MK1 #4 Enfield

[Cpruz]

I recently picked up this rifle from a pawn shop. It's taken a couple of days to break it down and clean the overabundance of grease. The disk is most perplexing. All the threads I've contacted state they've seen them near the butt but never there. I'm new to collecting so any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[KellyinAvon]

I recently picked up this rifle from a pawn shop. It's taken a couple of days to break it down and clean the overabundance of grease. The disk is most perplexing. All the threads I've contacted state they've seen them near the butt but never there. I thought the 29 was part of a date but the number also shows up under the crown stamp. I'm new to collecting so any help would be greatly appreciated. View attachment 267191 View attachment 267192 View attachment 267193 View attachment 267200

Hello and welcome to INGO! One of the links below is to the intro and greetings sub-forum. Introduce yourself to the group, good bunch around here to include a few Enfield collectors.

 

[bgcatty]

I’ve got 3 SMLE (Enfield) and have handled many more and have never seen a disc in the screw hole for the trigger assembly. Hhmmmm! I wonder if someone just “routed” out that area and put a disc there?

The 23-1-59 could be a date and P.C. JACOBS is probably a previous owners name. Yes I know, pure speculation; but, that does seem like a reasonable assumption.

 

[Cpruz]

I’ve got 3 SMLE (Enfield) and have handled many more and have never seen a disc in the screw hole for the trigger assembly. Hhmmmm! I wonder if someone just “routed” out that area and put a disc there?

The 23-1-59 could be a date and P.C. JACOBS is probably a previous owners name. Yes I know, pure speculation; but, that does seem like a reasonable assumption.

Thanks for responding

 

[Old Bear]

I've had several Enfields over the years, but I have never seen anything like that.

 

[BluePig]

It looks to me like someone made it with a set of letter and number punches. Could be a reserve rifle. I have seen and own a Swiss rifle where the previous reservist put their name and address on a slip of paper behind the butt plate. Now I have to break down my Enfields and see if there is anything there.
BTW: This is a quality post.

 

[Cpruz]

It looks to me like someone made it with a set of letter and number punches. Could be a reserve rifle. I have seen and own a Swiss rifle where the previous reservist put their name and address on a slip of paper behind the butt plate. Now I have to break down my Enfields and see if there is anything there.
BTW: This is a quality post.

Thanks for the reply. It's not easy deciphering the various stamps.

 

[Creedmoor]

It was exported out of the United Kingdom and it was imported to the USA by InterArms Corp in Old Town Alexandria, VA.

 

[Max Volume]

Just doing a cursory search I found this:

https://enfield-stuff.com/Pages/4-regimentals/4-1_Queue/4-1-1_Qregimentals.html

And if you click on certain countries it shows things like this but they appear to all be on No.! MK III's. Maybe it was a carry over
of some way of putting unit markings on it.

https://enfield-stuff.com/Pages/4-regimentals/4-1_Queue/qCAN.html

 

[rob63]

I've also owned a number of Enfields over the years and that is the first time I have seen such a thing. BTW, the nomenclature is #4, MK.I like it says on the side of the receiver.

Here's my guess. The plate is a tag identifying the owner, showing his name and birth date. The date is written in the typical European manner of day-month-year. The location and orientation would make it easy to identify while standing upright in a rifle rack. English gun laws have long been fairly strict, and it is possible that Mr. Jacobs lived somewhere that required dangerous military rifles like this to be kept at a shooting club rather than in his home (or he may have done so voluntarily). Thus, the reason for adding the identification tag in such a manner.

 

[Cpruz]

I've also owned a number of Enfields over the years and that is the first time I have seen such a thing. BTW, the nomenclature is #4, MK.I like it says on the side of the receiver.

Here's my guess. The plate is a tag identifying the owner, showing his name and birth date. The date is written in the typical European manner of day-month-year. The location and orientation would make it easy to identify while standing upright in a rifle rack. English gun laws have long been fairly strict, and it is possible that Mr. Jacobs lived somewhere that required dangerous military rifles like this to be kept at a shooting club rather than in his home (or he may have done so voluntarily). Thus, the reason for adding the identification tag in such a manner.

Tomato, tomatoe... I appreciate your guess.

 

[mausermadness]

That is a first for me. I'm not familiar with English gun laws but it does look like a property or reservist disk. Should be an interesting one to get to the bottom of.

 

[Cpruz]

That is a first for me. I'm not familiar with English gun laws but it does look like a property or reservist disk. Should be an interesting one to get to the bottom of.

On another thread someone mentioned the PC stood for police constable and Jacobs was the officer and the date was the date of issue. Sounds reasonable.. I'm also trying to find out how to tell if this one or one like it was used in the Korean War.

 

[mausermadness]

On another thread someone mentioned the PC stood for police constable and Jacobs was the officer and the date was the date of issue. Sounds reasonable.. I'm also trying to find out how to tell if this one or one like it was used in the Korean War.

That seems like a probable explanation. To find out if it went to Korea with the UN forces or not will be almost impossible to determine with any degree of certainty. If the Police Constable theory can be proven that is quite an interesting bit of provenance by itself. Perhaps even a more valuable one to collectors.

 

[BigRed]

Looks like somebody found a nice rifle!

 

[ben142266]

Something new to research for myself, I have not seen this before. Could be something done by "bubba" but done well.
"

 

[92FSTech]

Very nice rifle! I can't add anything to the discussion about the disk, as I've never seen anything like that before. How does it shoot?

I like Enfields. They're kinda ugly, have a goofy two-piece stock design, hard on brass (I reload), and use a stupid rimmed cartridge that's becoming increasingly hard to find and expensive, but they are definitely addictive. The actions are smooth and the sights, especially the micrometer-dial aperture style, are fantastic. Be careful, they tend to multiply.

We picked up a No.1 MkIII a couple of years ago at an auction for my son, and really enjoyed doing load development for it. It's got a nice bore and is a really good shooter, although the stock needed a little work.

I recently bought one of the No5 Mk1s from Classic that is complete, but has a sewer pipe bore and I'm still trying to figure out how to wring the best accuracy out of it with cast bullets. I managed to get them sized right to stop tumbling, now I just need to get it to put up a decent group.

I also have an Eddystone M1917...the "American Enfield"...which I un-sporterized, and then tweaked a bit (with spare parts...kept the originals) for target shooting. I love that gun, although it has more in common with a Mauser than the Enfield Family.

I recently decided to roll the dice on one of the RTI No4s. LGS had a No 4. Mk1* with a nice bore, but it has the split bolt track which I really didn't want. I called RTI and was assured that they could send me exactly what I was looking for and could guarantee a good bore, so I figured it was worth a shot. Still anxiously waiting for that one to ship.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I love that gun, although it has more in common with a Mauser than the Enfield Family.

 

[Dog1]

You want to have some real fun and find a World War I Surplus grenade launcher cup. Get some 303 blanks and launch tennis balls.