No. 5's hard first year of life

[Lance]

This girl just showed up on Auction Arms if anyone wants a go. It is a first for me to see a rifle that was made and FTR'd in the same year!

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[Thunderbox]

I've had several No4s that were FTR'd in the same year - one apparently within three months of production (a September production FTR'd in the same year).

A vet on WW2 forum informed me that he'd first fired the No5 in March 1945, as part of a typical army weapons demonstration/familiarisation course for officer candidates. Its possible that these "rapid FTRs" were simply part-worn rifles sent back to depot by units or organisations with no armourers' facilities of their own - ie they had the weapons on loan and, when the rifles were sent back with part-worn barrels, it was simply easier to send them back into the factory than try to get a unit established for spare parts to carry out the rebarrel and tidy up.