[Metalcruncher]

Beautiful winter day here in Northern California. Decided to make a range trip with my .303 British collection. All handled flawlessly on commercial ammunition. I don’t know if I’m going to expand the collection in the future. I’ve got other firearm interests right now.

From left to right: No1 Mk III Lithgow SHTLE, No3 MkI P14 ERA (with volley sights), No4 MkI, No4 MkI* Stevens Savage and No5 MkI

 

[Ruprecht]

Metalcruncher: Nice group of rifles! Which one is most accurate?

Ruprecht

 

[Metalcruncher]

Both the No4’s have tight groups with factory ammunition.

 

[Dallased]

The British Pattern 1914 is a beauty.

 

[arisakalifestyle]

Great British collection.

I would like to be adding one of those to my safe too.

 

[plonker]

Nice.

 

[SDigger]

Metalcruncher;
Might be fun to hunt wild pigs with them in the Mendocino NF west of Paskenta etc. 🤔👍😉
Cheer’s.

 

[LawrenceN]

Beautiful collection of .303's. I cut my teeth on a No.4 years back and I've had a long long love affair with the Lee Enfields. The old Long Branch factory isn't too far south of me.

 

[JB White]

Nice well rounded set of rifles.
Is the No4 very fast? Looks like hot rod flames there.

 

[148Infantry]

Hail .303!
what’s up with the paint job on the No4?

 

[Pavia]

What a beautiful collection. Inspiring.

 

[Metalcruncher]

Hail .303!
what’s up with the paint job on the No4?

The paint was on there when I bought it 10+ years ago. I always assumed it was left over from a unit marking. Actually looks like the previous owner left it out on the table when junior was finger painting nearby. Never really bothered me.

I would be hesitant to strip it due to the stock’s beautiful finish. Three years ago I bought an Ethiopian 49/56. Had one converted already to .308 and this one was still in 7.5 French. The buttstock had some paint number marks on it. I had it apart to give it a deep clean so decided also to use acetone on the stock to strip the oil and paint before applying layers of BLO. The Ethiopian environment had weathered the stock enough where paint was lodged in the fibers and the only way to get rid of it was sanding. So now the stock has a nice sheen to it with specks of blue paint scattered about.

I think I’ll leave the No4 alone and go with one of the above poster’s comments and refer to it as “flames”. I like that.

 

[milprileb]

Nice collection ..nothing like a cheerful photo such as this to start the day off with .

 

[GeeRam]

Beautiful winter day here in Northern California. Decided to make a range trip with my .303 British collection. All handled flawlessly on commercial ammunition. I don’t know if I’m going to expand the collection in the future. I’ve got other firearm interests right now.

View attachment 3923965

From left to right: No1 Mk III Lithgow SHTLE, No3 MkI P14 ERA (with volley sights), No4 MkI* Stevens Savage, No4 MkI and No5 MkI

Lovely collection, from a lovely part of the world
I guess the No.4 Mk.1 has been through an Indian refurb, given the Ishy srcrew in place?

 

[Metalcruncher]

Lovely collection, from a lovely part of the world
I guess the No.4 Mk.1 has been through an Indian refurb, given the Ishy srcrew in place?

Well, that answers a lot of questions. Thank you GeeRam.
A: I didn’t know Ishapore refurbished Enfields
B: I always wondered about the lack of markings on my rifle.
C: Always thought that “Ishy” screw was out of place

I spent this morning on the internet researching the refurbishment and am now a more informed collector. I thought the serial number would have a “RF” added for refurbishment. Some photos below.

 

[Alan De Enfield]

British refurbishment markings were FTR (Factory Thorough Refurbish / Rebuild)
The Indian refurbishment markings were FR (Factory Refrurbishment / Rebuild)

Typical Indian FR marking
The indian 'Font' remained the same for many many years.

The Indians also FR (removed all markings) on the No4s they captured from Pakistan in the 'border wars' following Partician.
Despite not having machinery to manufacture No4's they did a pretty good job.

 

[GeeRam]

The Indians also FR (removed all markings) on the No4s they captured from Pakistan in the 'border wars' following Partician.
Despite not having machinery to manufacture No4's they did a pretty good job.

I think they captured most of their No.4's from Pakistan in the 1965 war.
Didn't they issue most of their captured No.4's to their Police forces?

 

[Alan De Enfield]

I think they captured most of their No.4's from Pakistan in the 1965 war.
Didn't they issue most of their captured No.4's to their Police forces?

They also issued them to the border force and riot police - having 'modified them a bit' to fire rubber bullets and smoke canisters.
(Did similar with the No1 Mk3 as well)

JKP = Jammu & Kashmir Police

 

[waw44]

Well, that answers a lot of questions. Thank you GeeRam.
A: I didn’t know Ishapore refurbished Enfields
B: I always wondered about the lack of markings on my rifle.
C: Always thought that “Ishy” screw was out of place

I spent this morning on the internet researching the refurbishment and am now a more informed collector. I thought the serial number would have a “RF” added for refurbishment. Some photos below.

That's what I was going for initially. A good representative of each major variant... I went off track somewhere. :|

My 43 LB No.4 Mk* also has an Ishy screw and also has no other FTR markings.

 

[Alan De Enfield]

That's what I was going for initially. A good representative of each major variant... I went off track somewhere. :|

My 43 LB No.4 Mk* also has an Ishy screw and also has no other FTR markings.

If it has no other markings, it may well NOT be an 'Ishy screw'. The Indians actually copied the idea from the British (it was a standard Britiah repair method) so it is possibly a 'Britty-Screw'.