This one should be interesting

[tbonesmith]

You crowd are a hard bunch to please, that rifle looks absolutely 100% honest to me! If I lived in the good 'ol US of A, I'd be all over it like a rash!

[Bindi2]

You crowd are a hard bunch to please, that rifle looks absolutely 100% honest to me! If I lived in the good 'ol US of A, I'd be all over it like a rash!

Agree and Me to. My No5 wood looked like that when it came to me not any more handling soon darkened the blonde.

[Brian Dick]

Right as rain.

[jmoore]

The rifle looks kind of "bipolar" to me. Metal's nice, except the around the buttpad, in the front sight recesses, and in the charger guide. Wood is kind of scary (only because of the darkened markings, I guess). Still, if the price is good, and someone is willing to risk a little, it might be super- good or humped! On balance, more positive signs than questionable.
No worries from me, just finally decided to get an FN49 in 7mm that's very crispy fresh. (Local find)

[fergs]

Its good to know i own a fazerkely! you learn something new everyday.
Fergs

[Brit plumber]

It dosn't look alot diffrent to my own. looks fine to me.

[Thunderbox]

I've had two mint Faz No5s within a few hundred numbers of this one, plus other 5s in mint condition. All of them had some minor marks on wood and metal, and I don't think any of these rifles had the sort of perfect storage preservation that you get on, say, the No4s in mummy wrap.

Looks to me as if the wood has been cleaned - possibly to steam out a couple of marks - and the metalwork touched up in places. Of course photos can be highly misleading, so the rifle may be perfectly normal close up.

[Patrick Chadwick]

"Receiver is stamped "England" on right side."

I am not an Enfield expert. Someone please tell me if such a marking was usual, and if so, in what circumstances?

[me2]

I might be wrong but, if none of the recent "billboard" import stamps are on it it would be an early arrival in the US. I have a few with only England stamped either on the buttsocket or the receiver ring with no other import stamps which indicated to me they were here before the gun control act of 1968 was put in place. I am not sure of the exact time frame these import stamps as we know them was mandated but it was assuredly after GCA 68 came about.

[mack]

Sorry to burst any expert's bubble, but that rifle is exactly what Brian Dick said...."right as rain."

I have owned several No. 5s over the past 50 years and the "new" ones looked exactly like this one. No one with that many rifles has likely "fiddled with" that many stocks.

You can "see" whatever you want in a stock in a picture. Look at the fights on any M1 forum over the authenticity of individual stock stamps.

What many of our younger members have never seen is British Enfields in the condition that they left England when surplused out 50-60 years ago. Even 20 years ago it was possible to buy a decent No. 4 without bruised and damaged stocks. I have many in my Enfield safe that are exactly like the others the dealer shows in his auctions. The multiple colors of wood in some rifles is simply the result of wood not being color matched at manufacture or replaced from different colors or shades of wood. A beech buttstock doesn't match a walnut forend.

Suncorite will chip like any paint although it resists being scratched pretty well. So chips on painted surfaces came from surplus sales pretty much the way you see them here.

Enfields were once sold in grades that were easy to understand. Unissued meant that and you got a rifle with no dents or scratches. There were some in lesser grades and poor meant a rifle with some blems usually. There was nothing like the junk being offered at some of the sites around the web today. Most of that stuff would have hit the scrap pile and sold for $3-5 each for parts. Why buy junk when a good rifle was $12-15 and an unissued one was $18-20. This collector just never bought the junk like we see today because he opted for better stuff for a few dollars more.

The good old days were exactly that and this is a chance to glimpse what most of you missed in the period from 1960-1980. Enjoy the pics and buy one if you want.

BTW, the No. 5 has been in water somewhere because there is rust creeping around the metal frame of the buttplate. BEWARE only on that reason alone if you don't want to fool with it.