.22 Enfield's Part 4

[Lance]

Misc. Early Enfield .22’s

.22 Short Rifle Pattern 1918

A big hole in my collection. I have only ever seen one in real life and it was not marked as seen in the textbooks. Anyone have one they want to share?

.22 Lee Metford Mk I*

A WW Greener of Birmingham converted 1890 Enfield MLM Mk I* using a .22 Parker Hale tube system that was originally issued in 1906 to the 1st Welsh Regt. This rifle has a wooden plug installed into the magazine well and has a modified bolt head stop installed in the cutt of slot and a spring mounted loading platform.

Long .22 Mk II

A non-standard conversion of a 1899 Enfield MLM Mk II*. This rifle was down graded to DP status and then fit with a Morris Tube system. When fit with the MT it was issued a new serial number that was stamped on the receiver and bolt.At a later date a solid BSA barrel was installed with the MT serial number stamped into. It does not have the CLLE sight system installed, it does have a windage adjustable rear sight though. It is not marked with any .22 markings.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Lance]

.22 Trials No. 5

Sorry guy’s, this is another I am missing. Almost got one last year but it had problems, and was too expensive for the condition. I was tempted since they are very rare but finding bits to fix it just was not going to happen. Can anyone help here?

Rifle C No.7 Mk I

Minimal info here since Badger has a great photo collection and description in the archives.

It is the most common example of the No.4 style .22’s available for the collector, with three major types of receiver markings with the 1945 dated examples being the harder to find. There are odd balls out there too with 1950’s dates, but I have yet to come across one.

A new production .22 issued with its own transit chest, my example is a mint, unissued 1946 example that went unissued most likely due to it being fit with a short butt

Interesting accessories that came with my rifle is the original packing list of equipment in the chest and the 1947 inspection tag stating that it was prepared for long term storage

[gunner]

Thank you Lance for your work to post all this informations( Part 1- 4) on the .22 Enfields. They seem to be very interesting to shoot and collect. Have to ask if anybody has one in our Gun-Club.

Regards

Gunner

[Alan de Enfield]

Dont know if i've 'jumped the gun' and you were going to post on No7 Mk1 but here are some pictures of mine.

Although a No.7 Mk I, the British version is very different from it's Canadian counterpart. This rifle was a conversion of an existing No.4 and is interesting in that a BSA five-round commercial .22 magazine was fitted into a SMLE Mk III* magazine to produce the only Enfield .22 repeater. These rifles were a special contract and produced exclusively for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1948. Total production 2,500

The 5 shot magazine is generally reliable but sometimes the last round does need a 'tap' on the bottom of the magazine - maybe the spring is a bit 'tired'.

Most of the No7s I've seen have been without the bolt / extractor / ejector so was quite lucky to find this one as those 'bits' are on the shelf with rocking horse poo, hens teeth and large rifle primers.

(I've recently added the PH 8/53 sights).

[Peter Laidler]

I heard from an old 1960's era RAF Armourer that I've known for a long time that the incomplete/stripped No7 rifle bodies and barrels were part of the disposal of the old BSA kit when they ceased business. This does seem to fit in with the a) date of their closure and disposal of the kit and b) the amount of stripped actions that suddenly became available.

He also said that these No7 rifles were sent to BSA for repair/parts/etc by the RAF in the 60's, before the the RAF weapons came under the wing of the Army for 2nd line repair and maintenance. After the regular RAF started to get No8 rifles, there was no need to pursue the matter on cost grounds so that's where the stripped No7's remained.

The No7's were in service with Cadet Forces for many years up until the 80's but even then were cannibalised for spares and routinely scrapped. I took a few pertinant odds and sods when 27 Command Workshops closed

[Badger]

We have the Canadian Long Branch .22 trainer showcased complete with a 123 pic virtual tour in the Canada - Milsurp Knowledge Library (click here).

1944 C No.7 .22 Caliber Lee-Enfield Training Rifle (click here)

"All Matching Serial Numbers"
"c/w 1946 transit chest, cleaning rod, jags, bore brush, DND ammo & small bore targets "

(Click PIC to Enlarge)

(Click PIC to Enlarge)

Regards,
Badger