Enfield Help

Last week I bought a No. 1 MK III* Enfield. I paid $300 with the bayonet. I'm planning to post some pics soon. I'm still learning but so far it's markings are: FR 44, Crown over GRI over crossed flags over a "P". On the right side of the stock it has in a circle, S A with an arrow between over an I. All the serial numbers I've found so far match including the volly sights. I have no idea what year it was made. There is no information on the right side band under the bolt handle. On top of the barrel it's stamped Osterr Gendarmerie. I was hoping someone can help me translate all of this.

Thanks,

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Can't really tell much from your photos. Your rifle doesn't have "volley sights", just the standard arrangement. The barrel mark means it was owned by Austrian police at one point and the ISA on the butt indicates later Indian use. FR44 is a 1944 rebuild mark, probably done in India.

A lot of this I have been able to figure out. I did find out after I posted that I didn't have "volley sights". I still can't figure out when it was made. I have no markings on the band under the bolt handle. From the GRI I assume it was made in India. From the FR 44 I assume it was made pre-44. I'm also assuming from this that it is a .303 and not the .308. From what I read on the internet the Gendarmerie stamp means it was used by the Austrian police post-war. As you can tell there is a lot of assumption going on here. Finding out about it all is kind of cool though. I really need to post clearer pics and also some of the bayonet. That thing is like a mini-sword. On the left rear of the bolt there is a "J" stamp. On the right there is an "A" above what looks like a 51. Next to the serial # there is a "Z". On the right side of the forward band there is a "C" above what is either a 15 or IS. Hard to tell. On the left of that band there is an F1 (I think) above something I can't make out.

Just a quick point, a Gendarmerie is not the same as Police. They are two different types of organisation that exist side by side.

Your pictures are astoundingly bad, but it sounds like a rifle which India has overhauled, which included linishing all previous manufacturer's marks and stripping it down to barreled receiver level and drawing the next available bunch of (possibly refurbished) parts out of the bins. These can ba a mix of any and all parts, as long as they were serviceable.
Many assorted British and American guns were passed to the post-war Austrian 'police' units, which were all that the occupation force could form under the Allied agreements on disarming Germany.

The pictures are horrible. They were taken with my 4 year old camera phone. I realize the Gendarmerie and the Austrian police are two different organizations. What do I need to do to make sure it is in fact a .303. The last thing I want is to load the wrong ammo and end up with a problem on my hands. And what do I do to find out the original year of manufacture?

If it's marked no.1 mk3* then it's .303. If marked 2A or 2A1 then it's 7.62.


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I'm pretty sure you'll find it's in 303. The way to be sure is try to slip a 303 in the chamber by hand. It will go in perfectly. All the way to the rim. Try a 308 and it won't even start. I doubt it's a 410 shotgun chamber or you would be able to tell.

Thanks. I was pretty sure it was .303. I'm really looking forward to taking it out and shooting it but that will have to wait a few months.

Hey Beery, good point. Gendarmerie and Police in Austria have an equivalent in England. First, there are the 'real Police' that you can talk sense to and then we have the 'traffic Police' that are, well........, er....... the opposite! You get my drift

These weapons have an interesting history. The British and U.S. occupying forces created fairly secret weapons dumps in collaboration with the Austrian authorities for the eventuality of a Russian take-over when the Allies left. These, mainly obsolete weapons were to arm Austrian resistance fighters. A number of these weapons caches have never been accounted for. Obsolete Allied weapons with Austrian Gendarmerie markings turn up regularly as well as Gendarmerie marked Lugers that are now a collectors´ speciality.

I have to say that I'm very happy so far with the rifle. I didn't realize when I bought it that I'd be trying to track the history like this. It's almost a DIY history detective search. That's how I found this sight. I'm very interested in war weapons. I do plan for this to be my first of three (or more) Enfields and one of many WWII weapons. It is the start of a collection. Anyone happen to know where I can get a sniper Enfield? Other than the one currently on gunbroker for $7K that is.

I think The Bug has bitten you, friend, and you now are in for a terminal case of Enfielditis.

Same bug bit me almost 50 years ago and I'm still suffering the effects, flipping up bolt-handles at gun shows, always wishing I had a spare $20k in my pocket.

So far I have come up with a couple of prizes: PH converted LM II with a Parker barrel, s/n 0019........ an awful junker that turned out to be an SMLE 1945 factory RTF with an ALUMINUM forestock........ few things like that. But no $7k snipers. One of those will have to wait until my tales of Sidney the Profound are sold. (Sidney: semi-retired wizard with 4 wives, living, right now, in Saxon England. He sailed with a friend called Bjarni Herjolfsson, has a good friend named Harold Godwinsson. And a Cat who is a personal friend of Bast. Well-connected, one might say.)

But the Enfield Bug never goes away; it can only be endured.

And enduring it can be a LOT of fun.

Welcome aboard!
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