ROFM 1941 No 4 Mk1 Enfield Question's

S

Spaz86

New member
As the title states i just bought a ROFM 1941 No4 Mk1 for a reasonable price and got it home and began to look at it to see what the true condition of it was so i took it apart and found it has all matching number's and it was in a very nice shape. But the questions i have was this rifle has a round smle type cocking piece and all the little parts like the front sight, magazine and trigger group looks to be stamped with sm. Plus the front sight protector is different as well will post pics in the morning as my camara battery's ned to charge up for the night.
 
durning the war years you can find different parts on the rifles and they can be original to a rearsenaled rifle, as long as the bolt and reciever match i think you will be good to go. i had quite a few enfields and am down to 8 right now. and some were FTR,ed(fixed thru repair) rifles and were very good shooters. eastbank.
 
i have seen a few ftr enfield's and there very nice looking rifles but mine dont look like an ftr nor is it stamped with any arsenal repair marking the only part i can find that has been replaced is the butt plate i think they just wanted a brass one on. When i took it apart to inspect the barrel and other parts the barrel and inside of the stock looked brand new which has me puzzled i am taking picture's now and will up load when i am done.
 
 
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A 1941 vintage No. 4 Mk I is a very early rifle. That's the year the thing was adopted by the Brits.
"FTR" stands for "Factory Through Repair". As in anything that needed fixing or replacing got fixed or repaired by a Brit arsenal/factory. If the cocking piece worked, it didn't need replacing and wasn't. If nothing needed fixing it wasn't, so no 'FTR' stamp.
I notice your rifle doesn't have all the usual swarm of stamps(particularly the 'BNP' stamps required by British law, but there are no proof stamps either.) all over it, so it may have been refinished by "some guy" or assembled out of parts bins. Appears to have Suncorite paint on it and that's post war.
In any case, matching numbers does no guarantee the headspace is good. Check it.
"...too large to upload to this site..." Thank you.
 
Yeah its going to go to my gunsmith this afternoon for head space check and over all inspection. But over all i am happy with it but just trying to get any info i can on it cause my ww2 rifle collection is going to be put on display in my home with a but of back round and history writing next to them. Plus they are a blast to take out to the range when i can :)
 
I'll submit more later, but the "BNP" is commercial (Birmingham Nitro Proof) proof mark. It would appear on a military rifle only if the weapon were declared surplus and sold on the commercial market (as most in private hands were).

Jim
 
Do be aware that a .303 headspaces on the rim, so a rifle can have correct headspace and still have a hugely oversize chamber. As long as the space where the rim fits was in tolerance, it was good to go, and many have commented over the years that "generous" chambers were deliberate, in order to enhance battlefield reliability.

Not so good for a reloader, though.

There are ways to extend the case life, careful neck sizing and only using the brass in the rifle it was fired in.

I learned some time ago not to bother with "once fired" .303 brass. Did one full length resize, loaded, and had a case head separate on MY first firing. From now on, its new brass, careful reloading, and keeping brass segregated for each individual .303 rifle helps extend case life, but nothing other than a custom (tight) chamber will give you the kind of case life enjoyed by other gun designs.
 
Most of those markings are military inspection and approval marks. I think I see a post-war German eagle over U, which would indicate the rifle was sold in Germany at one point. If that is the case, the sight ladder should also be "scrubbed" to remove ranges over (I think) 300 yards.

Jim
 
There is no eagle marks on it from what i can see and the 300 and 600 range marks are still well intact. There is a total of 2 crown 1 on the left front of the receiver and one on the right hand side under the bolt handle. This rifle has very little marking on it the rest of the part are marked sm which i believe stand for singer manufacturing company uk. This is what has me puzzled i have seen other enfield's with a lot more marking on it then this one.
 
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But i am going to put it under a magnifying glass to figure out some of the marking there is a marking on the front sight protector that i that i just cant make out with my eyes. but will look at it and let you know for sure what that is.
 
What is under the u mark on the the receiver is the uk's crown with an N under it but i cant make out whats under it it look to be number's though.
 
"...would appear on a military rifle only if the weapon were declared surplus and sold on the commercial market (as most in private hands were)..." Any milsurp that went through England required proofing. Not just stuff declared surplus by Her Majesty's Government.
The 'BNP' stands for British Nitro Proof. It should have the .303 2.222" and 18.5 with a wee square and " too.
Lotta the correct stamps are here.
http://www.allaboutenfields.co.nz/history/markings/
Sadly, most of the really good Lee-Enfield sites are gone now.
 
FWIW, the "T" in "FTR" stands for "Thorough", not "Through". "Factory Thorough Repair" is the equivalent of the American "Arsenal Rebuilt". The "B" in "BNP" stands for Birmingham.

Jim
 
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