No. 4 MK 1/2 - Identification Help

[36IDRedleg]

I recently acquired my first Enfield from Royal Tiger Imports (RTI). It was an "A" Grade marketed as "Original" so, I thought I was getting an original rifle that had not been through FTR. Instead, I got a parts gun that appears to have gone through FTR twice. It is part of the Ethiopian cache that RTI is currently marketing. One FTR at ROF Fazakerley and once in Pakistan (POF). Now, I am not complaining, really as it is an all matching serials rifle and in what CMP would describe as Service to Field Grade. The headspace it tight within specs, shoots well, and fully operational. All I had to do was clean it.
BTW, the customer service at RTI was first rate, even if I think the prices are at the high end of the spectrum. Just don't order lesser grade rifles and expect that you are buying anything but parts queens. "It is marked No. 4 MK 1/2" so that tells me it was at least FTR'd at Fazakerley, probably in about 1951. I conclude that as there is a mark on the cocking piece that says "F51). It also has and F-marked micrometer sight and a Long Branch safety lever and Long Branch butt plate. The small metal stock and magazine pieces are SMC (Singer). The Pakistan conclusion comes from the lower gun metal being marked "P 59" and a new barrel with a Pakistani Star in Crescent proof mark. All the metal is in black paint. See attached Photos:

Attachment 110947Attachment 110948Attachment 110949Attachment 110950Attachment 110951Attachment 110952Attachment 110953Attachment 110954

I would appreciate if anyone could shed light on the potential history of this rifle and how it got from Pakistan to Ethiopia (Pre-1974).

Information

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[Mk VII]

yes, 'original' just means 'we haven't had to fix it up'.

[36IDRedleg]

UPDATE: I found an RFI proof mark on the bolt head. This and other indicators tell me this rifle was in Indian FTR at Ishapore. The Pakistani proof mark on the barrel indicates POF FTR. This has the earmarks of a rifle that has changed hands probably through the India-Pakistan War of 1962. I think this rifle has obviously seen combat.

[Maxwell Smart]

I don't think it was FTR'd at ROF Fazakerley; the conversion markings are not of the style used there.

[davidwrankin]

Can you show a picture of the barrel marks? I'd be interested in that.

That "No 4 Mk 1/2" looks like the "No 4 Mk 2" that was done to my gun somewhere in India (probably) or Ethiopia, not at Fazakerley. The FTR marks I've seen for Fazakerley are electropencil and a lot more compact & professional. Your stamp looks similar (but not identical) to mine: hand stampings from individual letter chisels. Too generic for someone wanting to fake factory marks, but too professional for a random Joe in the field.

I have an RTI No 4 Mk 2 that went the India to Ethiopia route. There's no documentation, but I have to assume that a gun "trader" bought a truckload (or boatload, etc.) of surplus Indian No 4s, and then shipped them to one side or the other of the Ethiopian civil war. Post-war, they got collected and stacked in the goat sheds.

With these guns, there's been so many opportunities for FTRs and so few remaining proof marks that we're never going to "know" the history of the guns. However, in their own way, they have their own mystery paths that make them interesting to me.

Not interesting enough to sent RTI any more money, mind you...