R.F.I. NoI Mk3* 1972 dated.

This is a "Brand New" still in its original grease No1 Mk3* RFI rifle in grenade launching guise. It is not mine but belongs to a friend who kindly allowing me to photgraph it. It has yet to go for proof but it is thought that the rear wire binding will have to be removed to allow the barrel to have proof marks applied. I was under the impression that these were last made in 1970 but as you can see this one is marked 1972. I just love the bolt through the forend, nothing pretty just very practical..........


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I don't think you need to remove the binding for proof - they have done hundreds of these rifles without any such requirement. I don't have any of my wire-wraps to hand to check, but the Proof Houses obviously either use a small stamp on the rear of the barrel, or make some kind of an exception where the barrel is inaccessible.

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Originally Posted by Thunderbox

I don't think you need to remove the binding for proof - they have done hundreds of these rifles without any such requirement. I don't have any of my wire-wraps to hand to check, but the Proof Houses obviously either use a small stamp on the rear of the barrel, or make some kind of an exception where the barrel is inaccessible.

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On a recent visit to the Birmingham Proof House I confirmed that they are quite happy to stamp the barrel on the exposed section just behind the rear sight so no unwrapping required. For those in the UK if you get a chance to visit the proof house do so it is well worth it, the tour takes about three hours and costs £150 for a maximum of ten people so it won't break the bank, the proof house is 200 years old this year and they are still using the same buildings, a visit is the next best thing to time travel ...............

Attachment 41084 Picked up his older brother this week end. Glad to add this odd creature to my Enfield collection. Having seen this post earlier helped me to recognise what I was looking at.

We were still refurbishing these as UK War Reserve stocks in 1970. Including stripping down, greasing and re-binding. I seem to remember that we only had one cup discharger to test them with (not live firing....., just the fit of the cup) but they all went back into Mobilisation Stores afterwards

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Originally Posted by Buccaneer

For those in the UK if you get a chance to visit the proof house do so it is well worth it, the tour takes about three hours and costs £150 for a maximum of ten people so it won't break the bank, the proof house is 200 years old this year and they are still using the same buildings, a visit is the next best thing to time travel ...............

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I went there recently with the HBSA, they also have a small museum of firearms & rare ammunition, plus the area where they reload all the proof ammunition is interesting as well. Well worth a visit.