1915 BSA No 1 with FR marked butt?

Apologies, I tried to search first, but the search feature does not like "FR".

What is the current consensus on rifles with butts marked FR?

Indian/Pakistani?

Commonweath?

Needs "factory repair"?

I've got a loose butt from a sporter marked FR, but I also ran across a cheap 1915 No 1 today that is also a sporter with an uncut barrel with a tight muzzle and really nice bore that has some late 1920's inspection markings. That said, the FR markings on the stock gave me pause without knowing exactly what that might mean.

Rifle in question has a matching receiver, barrel and bolt FWIW.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Grady i have a 1914 Lithgow that was ftr in 1932 at FR (India) , lots of commonwealth rifles ended up in other armies during and post ww1 . The thought is they would scrub any other manufacturers markings . Mine is stamper on the left wrist of the rifle .they also left it numbers matching >

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Garandy

Apologies, I tried to search first, but the search feature does not like "FR".

What is the current consensus on rifles with butts marked FR?

Indian/Pakistani?

Commonweath?

Needs "factory repair"?

I've got a loose butt from a sporter marked FR, but I also ran across a cheap 1915 No 1 today that is also a sporter with an uncut barrel with a tight muzzle and really nice bore that has some late 1920's inspection markings. That said, the FR markings on the stock gave me pause without knowing exactly what that might mean.

Rifle in question has a matching receiver, barrel and bolt FWIW.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

---

If this is a small font FR simply stamped into the butt-wood then I think no one has yet identiifed the meaning - the concensus seems to be it was a 'commercial manufacturer' and the FR is a contract reference or manufacturers 'mark'.

If it was an Indian 'Factory Repair' then it would normally stamped into the butt socket.

Example pic of the marking in question on a No4 butt along with a ZF marked No 4 butt for comparison.

The rifle in question is wearing a No 1 stock with a stock disk cutout that has been patched. The FR markings on the stock are roughly the same size as the ones I have illustrated.

Rifle is an early import stamped "ENGLAND" rather than the later style import marks with the importer marks etc.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Garandy

Example pic of the marking in question on a No4 butt along with a ZF marked No 4 butt for comparison.

The rifle in question is wearing a No 1 stock with a stock disk cutout that has been patched. The FR markings on the stock are roughly the same size as the ones I have illustrated.

Rifle is an early import stamped "ENGLAND" rather than the later style import marks with the importer marks etc.

---

Yes - that's the one that always gets the answer "nobody knows" but it is not (generally) viewed as a 'Factory Repair' marking.

Thanks. Lots of conjecture out there and wanted to make sure nothing more definitive had cropped up since this thread: Could this be the reason for the FR markings ? | Gunboards Forums

If it isn't known to be a kiss of death, all the better.