you saying that they are "Irish-Enfields?" The contract of the 1950's that was not fulfilled? I thought they were PF309348-PF359347 .
 
kilimanjaro said:
I have two of them, A29xx, and A89xx. They're part of the Ulster 'hoard' that came in a few years back. Should of bought a cratefull....
Click to expand...

The 55 UF Mk2 series were RAF rifles. The so called "Irish Contract" were PF309348-PF359347

twins.jpg
 
They're part of the Ulster 'hoard' that came in a few years back.
Click to expand...
I think there may be some confusion between "Irish Contract" & rifles from Ireland here.

There were definitely Lee-Enfields in Ireland & The republic of Eire as well but they were not the "Irish Contract" rifles which were never delivered or issued anywhere ever. Maybe its the "FF" Enfields that are being discussed?
 
In my years frequenting Enfield forums I have never yet seen any evidence of any large supply of Irish owned No4's being sold out of service enmasse to the U.S or anywhere else. I won't deny the Irish had No4's, we all know they did, but even apart from Irish Contract No4's, there is no evidence of a horde of Irish ownership marked No4's that were sold to the U.S in quantity.

If there were, I have never yet seen any of them turning up in any of the well known Enfield fora we are all aware of. Everytime a new batch of Enfields is released on the market ( Turkish No4's for instance ) - these turn up in the forums with frequency and you get to see the proof of their existence by way of ownership through the membership. The Enfield community is very tight knit and you rarely if ever see Irish ownership stamped No4's, why? Because there is no horde.

Tiki.
 
There are many PF Irish Contract series rifles in the USA, some still in the wrap but most are unwrapped.


PF330386, PF330615 and PF338799 are in my safe. 799 had been in-service at one time.

I see as many IC PF rifles as UF55 rifles. I don't think I would say there are "hordes " of them, but hardly rare.

I have read posts from people that claim to have been in the Irish Defense Force and were issued or handled PF No4's. How many made it to Ireland is speculation at best.

I recall reading that in the early 90's one importer bought 16K of "new in the wrap" Enfields. PF? UF? Don't know.
 
They are around sure ... my point is, there aren't hordes. They are in a massive minority when compared to all other types of Enfield rifles represented in the Enfield forums I have observed in the last 6 years.

I have read exactly the same information about so-called members of the Irish Military etc ... without provenance it's still stories. The proof is in the pudding - there aren't hordes of them, otherwise you'd see them posted every other day in the Enfield forums.

Anybody can go and do a search for "Irish Enfields" at any of the well known Enfield forums ... see how many real hits to owners you get. it won't add up to many at all I bet - in the wrap or no. I also am making the distinction between Irish Contract rifles and Irish ownership marked No4's.

Tiki.
 
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Which is where we differ.
I don't believe in the "Irish contract" mythology either. That's why I was saying about the many rifles that were in Ireland but specifically NOT part of the Irish Contract run.
How many made it here? Who knows & in reality who cares. Its a collectors imagined niche as far as I'm concerned.
 
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