Questions for Capt. Laidler on late Fazakerley No 4 production:

[Peter Laidler]

I'm not saying that they would be used to replace BER rifles but it would be an ideal opportunity to get rid of over production bodies to feed them into the Ordnance system as we've seen with the 1957 FTR rifles that are nothing of the sort, but are in fact new build(?). Don't forget, the body was the highly accountable item that was subject to audit and accounting. And by 1957, who wanted obsolete but accountable stocks. Those are just my thoughts. Those accountable bodies that did remain ended up in MoS stores at somewhere and were used for the L39 programme

It's a bit like when the MG factory closed................. Who wanted a factory full of valuable stock, spare parts and unsold cars? So they just sent the finished and accountable cars to the dealers who couldn't even sell the cars they already had. And packed up all the spares and sent them back to UNIPART to slip back into the spare/replacement parts system................... Only they didn't. They just sent the whole lot to the local tip at Drayton and buried the lot

[Mk VII]

I used to have A15579 which was marked F57 FTR just like this.

[Calfed]

I used to have A15579 which was marked F57 FTR just like this.

I've got A15573 (6 numbers off), marked as 1955. To me, this adds credence to Capt. Laidler's explanation that a new receiver was given an existing serial number of a rifle that could not be rebuilt.

[stevebc]

Anyone know where UF56 A43413 (NOT an FTR) fits into this? It's outside the serial range of Frederick's original post...

Or have I misunderstood this post entirely? (Entirely possible!)

[Peter Laidler]

I'm totally lost too but as UF56A 43413 is a new build, that is probably its sequential serial number. In the great scheme of things, the UF56 part of the number system was simply informative to Armourers etc etc whoever needed that info for technical purposes. The actual sequential serial/registered number is A-43413. So if this was simply transferred to this new-build rifle and the original scrapped, then so be it.

The 'master component' only became the master component and thereafter deemed accountable, valuable and attractive was the second the serial number was attached