A new production military Enfield sniper rifle - maybe...

[Thunderbox]

Not sure if this is a hoax or for real, but various blogs are reporting that the Indian Ordnance Factories are offering a new sniper rifle:



It seems to be a modified 2A1 in a modern stock. Pity the photo is so bad.

No information listed on the Indian Ordnance Factory website, but maybe this rifle is viewable at one of the larger gun or defence shows in the US right now?

If its for real, then this has to make the Enfield No1 action the champion for military longevity!

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[jmoore]

IF the Finns have stopped using the Mosin-Nagant for sniper duty!

[me2]

I would think with the many new design hi-tech sniper systems out there today, this offering isnt going to attract much attention in the military market. Potential civilian interest could be good.

[Peter Laidler]

It looks like a rebarrelled No4T to me because you can still see two of the three front pad holes behind the breeching up ring and the what looks to be bare metal at the rear where the rear pad will have been. Fitting a standardised telescope bracket to a No1 body would be an engineering nightmare. That's why H&H opted for the BSA. All were identical within the realms of wartime supply, were available without interruption of supply and, presumably on quality, Birmingham were a better bet than Liverpool!

[Thunderbox]

It looks like a rebarrelled No4T to me because you can still see two of the three front pad holes behind the breeching up ring and the what looks to be bare metal at the rear where the rear pad will have been. Fitting a standardised telescope bracket to a No1 body would be an engineering nightmare. That's why H&H opted for the BSA. All were identical within the realms of wartime supply, were available without interruption of supply and, presumably on quality, Birmingham were a better bet than Liverpool!

Looks to me like a No1 safety at the back (painted white?) and a No1 profile barrel on the front - ergo a 2A1.

Can't see how the scope bracket is attached; maybe that is a massive single block attached to the receiver in the middle. Actually, Parker Hale "continental" slide-off mounts were a very succesful scope mount for the No1.

I imagine that this is a post-Mumbai project to equip the Police with a cheap sharpshooter rifle - something like the Enforcer. That would make sense to chop up a few thousand 2A1s instead of buying a new and expensive sniper rifle.

[PrinzEugen]

I imagine that this is a post-Mumbai project to equip the Police with a cheap sharpshooter rifle - something like the Enforcer. That would make sense to chop up a few thousand 2A1s instead of buying a new and expensive sniper rifle.

Ah but what would the police in india shoot if the rampaging bulls are sacred? An important point, I feel!

[RJW NZ]

blessed bullets

[bearhunter]

The whole thing looks photoshopped to me.

By the time all of the modifications were done, it wouldn't be any cheaper than a properly built light sniper rifle.

[Surpmil]

I think what looks like the tinned area where the front pad would have been on a No4(T) is actually the leading edge of the Dragunov type rail they have fitted. The rear end can be seen as well just past the mount, and the lever of the typical PSO type Russian mount clamp, only here the lever is on the upper side rather than the lower.

Just in front of the forward end of the rail is visible one of the screws holding it to the receiver, which is necessarily lower than the rail itself.

Bizarre, but they seem to have cut down the receiver into what a "one-piece" stock configuration was sometimes done in the target shooting world when No4's were standard.

The scope, upside down! Ordnance Factory Board

No sign of the mounts or the rifle on their webpage.

The height and depth of the receiver ring looks SMLE, but the curve of the receiver at the rear looks more No4-like to me. The cutouts for the safety springs etc. in the stock look like they could accomodate No1 or No4 safeties. Maybe they built the stock to fit either?!

Since they got the machinery to make No4 Mk2s from Fazakerly, I really don't understand why they keep messing around with the SMLE, especially for purposes like this!

And if you go to IOF's webpage and look at their civilian arms, it seems they may license build a Steyr in 30-06!