After the No.5 Jungle Carbine program ended in 1947, the Maltby and Fazakerly plants were without work.
The FTR program was started at Fazakerley in 1948 (the "F" preceding FTR) and continued until 1956. It was both a "make work" program to keep one of the Britishplants functioning and keeping skilled workers employed in a post war economic recovery, and a response to the Soviet
saber-rattling (Korea and Berlin Air Lift). The electro-penciling is the standard for method used during the FTR.
What's unique with your rifle is that its missing a date. Most of the FTR rifles will have a date attached as in this picture which indicates it was upgraded in 1956:
Perhaps yours is a very early FTR, before dates were included.
The good news is the an FTR gun was carefully gauged and inspected to ensure the gun retains 80% of life expectancy for all parts. So you have a virtually new, factory reconditioned rifle -- to me the best value in a WWII relic.
Last edited by Seaspriter; 08-31-2015 at 08:50 PM.