Afghan Enfield? Martini-Henry? Help please

A friend of mine brought back four old rifles from Afghanistan and didn't know what they were other than "Enfields". He showed them to me and I took pictures but due to technical problems I wasn't able to upload them to my computer. Hopefully I can fix that later. The rifles are top loading lever action rifles and there are several markings on the side. Some say Enfield multiple times upside down and/or right side up with a crown, the numbers 1919 or 6161 depending on which way you turn it. The characters lCl also appear. They are extremely dirty, beat up and currently don't work but I think they can be restored. I did a little research and they look like Martini-Henry rifles, but I know absolutely nothing about ME's. The bore's on two of them looked equivalent to .30 cal in diameter and the other two looked bigger, close to a .45 cal in my opinion. Can anyone venture a guess at what they are and what ammo is compatible with them? I wanted to give him an offer for one but I don't know what's a fair price. If I can buy one, I want to restore it to working condition and shoot it if possible. If there is no longer any ammo for it, then it will just be a wall-hanger.

From the "These markings look official, so a lot of these markings should look a lot more so" stamping scheme you describe, they sound like locally made Khyber tourist specials. My advice, sight unseen, would be to never ever even dream of shooting one. There is a very wide range of material coming out of the region, ranging from interesting and historic pieces to recently home made tourist junk. Without good detailed pictures, there's not much more that can be said.

Multiple upside down Enfield markings scream Khyber Pass special. Wouldn't fire one for all the Guinness in Ireland.
Ok, maybe tied to a tire with a string attached to the trigger whilst hiding behind a car 100 yards away, yeah, I'd do that for all the Guinness in Ireland..:)

Alright thanks, I think we've determined it's a Khyber Pass fake. I did some research on those and got more info. I understand that the integrity of the construction is in question, but is it possible that sometime during it's life, the rifle was used and fired by some mujaheddin guy or something? And if so, would it have been designed for a specific cartridge that was locally available or what?

Copies of Martini-Henries and Martini-Enfields would likely have been chambered (sort of) for .577/.450 and .303 British respectively as this ammo would have been available. These things surely were used and the ones that haven't exploded yet are trickling into the market. Wall hangers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Steve H. in N.Y.

Be very careful

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Will do, I assure you. It's actually frozen solid with dirt and other mess from the stan at the moment so it needs extensive disassembly and cleaning to make sure it can be unstuck and that all the parts are there. Fortunately there is no rust though (at least on the outside). The bore on these look to be .303. One of them is much larger so I assume it's .577/.450. After more research and close inspection of the markings, one of the guns might actually be a legitimate ME, but the others are clearly Khyber Pass specials. The one my buddy is going to let me take is shorter than the rest and the stock looks slightly different. I'll post pics from my own camera once he gives it to me.