Enfield Enforcer - Update

[Alan de Enfield]

I have a problem with the engineering of the sight mountings of these rifles or indeed, ANY rifle where the front sight base is screwed into a 4mm thickness of breeching up ring. I keep thinking of my engineering physics lessons - you remember them, the total clock and anti-clockwise rotational moments and all that. I wonder just how substantial the front mounting pad grip on the body can possibly be, being retained in place with 4 or 6BA screws threaded into a base of 4mm or so.

The recoil forces and rearwards rotating forces on the telescope must be substantial. (In fact, I could work them out mathematically if I had the weight of the telescope...) I remember that even with the old No32 on the No4 and L42 could and would rotate under torque and shear off the locating spigot on the front rifle pad. In fact we had a repair policy formulated for them.

These are my views. Any comments asto the mechanical sustainability of these front pads.

As for their strength when used in the sniping role, being battered and bruised during a long stalk across Salisbury Plain..............

Whilst I hav'nt fired off thousands of rounds thru' a rifle with the PH mounts used on the Enforcer I have fired in excess of 100 in one day and several 100s over a few weeks.
This was with the Enforcer clone I built.

I cannot argue with the theory / mathematics / metalurgy but in practice they have NOT shifted or screws loosened 'one-iota' (an 'iota' is a non-armourers term meaning an immeasurably small amount)

I'm not stalking across Salisbury Plain which may help.

Brian - they were used at the Iranian Embassy siege in London but I dont know if they were actually fired. If only we knew the serial numbers of those ones, what a story.
(NB - the Metropolitan Police had 45 Enforcers, the highest number held by any force, closely followed by Glasgow with 44)