An explosively dismantled Enfeld

[RJW NZ]

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

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[Alan de Enfield]

Lucky chap and a warning to us all to inspect any firearm before first firing.
Glad is wasnt worse and that he could relate his story.

Maybe you could post this on 'that other forum' where members regularly post that it is safe to fire DP rifles.

[Thunderbox]

Lucky chap and a warning to us all to inspect any firearm before first firing.
Glad is wasnt worse and that he could relate his story.

Maybe you could post this on 'that other forum' where members regularly post that it is safe to fire DP rifles.

I don't think anyone condones shooting a DP that has a hole through the chamber....

[RJW NZ]

Lucky chap and a warning to us all to inspect any firearm before first firing.
Glad is wasnt worse and that he could relate his story.

Maybe you could post this on 'that other forum' where members regularly post that it is safe to fire DP rifles.

Yes, I agree 100%, lucky man.
I'm not sure about your ref about the other forum, like to PM the details? maybe its better the scoop remains here at milsurps?

---------- Post added at 11:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:35 PM ----------

I don't think anyone condones shooting a DP that has a hole through the chamber....

My guess is that hole was just out of sight under the hand guard, didn't we have something similar here 6-12 months ago but those holes were from underneath, even more out of sight? Interesting the way the brass is punched out so cleanly,

[Peter Laidler]

Surely, and in the kindest way, (so you know that there are some barbed words to follow............) this is simpy bordering on stupidity for the buyer/user of a new rifle for not even looking in the bore before he used it. To be honest, if he's missed a hole like this, I doubt whether he even looked through the barrel!

Nope, sorry RJW, I know he's a KIWI but..........., no sympathy! Good bit of advice here, taught to all Armourers and shooters. LOOK AT THE BORE AND NOT THROUGH THE BARREL

Incidentally, we had a similar case to this with an RAF DP No4 with a vertical larger diameter hole a bit further forwards. But in that case, the lad was already prone on the firing point when one of the range staff handed him the rifle

[RJW NZ]

Can't help but agree, and I'm sure he does too...
It strikes me as odd or unusual that a deact hole is drilled like this out of sight. I've seen some that come out sideways through the left knox, and are visible enough to head off any shooter mistakes like this. isn't it kind of dumb to deact/drill it in this position or was the procedure done without much in the way of guidelines or rules?
There must be folks who have bought enfields over the last 50 years, never would know what DP meant, and would just open fire and get hurt.

[Patrick Chadwick]

OK, since I have described often enough how to give a rifle a quick check-over, I feel entitled to stick my oar in here and add to the chorus of "never fire a rifle that has not been inspected".

But why was the rifle in that dangerous state? - The holes turned what may or may not have been a safe rifle to fire into one that was definitely dangerous to fire.

The only explanation that occurs to me at the moment, is that the rifle was intended to be de-activated, while retaining the external appearance, by driving a pin through the two holes, thus blocking off the chamber and making it impossible to insert a full-length cartridge case, not even a blank.

I imagine that it is now impossible to establish whether such a pin was ever fitted, but what idiot would drill the holes and then not drive in the pin? BTW. in Germany, to de-act a gun in this way, the pin would have to be welded (as well other actions, such as drilling 6 holes through the barrel etc) so that no-one could attempt to reactivate the gun by driving out the pin.

And that is indeed what might have happened. The pin was never fitted, or may have originally been present, but someone removed it, thus making the rifle really, really dangerous. And, in this country and probably most others that have legislation, even the attempt to reactivate a gun is a criminal act. We have all now seen one good reason why.

For the last time, to be engraved in letters of fire on a pillar of steel (which is just about what happened):

"never fire a rifle that has not been inspected".

[RJW NZ]

Hi Patrick, that explains a lot, thanks...

and its a major trap, booby trap in the making.

[tiriaq]

I cannot imagine why someone would create a trap like that.
DP is one thing. Disabled/non-firing is another.
But functional apart from a hole through the chamber?
That is nothing more than a trap with a potential to do serious injury.

It is in the same category as handloading a .303 cartridge with a case full of Bullseye, and leaving it lying on a bench at a range.

[Son]

The reasoning behind thinking it was ok is where the problem lies. Just because it is a DP rifle, doesn't mean all the parts are old and damaged and worn out. It was still supposed to be finished to the same standard as a new rifle, just using as many (forgive the terminology here) "factory seconds" parts as possible. I have to wonder who put a firing pin in it... one thing they have in common is the firing pin cut as a minimum.

Over the years there have been a lot of different things done to prevent DP rifles being fired. All of them are done to SHOW it is DP only, not to MAKE it DP only.. BIG DIFFERENCE. I haven't seen a lot of DP No4's but I have never come across a DP with a pin through the chamber. Holes in varying positions, varying sizes and even quantities are common. A mate bought a Lithgow No1 with a very similar hole the one shown here, except a bit further back along the knox... It hadn't been detected when the rifle was stripped as it had been filled with an epoxy and coloured to match. The previous owner claimed to have shot it often. On close inspection the hole was filled with an epoxy on the top side, but only went about 1/4 inch deep below the chamber, and had nothing in it.