Enfield history and value

[joncutt87]

Was curious if anyone has the connections to see if my new no.4 mk1 has a service record. I'm guessing that H25276 is the serial, pics are posted in the c&r forum

[joncutt87]

I have not been able to tear it apart yet, but maybe tomorrow. Just let me know what else you need.

[jack404]

need more than that. theres a awful lot of No4's Mk 1 by a few makers and they overlap numbers ,

http://www.enfieldcollector.com/serials.html

[joncutt87]

What else do you need?

[jack404]

makers ID mainly


from the link article ( regarding british made ones ) aussie made one may have a LSA or lithgow stamped on them or a plain arrow head or the word Australia somewhere on it , and between the brit's number hassle and then the aussie ones , it gets complex
-------------------------------------------------------
No.4 and No.5 rifle serial numbers can readily identify manufacturers. British No.4 rifles have five numbers, usually after one or two letter prefixes. The same letter prefix(es) were used by Maltby, Fazakerley & BSA Shirley, A to Z then AA, AB to AZ, then BA to BZ, CA to CZ &c. Maltby rifle serial numbers commence with a number '1', Fazakerley with a '2' and Shirley with a '3', e.g. 1xxxx for Maltby, 2xxxx for Fazakerley and for Shirley, 3xxxx, after the letter prefix. Late Shirley numbers then supposedly ran A4000 to A7999 and with PS prefixes at the very end of production. Post-war Fazakerley No.4 rifles had PF letter prefixes. The only exception to the 5-number sequence for No.4 rifles was the initial BSA Shirley production which ran from 0001 to 9999 then went with A to Z prefixes (A0001 to A9999 to the Z prefix) and some early dual letter prefixes (e.g. AT 0303), but then went over to A30001, &c. So early M47C No.4 rifle numbers could be confused with the Jungle carbine in having four rather than five numbers.
Long Branch (Canada) serial numbers incorporate an 'L' in the serial number while US Savage numbers include an 'C' in a similar relative position amongst the numbers. Both of these No.4 rifle series commenced with 0L1 and 0C1 respectively.
No.5 Jungle Carbines only have 4 numbers, the Shirley carbines have BB to C? prefixes, last production was post World War 2. The Fazakerley jungle carbines ran from FE1 to FE1000 initial production, then with no letter prefix, followed by A1 to A9999 through Z9999.

[joncutt87]

Is that stamped above the serial?

[joncutt87]

Looks like:
ROF
81A2A or 8142A

[joncutt87]

So I guess its a fazakerly

[jack404]

scratch what i said yeah ROF Faz...

i read it right here but got the wrong answer in my head ..

1940-41 manufacture


and sorry for missing the reference to the link in the C&R ,

i really gotta wear these bloody glasses ..

[joncutt87]

No problem jack

[joncutt87]

Do you know if there is a way for me to request a service history of this weapon?

[jack404]

if it was aussie i could do that for you , but british ?

email these folks http://www.skennerton.com/phone.html

[joncutt87]

Thanks Jack

[jack404]

Dont thank me yet..

since Ian's gone international , things have changed , they may want to try to sell you the book , this all used to be on his web site and blog but thats gone and "the book" is pushed HARD

try the direct email to him and ask about how to trace its history , date of issue regiment , unit , soldier etc

i have done it in the past via regimental associations but we knew where to start with all those , a mk4 No 1 could have gone anywhere , with any one of hundreds of nations

but ian is THE expert on these things the british ones i mean , also very good on Canadian ones too

me, i stick with the aussie ones , nationalist radical i am

[joncutt87]

I sent him an email, we'll see what he comes back with.

[jack404]

hey i'm at a gun show this weekend with ian , did you catch him yet?

i can

[joncutt87]

I did catch up with him, he said that much couldn't be done with the serial number alone. Thanks jack.

My boss bought it off of me about two months ago

[45Auto]

I met Ian at a gun show here in the US a few years ago. I bought some of his books. Good investments, especialy the Enfield rifle book, I highly recommend them.