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Picked up a MkII that has been smoothbored, have never seen one before. Has a small fixed rear sight. Weapon is in very good condition, almost all markings have been worn off however. I imagine it was probably used by an Indian police unit or something along those lines. Was the small rear sight only used on smoothbores? Again, have never seen one like it. Are these desirable as collectors at all?
Is it smooth or a worn Metford barrel?
Definitely smoothbored. Sports the simplified rear sight, and has the curious checkered triangle at the base of the receiver, next to the thumbrest.
I'd post pictures of it, there seems to be an awful lot of fake MH floating around these days.
Pics of MH smoothbore finally..
need to see the markings to help at all
All markings appear to have been deliberately scrubbed, as the Indians were wont to do. There is a very faint remnant of 'Enfield' on the receiver. There are also faint remnants of firing proofs on the barrel, along with the 'WD' marks. On the knoxform there appears to be the arrow and 'ISA' Ishapore mark. This is somewhat faint also. Could not get a clear pic. Will try again with my friends decidedly superior camera. There is also the remnant of a roundel on the buttstock, also very worn and unreadable. I have no doubt that this is an authentic MH, I was just wondering about the collectability of the smoothbores. This one is for sale BTW. Thanks!
This is one poor old girl, Indian or otherwise, that needs some TLC.
Yep. Should have seen it when I got it!
Not fake just a typical smooth-bore. A guard gun. Seems to be a small interest in collecting these things. So far have seen reports of the in MK II , MK II and MK IV and carbines, all smoothbore.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anzac15
Germany is awash with smoothbore MH and percussion Enfields, and no doubt the situation is similar in other countries. Some are one-time service rifles that were turned into shotguns after being retired from service life. But every single one I have seen (and it must be in 3-figures by now) with a soldered-on simple backsight notch was Indian "for backwoods use only" or Khyber Pass "live dangerously - shoot this once". It took me 4 years of looking at this kind of hazardous scrap to find a genuine MH with a good bore.
I have held in my hands a MH with excellent markings - in fact, so crisp that I was suspicious (the markings were much better than the quality of the metalwork). With the help of a watchmaker's eyeglass it could be seen that these markings had been photographically etched. Ali Bubba and Sons seem to have adapted printed-circuit board etching techniques to their purposes. You could not tell the fakery in a photo. Be very, very careful.
Patrick
:wave:
You must have read my mind there, MH is well past my "area of expertise" so to speak, but Khyber Pass is the first thing that came to my mind when an "oddball" MH comes to light.
A friend of mine who runs a firearm shop near me called me up last week and told me that I needed to get to the shop as fast as I could get there. He told me that a guy had shown up with a .303 MH and was wanting to sell it. So, knowing I was into MHs, I raced over there as fast as my tired old Land Rover could take me. I ran inside, all sorts of pictures in my head.
Well, wouldn't you know it, a good old Khyber Pass copy.
I told the seller, who was still there, what it was, and he gave me a look like I had just insulted his mother. 'The hell it is', he said. I said I was sorry, and pointed out the crudely BACKWARD 'Enfield' stamp. Oh, sorry, the THREE backward Enfield stamps. 'You don't know what you're talking about. This is real. I took a deer with it last year.' This was amazing, as the barrel was very obviously bent.
Some people.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anzac15
As you have just experienced, some people either can't read, or don't want to!
Patrick
:wave: