ROF Fazakerley Trials Conversion or one of their common typo's??

[Lance]

I just obtained this "rare" girl and thought I would entertain the group with her, a 1948 dated ROF Fazakerley Rifle No. 4 Mark 1/2 conversion. Yes, 1948.

Production of the Rifle No. 4 Mark 2 began at ROF Fazakerley in April 1949 with 1949 dated Rifle No. 4 Mark 1/2 and 1/3 observed showing they too began in 1949. 1949-dated examples are uncommon compared to other years of conversion. So how did this rifle become 1948 dated?

Unfortunately, there is no "smoking gun" showing it is a 1948 "trials" conversion as the barrel is undated and the new production fore-end conveniently has damage through the Fazakerley inspector's mark.

Of interest is the placement of the brackets around "(FTR)". In 1947 the creator(s) of the pantograph marking stencil bracketed the FTR rather than the "(F)" which can be observed in undated (assumed) 1947, dated 1947, and 1948 Fazakerley FTR'd rifles. In 1948 new pantograph stencils were created returning the brackets around the "F" rather than the "FTR".

So was the marking stencil for this rifle a modified earlier stencil that did not correct the bracket placement and the year or, perhaps, a trial run of Mark 1/2 and 1/3 rifles did occur in 1948??? Unlikely, but with Enfields never say never.

The actual conversion is unremarkable with the exception of an extra clean junction on the bottom of the body by the trigger guard.

For my fellow collectors who strive to collect an example of every year of a particular rifle, I apologize to you. You now have another example to find!