New unissued/unnumbered No1 MKIII nose cap.

[Baal]

Glad I'm not the originator of this thread. I'd leave here feeling like I'd just been accused of something.

[Peter Laidler]

Not from me Baal....., I'm all for using new parts WHEN NECESSARY. But was brought up in the pre throwaway era and some things just seem alien to me.

[Buster95]

Glad I'm not the originator of this thread. I'd leave here feeling like I'd just been accused of something.

Yes I feel bad, I just asked this because I need a nose cap for my MKIII

[Seaspriter]

Glad I'm not the originator of this thread. I'd leave here feeling like I'd just been accused of something.

Baal, none of us are seeking to be critical of Buster95's very innocent request. As a world wide group of Enfield enthusiasts, it's quite common that a simple and straightforward request, such as Buster's, takes on a life of its own because of latent issues imbedded underneath the request. What looks like an innocuous request for information (like this post), is interleaved with ethical issues and restoration standards like this thread.

In some ways this thread has taken on some of the qualities of Buccaneer's thread a week ago: Buy the rifle not the story!!!!!

I suspect that sometime soon another thread of will emerge like this, until we, as a very committed group of restoration enthusiasts, will decide to codify our joint thinking into a set of voluntary standards and principles/guidelines.

---------- Post added at 02:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:19 PM ----------

Yes I feel bad, I just asked this because I need a nose cap for my MKIII

Buster, it's not your fault, so please don't carry a burden of guilt for asking a very fair and reasonable question. What's happened to your thread is the product of some very refined thinkers who are grappling with many issues, and the "nose cap" question you asked is akin to the "tip of the iceberg." (just see what happened to Buccaneer's thread).
Bear with us -- eventually, as my ancestor, Commodore David Porter used to say: "A complaint is but a prelude to action."

[Peter Laidler]

I wonder why you need a replacement nosecap that's all. Where did the old one go? And why must it be new? The only reason I ever saw for replacing them was a broken foresight protector - and that broke off as it was being crudely straightened without heat. And stripped thread on an EY rifle which I kept and used to mount an old bayonet

[Buster95]

The gun is a sporter.

[Roger Payne]

I can understand the OP's desire to have an unnumbered nose cap for his restoration. If I were in the same position as he I would rather have a nose cap with no serial number on it at all than the wrong serial. It is just as obviously a restoration but somehow offends me less bearing no number at all than an incorrect number.

[Steve H. in N.Y.]

I've restored several sporter rifles and like Roger, wrong serial numbers annoy me. I will line through the old number on a replacement back sight or barrel and remove the number from a forend or nose cap but I won't stamp a new one. This makes me feel better and hopefully the rifle can be identified as a restoration in the future.

[MasterChief]

What sort of tooling was used to scrub this nose cap before renumbering?

[Homer]

Circular machine marks would indicate a lathe I would think. This is very common on rifles refurbished at Lithgow.