1919 Lee Enfield ShtLE w/ a twist

[Greasemonkey]

I found a British Enfield.. originally made in 1919. But it's not an everyday Enfield..












Humm.. yup its an Enfield. Now the twist    Any yeah....it's a bit funky.. smells good 









It's a single shot military .22lr trainer. The mag body catches the empties. The orginial .303 barrel was removed and a .22 barrel was installed and was made by Parker Hale.

[Phosphorus32]

Sweet   

The wrist markings are no clue to the type but it looks like the No2 MkIV pattern conversion of the SMLE (the .22 bolt head markings are consistent with that). I think there may be more variations of .22 trainers built on the MLE, SMLE and No4 Mk1 patterns than the .303 rifles from which they were derived 

Is that an "EFD '44" just above the gas vent on the receiver? If so, this could be an RSAF, Enfield .22 conversion done during WWII. Need to lift off that rear handguard to see the other markings.

[Greasemonkey]

You want me to wha.... erm...uhm.. let me gird up the boys first, last hand guard I touched on an Enfield like type rifle went into 3 pieces. 

closer shot of that spot..


Everything seems to have this stamp..barrel bands, bolt handle..

[Phosphorus32]

The broad arrow is just the British property mark.

Yeah, those "wings" on the handguards can be fragile. Pop up the leaf of the backsight, get your fingers under the handguard and pull up from there.

[carls sks]

luv the history, thanks for sharing everything. 

[Greasemonkey]

It is EFD44



Bunches of marks under the handguard..

[Phosphorus32]

Okay, here's my best shot at an interpretation of this 22RF trainer.

This appears to be a No2 MkIV* (where the * indicates it has the empty magazine shell catcher), and the markings on the bolt head are consistent with this pattern (model) designation.  It was converted from a 1919 SMLE (No1 MkIII*) during WWII either at Parker Hale, or at RSAF (Royal Small Arms Factory) Enfield using a Parker Hale lined barrel, and I lean toward the latter. An interwar No2 MkIV* would have the pattern information stamped on the right side of the butt socket but that was not always (ever?) the case for the WWII conversions. The EFD 44 is an Enfield view (inspection) mark where the "44" is likely just the inspector's assigned number that is coincidentally one of the WWII years, but I'm not certain about that.

The barrel was lined and rifled by Parker Hale (if I'm correctly seeing a concentric ring indicating the liner at the muzzle) and attached to the receiver (different serial numbers on the receiver and barrel). Both receiver and barrel have the appropriate King George (Georgius Rex, GR) royal cypher over P proof marks from when it was proofed originally for the .303 MkVII* (HV marking) cartridge. Under the proof mark on the barrel is an LSA (indicated by the X) view mark, so the .303 barrel was originally made at London Small Arms Co. (LSA) and later relined and fitted to an SMLE receiver made at Enfield.  The additional view mark of broad arrow over EFD (Enfield) over 7 to the left of the original proof mark on the barrel further suggests that this was assembled and/or inspected at RSAF Enfield when it was converted to the .22lr trainer.

The "BV BP NP .22LR" is Birmingham Proof house, Nitro Proof when it was sold out of service and proofed for commercial sale (not sure what the BV stands for).

Thanks to Ian Skennerton's books for what I know but all errors are mine.

[Greasemonkey]

I feel better it's not a fake.. I'm an Enfield dummy.. 

And I got to say.. "lined barrel" they did a heck of a job.. you cant really even tell it has a liner.. I know the Finnish did lined barrels on the P-series, usually you can see a clear line..

[Phosphorus32]

Yeah, it's a winner.

I get a real kick out of taking these to the range. Looks like an English lion, but roars like an English dormouse 

[Greasemonkey]

Oh boy... Romanian M1969, MAS 45, German KKW, Mosin Wz-47, Enfield Trainer, maybe it's time for a Springfield Model 1922..