Ishapore Enfield's vs British & Australian???

[traindriver]

Are Indian made Enfield's the same or less in collector value and quality as
British and Lithgow rifles???

Information

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[jmoore]

It really depends on the individual rifle. Really nice Ishapores are no more common than the others, and depending on vintage, can be beautifully made.

That said, your standard "beater" probably will get less attention if it's Indian. So, prices will tend to be lower. Also, for some reason, the transverse forestock screw tends to lower value, even if it's original. Not all Indian rifles have them, though.

[bearhunter]

X2 I have a couple of Ishapore built rifles and one is as new, and shoots as well as any other brand, with decent ammunition. The other is worn but has a very nice bore. It looks like it went through at least one FTR. It shoots acceptably not better. Like many of its counterparts, it has an over size bore.
Both are very well made and even though I haven't checked, it looks like the parts might even interchange with the other nation's rifles.

The wood on both of them, isn't walnut. Maybe Luann Wood. I don't know, just guessing.

The dollar value on these rifles, is slowly starting to creep up. One of the reasons for lower dollar figures on these are many myths floating around as to their lack of quality control at the plant. Doesn't seem to be true. The Indians made several cosmetic alterations for ease of production on later rifles but nothing that degraded quality.

The big issue with ex Indian rifles is wear. The Indians, didn't seem to have as much "need" to keep their rifles pristine. They used them roughly, in all sorts of border and international skirmishes and the rifles, only got absolutely necessary repairs. For some reason, many of them, will have super clean bores but the exterior of the rifle will be filthy. Probably from long term storage?

The Indian rifles, suffer from all the same problems any other nation's rifles do. I wouldn't feel underprivileged owning an Ishapore built rifle.

[lucky dog]

I would take a British made rifle over one made in a third world country (given they both were in good shape) any day.

[Thunderbox]

Up until 1947, Ishapore WAS a British factory.

Indian commercial organisations - indeed many public organisations - retained many of their British staff well into the early 1960s. There are no noticeable quality issues with 2A1s or other late volume-produced Enfields from Ishapore.

[loudmouth6b]

I have a couple of Ishapore 2A rifles that both exibit the same malfunction. The top round (right side of mag) feeds fine, but the second rests just below the bolt, causing the closure to fail to feed. I wonder if this is common? Can anyone here recommend a procedure to fix this?

[traindriver]

Ok, so the Indian rifles are generally valued lower. That being said what would you men say would be a fair offer for a .303 MKIII in the following condition?
GRI 1944, all matching, bore dirty with good rifling has very light corrosion just inside muzzle, someone has varnished the stock and some of the metal parts on the stock. The owner has had the rifle sitting in a shop gathering dust with some other rifles for years. The rifle needs a really good clean up.

[Alan de Enfield]

Traindriver - Values vary tremedously around the world and as you do not say in your profile which part of the world you are in it is very difficult to give a meaningful answer.

Very few are seen in the UK so a reasonable price might be £350 - £400

[Son]

I have a couple of Ishapore 2A rifles that both exibit the same malfunction. The top round (right side of mag) feeds fine, but the second rests just below the bolt, causing the closure to fail to feed. I wonder if this is common? Can anyone here recommend a procedure to fix this?

As long as the magazine is catching in place and locking properly... The magazine feed lips are not allowing the left side round to sit high enough to feed. Try to bend the rear lip (the one holding the round down) up just a very little bit at a time until it feeds. Take care not to go too far as this will cause double feeds. You may also need to alter the front lip, but only if the nose of the round is catching the feed ramp at the rear of the barrel on it's way out.

[tbonesmith]

Ok, so the Indian rifles are generally valued lower. That being said what would you men say would be a fair offer for a .303 MKIII in the following condition?
GRI 1944, all matching, bore dirty with good rifling has very light corrosion just inside muzzle, someone has varnished the stock and some of the metal parts on the stock. The owner has had the rifle sitting in a shop gathering dust with some other rifles for years. The rifle needs a really good clean up.

I think a good offer for most of these non pristine, sitting around rifles with a few condition issues(varnish, rust, pitting and filthy), that need a fair few hours put in to clean them up is $100, or $150. I try to think what they'll be worth when you're done and it's seldom worthwhile if you cost your labour at all, unless you get them pretty cheap.