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Even gently rubbing over with chalk can 'bring back' the numbers, or, using thin 'tracing paper' take a 'rubbing' with a soft pencil.
Mine are not the best, but they are not too bad. I can think of lots of Enfields I'd rather have but instead of constantly striving for more, sometimes it's good to be satisfied with what one has...
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12-04-2021 04:48 AM
# ADS
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I double checked the wrist and the serial does not have a suffix for a prefix letter. It is just 5 numbers. Does that mean early 1944 manufacture? I tried doing some reading online for Garands people have detailed manufacture dates for serial numbers I haven't seen the same for enfields. I just ordered some acetone and raw linseed oil I will post an update as soon as they arrive. If this doesn't work I am intrigued by the blacklight and chalk ideas
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If the rifle is a BSA Shirley dated 1944 & it has no letter prefix, just a five digit number starting with a '3', it will be from the first production run of 1944, so from the beginning of the year. The second run had an 'A' prefix, the third run a 'B' & so on. Unfortunately it is not possible to date them more precisely than this, but as I mentioned earlier, by the end of the year 1944, they were on to P & R prefix rifle serials, so one can get a rough idea.
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That's interesting info Roger places my 47C as the 6th lot with an "F" prefix.
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I should have perhaps mentioned that this doesn't just apply to 4T serials, but all BSA Shirley produced No4 rifles at this time - the rifles for conversion to 4T by H&H were simply selected from the general production run as they demonstrated the necessary degree of accuracy required.
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The Following 2 Members Say Thank You to Roger Payne For This Useful Post:
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If the rifle is a BSA Shirley dated 1944 & it has no letter prefix, just a five digit number starting with a '3', it will be from the first production run of 1944, so from the beginning of the year. The second run had an 'A' prefix, the third run a 'B' & so on. Unfortunately it is not possible to date them more precisely than this, but as I mentioned earlier, by the end of the year 1944, they were on to P & R prefix rifle serials, so one can get a rough idea.
The various factories producing the K98k in Germany and Czechoslovakia before and during WW2, did the same thing, but they applied a suffix letter (or double letter) to each block of 9999 rifles built.
Just the thing for putting round holes in square heads.
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From your description it does appear to be from the first batch from 1944 as there is not a letter prefix. Out of curiosity does anyone know the turn around time between being manufactured at BSA and being completed and delivered from H and H? I wish there was a way to tell where these things were sent. Thank you for all the info
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Hi Adam. Someone may know more precisely, but I don't know of any reliable way of working out what you ask. I suspect that turn round times varied considerably, & one cannot even assume that the first rifle into the stockpile at H&H ended up being the first one converted. Quite often last in is first out! It is particularly hard to figure out what scope would have been fitted to a 1944 rifle (hence my asking if the number could at least be made out, even partially). BSA 44 4T's can be found with ALL MARKS of No32 scope; Mk1 (Watson were still making Mk1 scopes into 1944), Mk2 (the standard pattern until the arrival of the Mk3 in October); Mk2/1 (the short lived but excellent hybrid between the Mk2 & Mk3 produced in 1944 by UIC); & Mk3 (approved lateish in the year).
With yours being an early 44 rifle it would likely have borne a Mk1 or Mk2 scope, but as mentioned above, we can only speak in terms of likelihood.........(it could have sat around at H&H for some time).........unless you can decipher that scope number!
Hope this has helped & not confused you further.
ATB.
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Just to reinforce what Roger wrote, my 4T is an L block from 1944, and doesn't have a low Mk.3 scope number, yet it's only about 60-100 odd digit's in serial number from two of the six 4T's that was used in the Mk.3 scope tests noted in PL's book that took place in Oct '44.
Just the thing for putting round holes in square heads.
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