Green stripe on OZ .22 No.2 Mk.IV?

I recently bought a matching numbers No. 2 Mk.IV Enfield in .22 caliber which looks nearly pristine. It however features a green stripe on the stock .. Can you tell me what this should mean, and if it were original?

Try a Milsurps search on phrase green stripe enfield ... ;)

Seems to refer to a cadet rifle ..

Regards,
Doug

A green stripe indicates a NON SERVICE PATTERN weapon

I thought on a Australian No1 Mk III or No2 Mk IV meant Cadet forces use, post 1968 and pre 1975.

Information gotten off the old Gun and Knife forum back in the late 1990s. The earliest date someone recalled seeing the Green (best rating) was around 1972, but speculated the paint marks could have been as early as 1968, shortly after the rifle was retired from the even reserve training use.

Its my understanding that the Australian cadets were issued rifles that had stripes on them green ok yellow only in case of emergency red meant same as DP. I have both a no1mk111 with a green stripe around the but stock and one with a yellow painted end of the muzzle about 9 inches long. Both from Australia.

Correct the paint scheme was for Australian Army Cadet Rifles
Green = Safe to fire up to full service specifications
Yellow = Safe to fire but not up to full service specifications
Red = Not safe to fire Drill Purposes only.

Dick

Aussie, I'm bound to ask why Brens were marked differently then?

I honestly don't know Peter, possibly because the Brens the Cadets used weren't on issue to the School Unit unlike the rifles, but drawn from Central Stores on an as required basis.

School Units were issued:
Rifles and 3 inch mortars only.

Dick

Agreed Dick our cadet unit had MkIII's Red, Yellow & Green (range use only) and a 3" mortar we actually had a demo on the school oval as a demonstration to the other school students what it did but with very reduced charges with the 3" virtually in the middle of Perth near the Princess Margaret Hospital? Could not do that now!
When we used the Bren they were already at the range when we de-trucked as the regular Army always supplied vehicles when we went to the ranges for live weapons training

If it helps, on my ROC course these bands were raised as a topic under identifying useable weapons in the armoury, and I am sure from my memory banks, all it stood for was they were identified for drill and ceremonial use only. They were still usable, but were deemed the best condition for that purpose, basically bull**** and easily tarted up!!

Hey Doug, I only found different reasons for the colours, that was why I thought I should ask the Enfield cracks here. However, looks like I got the same - different - answers than what I had found..

Did I now correctly get it that the meaning of the color depends upon the gun it's used with. And since mine is a .22 cadet rifle, it would follow the same rules as a traffic light: green is the best you can go with, yellow only if the police doesn't see you and you're in a hurry, and stay away from the red ones?

Besides that, any thoughts upon the value of these rifles nowadays?

We had DP Brens with both yellow and white bands used to come through our workshops in Oz especially when the Bn was 'mother' to a local school Cadet Corps (and supplied the range day instructors). We also had live guns come through too of course.

In the UK, you'll find green banded weapons in some of the training unit armouries, such as captured stuff and the odd No4/L4/Bren and the odd Garand or M14 that were used as demonstrators or by the 'enemy'. Hence the Non Service Weapons. Plus the usual white banded DP stuff - but you don't seem to see much DP stuff now. Just the odd L7 and .50 Browning now and again