New member, new buyer

I apologize for the long first post and thank you to any help/info that is provided.

I've wanted to buy a US or UK WWI or WWII rifle for years, but spending on other hobbies got in the way. At the end of last year I decided to finally take the plunge and roll the dice and I bought a No 4 Mk I from Royal Tiger Imports. Unfortunately, I don't think I was very lucky. Hopefully I at least have a shoot-able rifle worth owning, even if I overpaid. From what I can tell, my rifle appears to be a total "bitsa"; e.g. bits and parts from several different rifles. The action works smoothly and there are no obvious defects.

Here is what I found as far as serial numbers and markings and limited research. I've taken quite afew pictures, but they are not very good, so I'll have to wait for a sunny day to take better pics outdoors. I'll try describing what I can see. I'll start from the back and go forward:

Band above/behind the trigger group and in front of the grip has a PF serial number that seems to indicate post-war ROF Fazakerly production.

Back of Bolt handle: is B17927 which would seem to indicate ROF Maltby circa '41-42.

Rear site: is milled with a 1300 yard max. It has a blocky "S" or maybe a number 5 on the top left as well as on top of the round adjustment knob. Is it "S" for Savage?

Magazine has 2 numbers on the spine: E7931 is on the raised portion that catches on the release and L8913 above that. I have no reference for these.

Receiver:

appears to have been scrubbed of markings on the left hand side. Under bright light and magnification, there are remnants, but I can't tell what they are.

Viewed from the top, under the area where the rear site folds down, there is what appears to be a small crown on the left, top surface of the receiver.

At the front of the receiver, on the top of the rounded part, there is a "V" or arrow pointing forward.

Fore-end of the stock, on the bottom, just behind the front band, there are the faint remnants of a number running perpendicular to the direction of the barrel.

The front band is marked with a "P" over "61" which would seem to indicate POF 1961.

The barrel is still filthy, but looking down it from the chamber, the rifling is visible. I am still new to this, but from pics I have looked at on-line, I would guess it is a 5 groove barrel as it does not look like the photos of 2 groove barrels I have seen.

I'll post some pics once I get a chance to take more in good sunlight. The forecast for tomorrow looks promising.

Of course I would have loved to have received a WWII era matching numbers gun, but won't be too disappointed with a decent shooter that has some WWII era parts.

My original plan was to take the rifle to a gunsmith for disassembly, inspection and thorough cleaning. I am trying to discern if that is still worthwhile or if it would be throwing good money after bad.

I'm in the DC area, so would also welcome any recommendations for gunsmiths in the this area that know these guns.

Again, any information and advice is greatly appreciated.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by potoduc

Again, any information and advice is greatly appreciated.

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It would be worthwhile contacting Brian Dick (BDL Ltd) probably the US most experienced Enfield Gunsmith, he has been posting on the forum about his experiences of the RTI rifles.

He has so far (I believe) had a couple of dozen sent to him by unhappy buyers who have bought unusable / unsafe Enfields from RTI and has been asked to try and get them back into at least 'shooting condition'

No doubt Brian will come and give you chapter & verse on your purchase.

One of Brian's posts from early December :


I'll chime in with my ever expanding experience with the Ethiopian owned SMLE and No.4 rifles. Yes, it's one of those imported by Interordnance. Every one that's been sent here so far, (I've lost count of the SMLE's without checking my record book and a half dozen No.4's), have been shot out so worrying about headspace and bolt head size is moot. Besides, unless you have a supply of new old stock bolt heads that have never been fitted, all the charts in the world won't sort you out. Anyhow, from what I've seen so far, they all need barrels and there is no supply of reasonably priced, original No.4 barrels available. The RFI barrels from Sarco for the SMLE are excellent while the supply lasts. MoD spec for throat erosion is a plug gauge measuring .310 entering the breech less than .25". Every one of the Ethiopian rifles I've checked swallow it and in a couple of them, the gauge ran clear through and dropped out the muzzle. So much for the .307 muzzle gauge and .301 bore run gauge. The long story short is that if you buy one of these rifles, be prepared to rebarrel it because it most likely needs it.

I could see Brian eventually refusing these rifles for overhaul, they sound like a drain on resources. He could sure give you the skinny on them though.

Thanks for the responses, sobering as they may be. I knew I was taking a gamble, but thought my odds were a coin flip or better, but it looks like it might have been more like a roll of the dice.

I'll continue to do my research, including checking in with BDL, and appreciate any further responses.

I've managed to put all of them right so far. Bear in mind that to get the "cheap" deal on breeching up, the owners must strip them down and only send the barreled body, complete bolt assembly and replacement barrel. I can't guarantee the condition and fit of the woodwork but I feel good about the metal at least which is leaving here in specification. I swap bolt heads as necessary as long as they are average length #0 and #1 and trade them in so my small bolt head supply remains stable. I do charge extra if i have to get into my very small long bolt head supply. I have a couple more of the rifles coming so I'll keep at it in between some very long winded restorations I'm doing here. I had to put a stop to folks sending the long winded jobs until further notice as my repair rack is overflowing and I start to feel like a storage facility! There ain't enough hours in a day.

I had to raise my price a bit on 1 January, not because I'm greedy but to offset the fees my Chiropractor charges for an adjustment which are frequent these days!

Brian on all things Enfield. He squared me away on an L1A1 and I am forever in his debt. I hope to send him more Enfield work someday!

I, too, trust my chiropractor to keep me moving properly.

Thanks for the response Brian. I'd like to talk through my options and pricing. Do you prefer to be contacted via email or a telephone call?

You can contact me by whatever method you choose. I'm usually around.