Enfield Sniper

[Roger Payne]

It's a peach. As people have said the scope & bracket look to be mis-matched to the rifle but they are perfectly correct. The bracket bears the serial of a 1945 rifle to which it was originally fitted. The bracket was made by Rose Brothers of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, & was one of two UK contractors who produced them. The scope is a Taylor Hobson Company Mk3, the Mk3 being generally considered the most desirable mark. The rifle is a beauty & looks correct to me. I think in fact there is a letter 'S' on the cut-off block, but it is only shallowly stamped. The fact that the rifle does not bear a 'T' on the body side wall may indicate that it was one of the so-called 'scopeless rifles' originally. Some rifles were converted by Holland & Holland but were not fitted with telescopes. However, many were in later service so fitted. If the rifle was scoped up then there should be a scope number stamped into the wood at the very front top of the butt, just behind the back end of the bolt. If there is nothing there you probably do indeed have one of the 'scopeless rifles' that an individual has acquired the current scope & bracket for.

I'm not the best to comment on value as I'm in the UK (about ten miles from where the rifle was originally made), but I'd definitely give it house room!

ATB.