From what has been said above, assuming it to be correct, I would think the pads were fitted so as to permit an IWS bracket (& hence night vision equipment) to be attached.
From what has been said above, assuming it to be correct, I would think the pads were fitted so as to permit an IWS bracket (& hence night vision equipment) to be attached.
It just makes me wonder how a Police force got hold of a full L42A1 CES
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...
I'll bet they were fitted locally in Northern Ireland. They may be new made or at least the rear pad is likely to have been modified to fit the angled 'shelf' immediately above the wood line on the late No4 bodies. Only the later Long Branch 4T's were set up on similar rifle bodies.
So the scope and the CES ARE a "civilian put together" and not part of the Enforcers life in the Police force.
The fact that the Police required a night-use marksmans rifle makes sense and I can see that the addition of the pads to allow the use of the L42 night sight bracket could well have been done by the Police Armourer.
It was the rest of the bits and pieces that made the story unlikely, but from your 'provinence letter' it is obvious that they were not related directly to the rifle.
Did you get the IWS scope mount with it ?
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...
This is very interesting, wouldn't an armourer have re staked the pads?
It's amazing that after all the thousands of threads and vast amounts of information we've seen here over the years, we can throw up new and very interesting oddities!
My understanding is that the rifle was sold by the importer with just the Pecar and Pecar Mounts, and chest. The chest is not marked with the customary military markings one would expect to see.
I saw several of the Enforcers imported by Appleton as his shop was nearby. Most were in civilian chests. This was the only one in a military chest.
Last edited by snipershot1944; 03-10-2023 at 08:27 AM.
I'm sure if the user wanted one badly enough a way would have been found to acquire one (transit chest), either officially or otherwise, from within the system. When my friend & I were invited along to Charnwood ordnance when they purchased a substantial number of the surviving L42's in the mid 1990's there was a small number of surplus transit chests amongst the rifles & other bits & pieces. IIRC most of the surplus chests were unissued & had larger than the norm finger joints at the corners. I think I still have one in the attic somewhere.
I know (regrettably not well) an ex British Army & RUC armourer. Unfortunately I only meet up with him four times a year at arms fairs, but if I can remember when I next see him (& remembering is a tough one!) I will ask about Enforcers with pads fitted, just in case he has any knowledge.
In addition to the three Enforcers I’ve owned, I’ve had 5-6 L42 a1 rifles. Some had a few accessories in the chest. Most did not. It was always an effort to fill the chest.
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Originally Posted by 
