Mil-surp or Civill-surp???

[sheriff dudley]

I think i know the answer because of the date on this rifle/shotgun conversion
but i thought i would throw this out there! i just picked up a British Enfield,
on the bolt side of the reciever its marked (with a Crown) G.R.I.under that is
1943,under that is NO 1 Mk III. on the oposit side its marked .410 and under that is R.F.I.under that is 1948 so evidently it started life as a .303 cal rifle
in 1943 then was converted to a .410 gage shot gun at Ishapor india in 1948
for prison guard duty! thats what i think so far! it is in near mint shape with
matching ser# to bolt,stock,bayo-lug-etc:etc:etc;so it must not be a real
milsurp! but it is a great edition to my brit collection!! Now who,s got a
line on a .22 Brit??? anyone??

Take Care. Sheriff Dudley s.a.s.s. #17925

 

[BigBill]

I just seen one of these and i thought it was a conversion done for us here. I passed on it. I don't know too much about them yet but you could be correct. Can it shoot 45long colt too? Some of these .410's are advertised as shooting 45lc too and i'm not sure which ones they are so don't try it unless your sure it can.

 

[SKS Ray]

Those are basically Enfield rifles that have had the bores shot out either with corrosive ammo or just overuse. Rather than toss em the armorys in India converted them to shotguns. Most were re-arsenaled in every way a normal rifle would be when it was converted, thats why some look so new, plus I don't think they got used much.
Given the fact that it started out as a military rifle and was converted for pretty much military/police whatever use, and is now in civilian hands, i'd say it still is a milsurp, and definitely a piece to hold onto if Enfields are your thing. Now ya need a wire wrapped No1.
I wouldn't try 45 long colt in one, probably safer to stick to 410 shells.
As far as an Enfield 22 trainer goes... theyre out there but save your pennies because they go for big bucks. From what i've heard and seen, they are some of the most accurate 22 trainer rifles out there.

 

[sheriff dudley]

Mil-surp or civill-surp

I Just got a reply from one of the S.M.L.E. sites that i wrote about this .410
and they said , Quote " Skennerton estimates something less than 10.000
were made, Thay were issued to guards,constabulary,etc, whom the
government wanted armed-but not too well armed."
Charles R Stratton
Endfield Research Associates.
so its nice to know that there were so few made, and i would like to find
one of those Wire Wrapes but people are starting to appreciate these
British warhorses and the more i investigate the history of these guns the
more i LUST for them!! and a friend of mine just offerd to swap me a mint
P-14 Enfield that i showed interest in a while ago, but he wants one of my
Model 38 Sweeds and i had to decline ( N.F.W.) i love my Sweeds both are
in unissued condition and i know i will find a P-14 in the future but you may
have noticed! not to meny sweeds out there! there is one at collectors
in Pelham with Brass navel sights $$$ thats where i found the .410 !
so take Care!! Sheriff Dudley

 

[BigBill]

The week i seen a collection being traded in i grabbed what i could like the svt-40, the fn49's but i was dumb i passed on a p14 and p17 and they were cheap too. I did grab the 1891 arg carbine, well i thought it was until i seen the swept back bolt. It turned out to be a cut down 1891 that was done in the 60's by Ye Old Gun Shop in LA, Ca. They did a great job on them but i have a shooter anyway. My point is if you see a ARG 1891 carbine look for the swept back bolt there are a lot of them out there. I seen them on the net being passed off as orginals too. I got mine really cheap but some of the others are priced as high as the orginals so don't be fooled.

I'm not sure if i would part with any of my swede's, these swedish gals sure are lookers/shooters too.

I read once just a few years back when there was no 6,5mm swede ammo they couldn't give these swedish mausers away. I think they were only $20 back then. When the surplus 6,5mm ammo became available this is when the swede sales took off and the rest is history. The samething happened with the mosins and swiss k31's too. I can remember with just a few surplups back in the late 70's/early 80's the surplus ammo was very expensive too. The past few decades sure has been great for the prices on the surplus military ammo we have been really lucky so far.

 

[SKS Ray]

Speaking of Swedes I recently shot my M96 that I installed a "100 yard front blade sight" on and at 100 yards I was actually shooting a foot low. Nothing that some file work won't take care of, but its funny when I think about how with the original sight i'd shoot a foot low purposely to get the center ring and wound up shooting a foot high after installing the new blade. Wasn't untill I set the sights at 500 yards that I wound up on paper.
Just goes to show these rifles are so accurate that the average 100 yard range isn't good enough for them.