For your amusement check out this "sniper rifle":
http://egun.de/market/item.php?id=3685735
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For your amusement check out this "sniper rifle":
http://egun.de/market/item.php?id=3685735
Oh dear!
Translation of the description:
Quote:
for auction a sniper rifle enfield no. 4 mk.2 (F). the rifle is mint (mirror bright bore and nearly new wood) not a single scratch or dent on the rifle. with the sniper rifles you can take off the complete front stock (handguard and lower wood) and set back the front ring so that the barrel can cool off faster. the scope is matching numbers and built in 1943. the adjustment works perfectly (heigh and side adjustment with a scale), compensation scale from 100-1000 meters (or yards), the optics are bright but the edge definition is not the best (but I've once read that the English were not famous for that, so it could have been that this was original). additional there's the metal can where the scope is placed (i do not have any picture for that) and the rifle comes with a bayonet (also unfortunately not shown on the pictures). TOP RIFLE won't be offered that much any more in a absolutely mint condition. ORIGINAL!!!! the rifle can also be deactivated/turned into a salute rifle. +40 Euros sale outside Austria 56 Euro for the permission. private auction so no warranty. by request additional pictures available. tel [XXXX] Austria. the shipping costs in the auction refer to shipping to Germany.
Ugh. I just threw up a little.
Guaranteed to be spotted 8 miles away, the ultimate in stealth.
I bet whoever it was, took that scope to a bench mounted wirewheel. Oh the horror.:yikes:
OK you experts, please explain to me just what gives it away. Not being an expert on these things, I can see a scope mounting that is numbered to the rifle, and a scope that seems a bit old for the rifle. Otherwise, I don't see what there is to laugh about, so please enlighten me!
:wave:
Patrick
Its a No4 Mk2 trying to be an "ORIGINAL" no4 Mk2 T! its just wrong! They do not exist!
Patrick,
I think the most obvious thing is that the rifle is a Mk2 of post-War manufacture. The wartime contracts did run over a little, into 1946, & the Indians did re-work & redate some No4T's in the early 1960's but with those minor exceptions no No4 T's were produced post WW2. The rifle has a six digit serial number; so far as we know no Faz rifles were converted to T's; the pad screws are bright steel; some tyro has engraved a 'T' on the bracket for good measure.......etc.....etc.
But the scope & bracket are real! The scope is eminently restorable; strip & either reblue or blast/phos/suncorite - then reassemble. I don't generally like refinishing but sometimes a piece of kit looks such a mess that I feel a sympathetic refinish can only improve it.....!
That poor little scope. How can someone inflict such indignitely on a 69 year old girl?
At least the scope tube is not showing any signs of external rust, but I wonder how long that will last.
Paul
Thanks Roger, that was very helpful. Now let's see what it fetches!
Patrick
Well, whoever knocked this thing together is quite obvioulsy a fan of the Steampunk genre based on what they did to that poor scope!
Also worth considering that the rifle is clearly in the Irish purchase block.
It went for 1571 Euros. Depending on how you value the scope + mounting + rifle, I would rate that as pretty expensive, but not totally crazy.
Since the actual highest bidder frequently bids on items offered from the same seller and used the same style of language in own auctions (no capital letters, strange/wrong punctuation) I assume he bought it himself. The second highest bidder from Belgium is real and nevertheless it's astonishing that someone placed a bid of 1560,99 Euros on that rifle.
:lol:I could do with some customers like that!
ATB
Here are a few photos of Indian re-arsenaled No4 Mk 1/2 sniper.Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Payne
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...Sniper21-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...Sniper11-1.jpg
Please note that the markings are copied and Photoshopped into the shots to highlight the difficult to see and read markings. The rifle serial number appears on the scope mount but, as you can see, was obscured in the photo. The matching scope number appears on the wrist. The complete rig is in essentially "new" re-arsenaled condition.
I have seen several incomplete Indian snipers, but this is the only complete unit I have ever seen. Gentlemen, your thoughts and observations are welcome.
It's had a rather more professional refurb than most Indian rifles I've seen!
And that telescope certainly looks like it's been through a more careful workshop than the usual Indian Army instrument workshop judging from some of their work that I've seen
Where's the "ishi" screw? Its just not the same without it!
Is there something wrong with my eyes or is that scope bent down behind the rear mount?
they are painted on muff!Quote:
Originally Posted by muffett.2008
cheers
Ned
Woof Woof
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Payne
Roger and Peter:Quote:
Peter Laidler wrote: "And that telescope certainly looks like it's been through a more careful workshop than the usual Indian Army instrument workshop judging from some of their work that I've seen"
You gentlemen are known to all as experts on the No.4 sniper rifles and the No.32 scopes, so your opinion of this piece would be greatly appreciated. :bow:
Other than perhaps reflecting a nicer refurbishment than you would expect coming from India/RFI, is there anything that strikes you as "wrong"? In your opinion, is this a true and correct original rig? :thup: Or a fake? :thdown:
The last time I posted photos of this sniper was back around 2001 on the old Gun & Knife Enfield Forum. I don't remember the responses I received other than that of our Aussie friend, "Vulch" who stated that the rifle could not possibly be "real". I don't remember the basis of his disapproval. :dunno:
In my opinion, then and now, this is a real, authentic Indian sniper. Not something cobbled together by a collector or shooter here in the States or elsewhere. The purchase price close to 20 years ago was about $500, which if I recall correctly was about how much a nice No.32 scope and mount assembly sold for at that time. There wasn't much of a profit to be made if fakery was at play.
It goes without saying that I very much want this piece to be "real", but I do not believe I am engaging in unsupported, wishful thinking. Holding this rifle in hand, and trying my very best to be objective, and unswayed by my desires, I truly believe it's a good piece.
Do you agree or are you going to shatter my hopes and illusions? :crying:
Whether it's good news or bad, thanks for your help! :)
Hi Richard,
The rifle looks good enough to me. The FR 1962 etc looks pretty typical of the rigs I've seen. I always like to have a look at rifle bodies without the scopes on so as to get a good view of the pads, but even so I suspect yours is right enough. It is a little atypical in that it doesn't appear to have the proverbial 'Ishy screw' & the general finish of both the rifle & scope are rather better than most. However I think it's real enough....
Won't be in a position to reply to any posts till after the weekend now as am off 'over there' again.
ATB to one & all.
There's not enough detail to tell from the photos except that it's been re-finished somewhere - but not India. But like Roger says, it looks original enough. And I'd rather have a Mk1/2 than a Mk1 any day
Peter:Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Laidler
Thanks for your opinion! When you say it's been refinished somewhere, do you mean by a private individual owner/hobbyist? Or by some nation/military force?
It looks exactly like it's been fine bead blasted and put through the phosphating tank. So it was very probably by some comnmercial outfit. If it was UK Military, we'd send it on through the paint bay then hard bake it but the only person in the US who can hard bake in sunkorite is BDL as I understand it