About 15 years ago, I had to sell an Enfield (don't even remember if it was a Mk. 1 or a No. 4 now) that my mother had gotten me (bills to pay, etc.), and I was telling number one son this year that I'd like another if I could find one that wasn't pulling a king's ransom. Before asking me, and not knowing anything about RTI's reputation, he had a "A condition" No. 4 Mk. 1 headed to the local gunstore.

I got it in, and RTI had a few things wrong. They said that the guns were WW2 surplus No 4 Mk 1s that were shipped to Ethiopia. However, I had a No 4 Mk 2 (confirmed when I pulled the trigger guard with the trigger attached). As you can see from the pictures, the gun looks like it has had most marking stripped. The "No 4 Mk 2" looks almost handmade. The one stamp I trust the most is the barrel stamp, and as the picture shows, it says "1953". Definitely not WW2 surplus.

Obviously someone reconditioned it enough to re-stamp the serial number onto the magazine. All the serial numbers still on the gun match (including the bolt). I also cleaned a ton of copper and powder out of the barrel, so it's been shot a bunch. The wood is Savage marked. I don't think it's a Khyber Pass clone; if it were I would think it'd have more marks of lower quality.

I have headspaced the bolt, and a SAAMI Field (.072) gauge won't let the bolt close. The barrel has no bulges, signs of cracking or stress, etc. The barrel looks clean and grooving is very good (the bullet throat and barrel end are both a bit deeper than I'd like, but not worn out by any stretch). I'm going to fasten it to a shooting rest and rope-fire a couple of Remington rounds to test it out before putting my head near the bolt.

I have a theory about the origin, but before I pose my uninformed ideas, I'll pose the following questions to the forum:
1> Where do you think this gun came from?
2> Is there a reason to not fire this gun, based on the pictures and evidence above, or the answer to 1 above?

(Sorry to not have pictures of the bolt, but it looks bog-standard, and the serial number matches the "font" and layout of the other serial numbers.)

Attachment 110202Attachment 110203Attachment 110204Attachment 110205Attachment 110206Attachment 110207Attachment 110208Attachment 110209Attachment 110211Attachment 110212Attachment 110213Attachment 110214Attachment 110215

This is the remains of the butt stock mark, but I need to get some tracing paper and charcoal and see if I can trace it:
Attachment 110210
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