Where did this 69 Enfield barrel come from?

[No4Mk1(T)]

Good day all,
I recently picked up a Faz No4Mk2 that has been converted to 7.62mm post service. Among it’s many modifications it has been fitted with an ‘69 Enfield made hammer forged barrel. My question is what was this barrel’s source? I was told by a respect and knowledgeable local Canadian Enfield collector that the “barrel that was offered to target shooters that wanted to do their own conversions.”
I’m selling the rifle so I’d like to know if this is accurate.
Here are a few photos and one at the end of the complete rifle:

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.

[Alan de Enfield]

Strange - very similar markings to an Enforcer barrel - the same D with a half-bar across it (EFD)

[bigduke6]

Think its from the L39 or Envoy, have one the same on a No4 action. Got the info from a forum member who was looking for a barrel for a L42.

( they are accurate)

[Mk VII]

Such barrels were available from Enfield commercially (not to individuals, too much trouble to do it yourself)

[jmoore]

????? Pre-L42a1? Would Enfield be selling them off so early?

Not an L8 barrel...

I'm also curious about the action mods. Looks like considerable welding required to add that bridge to a No.4 Mk.? action.

[Thunderbox]

Enfield apparently made about 10,000 of the hammer-forged barrels. Of these, about 2,500 would have been used on new L42, L39 & Envoy conversions, then an unknown number sent to military store as spares for L42/39. Hundreds or thousands of barrels were released into the civilian gun trade, where they were made up into L39/Envoy clones and P14 target rifles.

The rib brazed onto the top of No4 action was a fairly common experiment at the time that the first proper single-shot closed receiver target rifles were being introduced. The rib was thought to offer some stiffening to the action. In practice, it appears to make no improvement to shooting performance, or even a slight negative effect.

[Alan de Enfield]

No4's second picture.
The NP and markings look to be UK Civilian proof marks so it looks as if the barrel (or maybe the complete rifle) was in the UK civilian market at some time.

[jmoore]

So, where's the largish stash of barrels?

Soon after the L42a1's entered the US market (1995?) I remember seeing a Numrich Arms/ Gun Parts Co. flyer advertising the "New L42a1 Barrels", but they were gone by the time I called, so either they had very few, or someone bought the entire lot!

[Thunderbox]

So, where's the largish stash of barrels?

Soon after the L42a1's entered the US market (1995?) I remember seeing a Numrich Arms/ Gun Parts Co. flyer advertising the "New L42a1 Barrels", but they were gone by the time I called, so either they had very few, or someone bought the entire lot!

I imagine the military stocks were scrapped as soon as the L42 went out of service; either that or they're waiting their turn to be scrapped - nothing firearms related is released for surplus sale these days.

The problem with the barrels in the civilian Trade is that, in the hey-day of "first generation" target shooting when Envoys & P14s were all the rage, target shooters were changing barrels every few hundred rounds or so (in the belief that their poor shooting was due to barrel wear... LOL). That means that probably most of the available barrels were used up. Plenty of second-hand barrels exist in UK; gun dealers like Fultons will offer a part-used barrel is someone wants to rebarrel their Envoy. With many 7.62mm first generation target rifles now only worth scrap values in UK (target sights, magazines and target swivels go on eBay; rifle goes to auction), some of us take part-worn barrels off and keep them as spares for future L42/Envoy/L39 restorations.

[rgg_7]

I had many, many discussions with the late Wayne Mitchell on the heavy Enfield target barrels. Wayne had started collecting part numbers and dates in an attempt to identify barrel marriages however this data is no longer available. The Enforcer and Envoy numbers are well known.....each profile is a little different. I concurr with Thunderbox on the UK "take off" barrel market. Also Enfield made a whack of hammer forged barrels.....10000+ rings a bell. It was not uncommon to see them sold to target shooters for rebarrelling projects. Fit up was and is not difficult. Ron