Wonky Enforcer engravings

[PrinzEugen]

Quite a lot has been said on this forum re the enforcer engravings which look a bit, well, wonky.

I was just flicking through my 7.62mm L42A1 Sniper, L39A1, 2A & Lee enfield conversions book by Ian Skennerton in the Small Arms Identification Series (as you do...) and happened across a picture of an Enforcer for reference purposes to show the receiver engraving. And lo - the engraving was wonky!

If my enforcer had such engraving I'd certainly be a bit heartened by this! Perhaps the fakery isn't as widespread as we might think. After all we'd hope that an enfield expert as eminent as Mr S would be right!

The enforcer in question (on page 12) was no 748 - and therefore so far as I'm aware was unissued and probably put together later - but food for thought in any case.

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[spinecracker]

But was the engraving done at Enfield or later?

[Alan de Enfield]

According to the sales ledgers 748 was not assembled / sold by Enfield. It is probably a Charnwood assembled one.

[PrinzEugen]

But was the engraving done at Enfield or later?

Well surely charnwood didn't engrave them. After all if they had bought up the Enforcer actions but they were't Enforcer engraved, then they would be the sdame as all the other 7.62 target rifle etc rifles out there.

[Thunderbox]

Well surely charnwood didn't engrave them. After all if they had bought up the Enforcer actions but they were't Enforcer engraved, then they would be the sdame as all the other 7.62 target rifle etc rifles out there.

Someone out there has the means to mimic the Enfield engraving.....

[Roger Payne]

I'm sure a number of people have copied engraving on Enfield receivers (both Enforcer & other variants), & I would concur with Thunderbox on this. However, I specifically spoke to Tony & Rob Hallam recently about these so called 'Charnwood Enforcers' that they are stated to have made/assembled. In fact, I was one of their customers at the time the whole episode was going on, but took little notice as Enforcers are a bit 'modern' for me! What they said was what I vaguely recollect being told at the time; that there were relatively few partially assembled (& engraved up) barrelled actions that they had bought in as a job lot & which they completed so as to make saleable. They could not remember exactly how many but we are talking perhaps only a couple of dozen tops; maybe not even that many. IIRC British Aerospace had taken over what had been Enfield & sold off a lot of 'junk' which included the Enforcer barrelled actions. However, Peter, Thunderbox, or other forummers may know more about the business/ecoomic wheeling & dealing that went on at the time.

ATB

[Alan de Enfield]

There are 134 (one hundred and thirty four) Enforcer 'actions' that were produced and are unaccounted for in the Enfield sales ledgers.

From what I have been able to find out Charnwood was one of three or four 'dealers', (another was in Durham) who purchased the Enforcer bits & pieces.
The gunshop in Durham was recently (last couple of years or so) sold and the 'new' owner found a storeroom 'in the back' (which he didnt know was there) which contained around a dozen almost completed Enforcers + actions, barrels, woodwork, sights etc to build about a dozen more.

[Roger Payne]

Thanks Alan. This would suggest that Charnwood didn't get all of the incomplete Enforcers, or if they did they sold some on 'as-is' for others to complete. However, if there is a deficit of 134 it would seem more likely (bearing in mind what I was told) that they only got a part of the batch, the others going elswhere.

[Brian Dick]

I had three of the Enforcers assembled at Charnwood Ordnance including the last one produced, sn. 767. The markings were all original as far as I know. They were consistent and pretty much the same as an earlier, matching, former police rifle I have. The bolts weren't numbered on the Charwood assembled rifles which made them easily distiguishable from the complete rifles built at Enfield.

[PrinzEugen]

And returning to the original issue re the markings which have been called into question - do people think that the very late enforcer engravings may indeed have been a bit wonky? There have been quite a few posted on this forum, and as I mentioned in the op - even reproduced in reference books as examples.