Rare Enfield maybe?

Hi gentlemen, new member here. Recently I was asked to look at two old rifles a friend had found in the basement of his late fathers house. They had lain uncased for over 20 years. I found them both to be Enfields, somewhat rusty, dirty, and the forearms had been cut off about 10 inches back of the end of the barrel. I didn't know much about Enfield rifles so, after research on the web and contacting someone in England I was able to identify them. One appears to be a #1 Mk 4 with a 5 digit serial. But the other has, on the band behind the trigger guard, a crown with GR (George Rex), date 1924, and Enfield ShtLE. The amazing thing is, it has matching serial number 175 on the rear of the bolt, magazine and barrel. The flip up sight only goes to 1400 yards though. Could this be a trials rifle? The man I spoke with in England said it is a fairly rare piece with a low serial number. Anyone know where I can find the wood stock parts to restore it. The contact in England said he would normally have them but his woodworker is critically ill and may not be back. Thanks, Jivin Ivan

Can you post photos of the rifle and all the numbers and marks?

I can but will probably take a day or two. Never posted photos to a forum before. I can scan photos but what address do I send them to?

You can send them to me by Email and I'll post them here for you. See your PM for my Email address...

"But the other has, on the band behind the trigger guard, a crown with GR (George Rex), date 1924, and Enfield ShtLE. The amazing thing is, it has matching serial number 175 on the rear of the bolt, magazine and barrel. The flip up sight only goes to 1400 yards though. Could this be a trials rifle?"

If by "flip-up sight" you mean a folding sight mounted on the back end of the receiver, then it is probably a messed-up SMLE MkV. The backsight was marked to 1400 yds and the number and receiver date would be plausible. A MKV is worth restoring.

"The contact in England said he would normally have them but his woodworker is critically ill and may not be back."


If by "contact" you mean EFD in Kent, then I must tell you that I am not aware of any other source of parts for a MkV. So you would be into a fairly heavy DIY operation.

But PHOTOS are VITAL !!!

EFD doesn't have any woodwork because their joiner is in his 90s and is seriously ill. There's no other source for wood parts, but you can get creative with Mk III parts. There is a restoration thread in the collectors forum.

If you can't send them to Jim and if it's easier for you, email them to me at badger@milsurps.com.

I'll re-size them and put them in your post for this thread.... :thup:

Regards,
Doug

I'll send them to both of you and one of you could post them, Thanks, I'm just not sure what I've got and if I can find the parts to restore it. I have already bought the mag cut off (broken and missing on mine) and the metal nosepiece from a Mk III. I was told many parts from a Mk III will work. JivinIvan

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Here's the photo's that Jivinivan sent...basically just as suspected. A heavily sporterized No 1 Mk V...

It looks like it can be restocked to "look" original, too bad bubba got to it.

The cut off in the Mk V doesnt have a viewing hole. I have a cast nose cap band from Blackley and sons in England, took me quite a few months of wait time. It's in the raw, but if you're interested in buying let me know. They take a bit of work.

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Its hard to tell in the pictures but it looks like you might be able to splice the front of a Mk III forend onto your forend, that would be better than using a complete MkIII because of the screw hole and inlets for the back sight protector. The rear handguard is the other tricky part, but you can cobble together a Mk Iii and a No 4. You might find it easier to find EFD a replacement wood guy.

Bear in mind that there were in fact TWO types of the proposed Mk5. The new made and the slightly cheaper conversion from Mk3. The conversion (we had two of this pattern at Warminster) had the former backsight ear recess and other holes patched in. I'd suggest that this is a far quicker and simpler way to go.

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Originally Posted by Smellymarkfive

The cut off in the Mk V doesnt have a viewing hole. I have a cast nose cap band from Blackley and sons in England, took me quite a few months of wait time. It's in the raw, but if you're interested in buying let me know. They take a bit of work.

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I waited and waited and the end product was useless to honest, sourced one from Roger Payne in the end and was a really nice repro, don't know the origins but it was forged rather than cast.

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Originally Posted by Peter Laidler

Bear in mind that there were in fact TWO types of the proposed Mk5. The new made and the slightly cheaper conversion from Mk3. The conversion (we had two of this pattern at Warminster) had the former backsight ear recess and other holes patched in. I'd suggest that this is a far quicker and simpler way to go.

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Took the words out my mouth Peter regarding a No1 Mk111 fore-end, I only patched the sight protector recess on my rebuild ,only problem is No1 Mk111 fore-ends are in demand and fetch a high premium.

The band I got from Blackley's worked well, but was a pain in the arse to get it to work well. I remember sorting through a big box of mauser bands at a gun show and wondering if any of those were adaptable but never followed it up. I thought EFD had the bands in stock though.

my thought about the forend was based on the pictures, if you've got a useable Mk V stock I'd go with that and splice it, because otherwise you're throwing it away in favor of a MkIII. I wasn't talking about properness. Forends that are buggered at the receiver end can be found by making some calls. I got one super cheap from Springlield Sporters and used the front part.
It's difficult to tell in the photos but it looks a bit sanded near the outer band and might be totally f***ed anyway.

As to the earlier subject of the wood, new wood can be had from Macon Gunstocks.

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Originally Posted by gundoc2112

As to the earlier subject of the wood, new wood can be had from Macon Gunstocks.

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Had a look on the website the No1 Mk111 Enfield timber is sporter based, they have No4 and No5 timber, but no No1 MkV.

Just got a forend from Numrich for 60 bucks and its a real beaut

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Originally Posted by Smellymarkfive

Just got a forend from Numrich for 60 bucks and its a real beaut

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I should of mentioned in Post 13 ( in the UK they are in short supply and demand a high premium) there are NOS ones about but they don't have the same aesthetics as the old made ones. I used a NOS one on the rebuild I did, it was slightly warped but didn't have any effect as I had to remove some material to enable the barrel I made to fit. Still doesn't look right to me but shoots fine. If a No1 MkV fore-end ever comes my way then .......

SMLE No1 MkV Restoration (Part's 1 thru 7)

With a date of 1924 and a serial number of 175 it could hardly be anything else.