Enfields Gas Axed

[Alan de Enfield]

From Surplus Rifles Forum :

I have just returned from a safari trip to South Africa. While walking around Cape Town, I noticed a gunshop in a little side alley called City Guns. I was naturaly drawn to this and after ringing a bell on the barred door, I was let in. Nothing unusual inside. Some hand guns and modern hunting rifles. The owner came up to me and inquired if he could help me. I told him I was a military surplus collector and just noseying around. "Come with me " he said and led me down some dark stairs to the basement. He rand a bell and an armoured door opened and my heart stopped beating.

In a huge workshop men were welding actions of every type of Enfield and Mauser you can imagine. You name it and it was being de activated. Beautiful long Lees and Boer war Mausers. Mint SA marked No 1 Mk3s. FN 308s and a few Stens, all being trashed. "Why" I asked. In SA there is a new law. All firearms, and almost all are registered with the police, have to be either de activated or handed in to be put in the crusher. The huge warehouse stores of Enfields, Stens ,Brens and Vickers have been destroyed as well as thousands of Webleys and 1911s.

I was shattered at this carnage of treasure. I could hardly wait to get out of there. Museums with great milsurp collections have turned their weapons in to be destroyed as they cant afford to cost of de activation. This makes all SA marked active rifles a collectors item. No more are coming out of SA.

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