A friend sent these pics, and said I could repost them here. He's indicated that the rifle appeared in new condition, with no marks on the bolt face, and ....

He's a well experienced Enfielder, and those DP marks should have/could have been a warning any one of us could have overlooked, and is a reminder that although a million Enfields appear to have DP and mysteriously still be good and safe shooters, there always exists real potential to take them seriously. I think my friend is very lucky, and yes, those are burns around the wrist and where the wrist watch was. I remain increasingly impressed by the power of 50,000 psi.

His words,
"Have you ever heard of a DP #4 with a (professional looking) hole through the chamber? I certainly hadn't till I fired it last Friday. Gave me a bit of a start -photo's attached.
It appeared to have never fired a shot and I couldn't see the holes of course cause they were encased in wood. All the forend screws look to have never been removed from their first fitting. Thought I'd knabbed a real bargain...
Those are (three day old) splinters & powder burns on my wrist, saved somewhat by my watchstrap. Took a couple to the leg also as I was sitting down. Projectile made it about 3/4 the way down the barrel. Those bits of handguard ended up several metres apart, don't know where the rest of it & the top of the retainer went.
****ed me off as it was a real tidy rifle.

Yeah pleased I had ear muffs on.
Hole goes all the way through, note the perfect trace through both both sides of the cartridge case.

I'd be pleased if you could post it on misurps as I'm not too familiar with it. Mention the fact that bore/bolt face probably was new, and forend screws looked untouched.

Couldn't believe it - it came fitted with a firing pin, I just happened to be the first guy to try it."
Information
Warning: This is a relatively older thread
This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.