Yesterday's Weapons Forums

Looking for any info you guys can give me with my new enfield... I bought it because the barrel was pristine and figured it would be a great shooter. The mag is the only matching thing I've found so far and it's been electro penciled. There is a star marking on the barrel. I'll add more pics when I can.

From what I can see, your rifle went through FTR (Factory Thourogh Repair) in 1950. At this time it was changed from a mark 1 configuration to mark 2. It is a Fakerzerly (sp) and the FTR was done there. May well have gotten a new barrel at this time as well. Is the barrel a 5 groove? Looks real nice. Good score.

the wrist markings look more like maltby , i see that the serial range belonged to FAZ but they did not mark the wrist - they marked the left reciever ,

My book is home and I'm out of town so your Maltby observation looks good. The FTR is a Faz job with a lot of work accomplished. Probably means this is an old warhorse that's seen a lot of action. For whatever reason, my NO 4 MK 1 went through FTR in '48 and retained the MK1 trigger configuration. I wonder what the condition was that would occasion that particular change.

not at all sure what criteria was used to sort a FTR to the same mark or upgrade to I/2 , I*/3 , mk2 status , its one of those things ive either missed or never come across in the forums , i can say most all the upgrades to mk2 were FAZ so i was never disagreeing with that portion of your post , and actually i did check my referance regarding that serial series being assigned to FAZ , it just "looked" like a maltby to me and they did mark the wrist where FAZ marked the left receiver - so i thought to mention that , also the markings are a bit sloppy like those of maltby

Home now and am looking at my book. The 'W' prefix does not appear in any of the assigned letters for any arsenal building MK 4's. The 'W' prefix would appear to logically slot into a BSA Shirley as they were assigned letters U, V, X & Y for 1942. The number sequence seems to be a Faz.
It would appear there is a lot more to this rifle than meets the eye.

i agree , wondering about a lot of things here ,

Moto, take the trigger guard off and tell us where the trigger is mounted. Either the guard itself or to the receiver.

Enf or A Sq. would a replacement barrel bear a date to see if it was replaced ?

ET,

The book is unrevealing as to any marks on the barrel. The barrel on my No4 has proof marks but nothing else. I will have to remove the wood to more closely examine the barrel to see what variation I do have. My barrel does have 5 groove rifling but I need to check the knox form to determine if it's a 1st variation or 6th varation. Given that after FTR it retained it's MK 1 trigger assembly, I suspect the barrel is a 1st variation .

Moto,

More pictures of the receiver, especially the top and right hand side may offer clues about your rifle.

Checked the knox form and it is a type 1 barrel. No discernible marks other than the broad arrow.

the trigger is mounted to the receiver - its a mkI/2 [conversion to mk2 ] so thats a given , the bbl may or may not have been replaced at conversion , it should have a date ,

Here are two of the top of the barrel and under the hand guard

Right side wrist and another angle of barrel under handguard

Top barrel band is stamped "vns" on metal band upper handguard near upper barrel band is stamped F with a 56 below it.

1956 barrel then , what is confusing about that is the FTR was 1950 ? but does not mean it was not changed out later by someone else

The rifle has been correctly identified as carrying a Fazakerley serial number, originally made in the Mark 1 configuration. The markings on the left wrist are correct for an early war Fazakerley. Originally the serial number W26334A was electropencilled on the wrist but has later been restamped. The A suffix indicates the existence of some non standard parts.

The left receiver wall markings were done at FTR, at Fazakerley in 1950. Fazakerley started refurbishing rifles to the Mark 2 configuration in late 1948, hence the Mark 1/2 designation is consistent with a 1950 FTR.

The VNS on the barrel band is for Viners (the manufacturer of the barrel band). The "56" is probably the year in which the band was made - not the barrel.

i missed that - the band is marked 56 , makes good sense , thanks ,

did not realize the early FAZ no4s were marked on the left wrist , had thought that a trait of BSA and maltby , and of course the early transitions from the mkVI

thanks for dropping in , we miss you , or at least i do

Thank you everyone for all the info. I bought this at a show on a whim. I paid $325 for this rifle. The barrel bore is beautiful and u figured it to be a good shooter.. Was that a fair price??? There is heavy cosmo on most if the wood as well as a paint stenciled number. Should I remove it (Cosmo) or leave it and not risk damage to the painted number?? I don't want to devalue it by doing something stupid

you can remove the cosmo - it wont hurt a thing , but keep the paint if you can ,

the broad arrow is the service marking , not canadian tho there's is a broad arrow inside a "C" ,