Pics of a Few Parts off of a Newly Purchased No4

[Peter Laidler]

Yes, they're Ministry of Supply examiners. These usually operated from the outreaches, such as Fazakerley, Maltby and you'll see them on weaponry, usually pistols but on other stuff too, that's passed through the 'in-inspectors' at Woolwich. When stuff has gone through Woolwich, yoiu'll usually see the letter W with a crown over the top. Someone has shown a good enlarged picture of this in the past

[Mk VII]

[Peter Laidler]

That's the one.......... Thanks for that Mk7

[P-07ShortLee]

Thanks Mk VII and Mr. Laidler, I learned something new from this post.

[Surpmil]

Interesting combination of parts. As for whether the band is original to the rifle, one wonders...could Long Branch have supplied some early parts to Savage early in the latter's production? Perhaps.

The SM41 sight guard is a bit odd though. Can't see any reason for that to be on there, other than pure fluke.

Unless of course both parts were added by some enterprising soul intending to make the rifle look more unique to complement its 0C---- status. Where it came from would perhaps indicate whether that might the case.

[curly]

Dear Surpmil,

the answer is simple: that Savage rifle came from an auction of rifles, all from the same source, which included four early No.4 Mk1s - a '41 British No.4 Mk1, a '41 Long Branch No.4 Mk1, a 1941 Savage No.4 Mk1 and a SMLE MkVI converted to No.4Mk1 spec. Most of the rifles were mismatched and I suspect the parts were swapped over by well-meaning but ill-informed people. I bought the Trials rifle and I'm pretty certain the front sight protector and swivel for it is on that Savage. I expect the correct parts for the Savage are on the Long Branch rifle or mine - I asked for close-up photos but they never appeared.

Curly

[RJW NZ]

Funny story, I hope ya'll get the right parts on the right rifle, ...

[tlvaughn]

what is the serial no. on the bolt?

The serial number on the bolt matches.

[jmoore]

The SM '41 front sight protector does NOT belong on a Enfield built No.4 Mk.I trials rifle, unless it happened during an early overhaul. If original, it would be Enfield mfg.

That said, the Singer front sight protector is mighty scarce! Probably mostly used on early Maltbys as a SWAG.

[jmoore]

Just to clear up some differences discussed off forum, here's a couple of ENFIELD No.4 Mk.1 parts which are not quite the same as anything before or after.

So:


Note the markings



Sorry, I don't have a photo of the swivel alone, but a sharp eye will note that it's more of a two piece "block and wire" assembly rather than a one piece forging as seen on earlier types (shown in post #1). ETA2: Also interesting to note is the LB band (post #1) has a very similar "rust blued" finish to the Enfield's band. Nice!


ETA1: Looking at the photo of the butt socket (post #6), it appears to have two post war inspections dated '48 and 52 (I think). But rather more interesting to me are what appear to be late Fazackerly inspectors' marks as noted earlier- One just above the "0" in the S/N and the other on the lower side of the "flaming bomb" mark. Usually, thet seem to be found just forward of the butt socket under the wood line. There's a story there, waiting to be deciphered.

ETA3: Photo of a Fazackerly No.4 Mk.2:


Note the mark on the far left.

So, these were roving MoS inspectors or??? Not sure if this is to what Captain Laidler refers...