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HI. My name is Marc, and I am a military (mostly WW2) weapons fan. I stumbled upon this site after a friend of mine was given an Enfield No1Mk2 revolver in near perfect condition. He was unable to find out what a marking on the cylinder stood for. I still have not found it. Anyone know what "BMLI" stands for? I am assuming it is a marking denoting the manufacturer, or possibly an arsenal marking?
Anywho, I plan on spending some quality time on here and learning some stuff. Cheers!
The marking indicates the batch of steel used in manufacture of the cylinder. Apparently there was concern that the steel used might have problems. If a problem was reported in the field, all revolvers with that cylinder batch could be identified and recalled.
To be picky and try and get the word out as many people on the forms incorrectly use the term. I guess if you see the term long enough, you think it is correct. Stamps is a poor choice of words. A die stamp is the tool used to stamp a marking on the gun. Stampings or British, pressings, are the product of running metal sheets through forming dies. A die is a tool that alters the shape of metal.
Welcome aboard and don't be afraid to ask questions. Chances are very good that ten other guys have the same question but didn't ask.
To be fair, the only place the word "stamp" is used is in the title. You had me confused for a moment, Breakeyp, as it was obscured whilst I was reading MarcM's post! I don't disagree, though.
Welcome aboard, MarcM! Feel free to jump in. Your question educated me a bit on the Enfield revolver, as well, as I've never really thought about the markings to which your refer but have noted them in passing. Thanks!
Thank you for the information and the clarification. Duly noted! I agree, semantics are very important in keeping lines of communication clear, and usually indicate a thorough understanding of a topic. I am going to like it here!
Roll dies are commonly used for marking pistols. Once a master die was made, it was easy to produce additional dies as they routinely broke in use.
Roll Die - Columbia Marking Tools
The steel lot numbers in question MAY have been roll marked, but I don't think so. Went and looked at some today, and whilst neatly done, varied in location a bit.
BTW, quite a bit of variation in codes, as well, but at least two started w/ "B". Unfortunately not enough time to get more studious, sorry!
The reference was more to show how most pistol markings were applied. On the 1911A1 the slide and receiver markings were put on with a roll die, but the acceptance marks were hand stamped, and are normally crooked in that the die was not sitting evenly on the steel when struck.
Some 1911 slides are know with the roll mark on the opposite side, apparently where the operator got the slide turned wrong when the roll marking was applied.