An explosively dismantled Enfeld

[Patrick Chadwick]

a) A 'shooter' which is safe to use as intended. Only firearms which have been proof tested (and marked as such) can be sold. Any changes to any pressure parts (bolt, action, bolt head or barrel) require the weapon to be re-proofed. b) A 'deactivated' firearm that will (should) have an official certificate from the proof house confirming that it has been deactivated to Government specification.

The law in Germany is equivalent. In France as well (as far as I can make out - I do have a copy of the French regulations).

BUT
a) "Only firearms which have been proof tested (and marked as such) can be sold." Like the MOT test on your car, the proof mark only proves that it passed the test THEN - it is no guarantee of the state of the rifle NOW.
"Any changes to any pressure parts (bolt, action, bolt head or barrel) require the weapon to be re-proofed." Taken literally, that would also mean mean recrowning, rebluing, or just plain removal of rust. So how literally do you take it?

b) The regulations here are stringent. The chamber, for instance, must be pinned or welded shut in such a manner that it is impossible to insert a cartridge. And the firing pin must be removed or shortened. And the bolt face must be ground off at 45 degrees (i.e. so that it is screamingly obvious) etc etc. So the rifle that was the start of this thread would have been viewed not as a proper de-act, but rather as having an illegal alteration to a pressure bearing part that made the rifle unsafe (as was demonstrated).

But no private seller is going to give a buyer any kind of written guarantee. And verbal statements will, in practice, be useless: "I never said that" - "The buyer must have misunderstood me" - and so on.
So we are back to

"CAVEAT EMPTOR"

[Robert303]

It's all too easy to make a mistake and just keep quiet. We need as much GOOD information as possible out in the open. Years ago a flying magazine for the Royal Airforce had a cartoon strip called 'Pilot Officer Prune' which published some wonderful stories each one with a very cautionary tale.

I've had rounds go off when I was not expecting them to do so, I've had rounds with no powder. I've learnt from that and passed on the experiences. I've seen some horrible near misses and heard clowns discussing reloading. I've seen committee members hush things up and go after others for far lesser mistakes. We need to forgive honest mistakes and jump on those who deliberately mislead such as 'Durban Police' on a 'Drill Purpose' Rifle.

The biggest challenge in the internet age will be sorting out the 'Real Answers' from those who are genuinely qualfied from the 'Self Appointed Expert' answers from the idiots.

[Alan de Enfield]

.
.............."Any changes to any pressure parts (bolt, action, bolt head or barrel) require the weapon to be re-proofed." Taken literally, that would also mean mean recrowning, rebluing, or just plain removal of rust. So how literally do you take it?....

A good question, and one that is not understood by our Police Firearms department.
I was looking to buy a proof marked complete barreled action (with bolt) and the Police told me that once I had replaced the 'furniture' I would have to submit it for re-proofing - they still insisted even after I explained that their statement was bovine excrement, it finally took a letter from the proof house explaining that they made the proof tests WITHOUT the furniture (due to potential damage whilst in the clamps), and stated that it did say on their web-site that furniture should be removed before the rifle is submitted for testing - that the Police 'caved-in'.

[Brit plumber]

It's all too easy to make a mistake and just keep quiet. We need as much GOOD information as possible out in the open. Years ago a flying magazine for the Royal Airforce had a cartoon strip called 'Pilot Officer Prune' which published some wonderful stories each one with a very cautionary tale.

We still have those stories but they go under the title of 'I learnt about flying from that'. We also have AEMS (Aviation Error Management System) for individuals to report anything they think has the pottential to be incorrect (Publications) or to air mistakes. Engineers from my era tended to hush up mistakes and only they learnt from it, now we can air mistakes, everyone learns. The only problem is that the accident rates appear to have rissen, where as its all down to more accidents being reported now.

[Peter Laidler]

Proof testing is just like the annual car test (or MoT test as we call it in England) It tests the rifle on that day and on that day only. Whatever happens to it thereafter is academic and there is no come-back either. Just like your car test............. But unlike the proof test, the car test done every year

[westkraut]

Spooky to think a firearm would be altered in this manner and leave some future user at risk. Mind you I bought a 20 gauge shotgum to which had been added rifle sights and all looked fine. On the first shot the rear sight blew off and a lots of fine hot material sprayed all over......the screws had been improperly tapped and too weak for the barrel pressure. So the valuable advice above needs to be heeded......thoroughly check over any unfamiliar "new" old rifle. Thanks for posting the pics.....very effective

[gsimmons]

But it's a DP rifle it's NOT supposed to be fired! Period. That's why it has DP on it. Yes you should check a firearm before you shoot it. But this rifle shouldn't have been fired in the first place and there in lies the lesson.

[browningautorifle]

This thread sure has taken a different direction away from where the problem lay. Someone didn't inspect his "new" rifle or have any real knowledge before hand and almost got hurt because of it. No one else is to blame, nor need there be any other measures taken. Know your hobby or change to collecting stamps. You can't get injured there...

[Peter Laidler]

BAR has hit the nail on the head. Another of those who takes a 'bleedin obvious' view of life!

[muffett.2008]

Ah yes, stamp collecting, but you still run the risk of a paper cut.