Enfield part numbers prefixed with "CR"
I saw this over on Jouster's forums and I thought some of you Enfield collectors might find it interesting.
Quote:
CR prefixes
Posted By: Peter Laidler
Date: Sun 17 Feb 2008 4:20 am
This little marking has cropped up further down the thread. If you see this followed by a 3 or 4 figure number, then it's post 1946 when the part numbers changed from ORDNANCE allocated numbers, say BB 4306 to Ministry of Supply numbering, to B1/CR 2063. This is due to the B1 (that's B one and not B eye) being the Ordnance reference for a rifle and CRxxxx being the 'new' Ministry part number.
During the 50's and 60's they all changed again to the NATO type. So you could have a part that started its life as BB 1234, then became B1/BB1234 then became B1/CR 2936 (look, it'd be TOO easy to just add the prefix, so they changed the whole xxxxing number too!) then during the 60's it became B1/1005-99-960-1674. Yep, same again. It would be too easy to keep the same identifying numbers so they changed the whole lot!
The problems would arise at a big base workshop where you ordered, say, No5 butt plate pads under the new/current B1/1005-99-963-1828 number but it would come in, still wraped in its original 40's wrapping, still with its original BB595 number. So guess what the stupid storeman would do? Yep, right first time!
Regards,
Badger
