Pf Lee Enfield Serial Numbers
The No4Mk1 rifle No4MkI’s were made by several factories during the 2 nd World War. The bulk being from the Royal Ordinance factory Maltby, ROF Fazakerley, BSA Shirley, with smaller quantities at Longbranch in Toronto Canada and by the Stevens-Savage company of Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, USA.
- The '[PF' is part of the beginning of the serial number. The range for this rifle and Skennerton's book, places it as one of the Irish Contract Rifles.
- Mar 21, 2009 British 303 identification help. Any factory stamping would be on the receiver of a No. 4 mk1 or mk2 Lee Enfield. British enfield serial numbers.
To work out which factory that your No4 was made is to look at wrist markings where the serial numbers are. Now this only equates to British No4MkI here. The British made No4MkI’s use a prefix and number – (Alpha numerical) system to identify manufacturer. Numbered serials starting with 1 indicated ROF Maltby, 2 indicated ROF Fazakerley and 3 indicated BSA Shirley.
However as one soon learns with anything to do with life there are exceptions, early in on the game BSA Shirley did a production run which used only 4 numbers and went from Axxxx to Zxxxx. Canadian made Longbranch No4MkI’s are easy to tell as they have “Longbranch” written across the receiver and they would have been changed over around 41 /42 from MkI to MkI. The US made No4MkI’s were produced under the lend-lease agreement and as such will have U.S. PROPERTY stamped across left part of the receiver. Well it should have it stamped there! I’ve had stories recounted to me that some units removed the marks. But again, a very stylised square S or the US flaming proof mark may well give it away.
But these early US marked No4MkI’s will be rather limited in numbers. For particular example this particular rifle is manufactured in 1943 with the serial prefix BA 1XXXX, with a stylised M next to the date stamp.
The trick to working out who made the rifle is to at this stage forget the alpha aspect and look at the first number, the 1. It was made in the Royal Ordinance factory Maltby. Whilst a mid war production it carries most of the aspects of a typical No4MkI, it has broad arrow marked woodwork with SL indicating furniture made by William Sykes Ltd, the Foresight protector MkI being broad arrow marked with manufacturers markings. It does however have the squared cocking piece, the MKII. Whereas the earlier models had a button cocking piece, however due to production date of this rifle the square piece is correct to the rifle, as was highlighted in the list of changes Para B4737. The main way in which to easily differentiate the models is the bolt head release mechanism.
It is a spring-loaded catch just rearward of the charger guide on the right hand side the receiver. Depressing this allowed the bolt to be removed from the rifle. Improvements in the bedding and a heavier barrel, coupled with a longer sight picture gave the Allied soldier a battle rifle with great potential. The reduced weight in the nose cap allowed the rifle to balance and come up to the aim quicker. An improved graduated rear flip-up sight called the singer sight was graduated from 200yds to 1300yds in 50 yd graduations. The woodwork of the early No4 was that of beech or birch. Earlier less hurried times would have seen wood such as French or European walnut being used.
A website dedicate to the Lee Enfield rifle. No4 Mk1/2 Mk1/3 Mk2 and FTR. There is reference to the L8 series of rifles but this has a PF serial number.
The walnut would have been suitably seasoned and prepared years in advance. However luxuries like that were soon to be a thing of the past. Bhuta mask. But those issues are better suited to be explored in No4Mk1.
But needless to say, by the time the No4Mk1. was hitting production what skilled operators and man power was left, were doing an exceptional job with what wood they were able to harvest or being supplied. The times of enjoying wood from Europe was ending and North American woods were now becoming increasingly the norm as well as woods from as far as Australia. The accuracy the No4 was expected to achieve was hitting a 6×4 inch plate at 100 yards. But when we talk about accuracy I feel that I must remind readers of what Maj E.B.B Reynolds wrote in his book “The Lee Enfield Rifle”.
Maj Reynolds summarised this whole subject up perfectly when he wrote “ throughout its many years of useful service the Lee Enfield has had many critics, particularly regarding is accuracy as a target shooting weapon. Many writers and critics appear to have overlooked the fact that it was designed as the British soldier’s personal arm, not as a target rife” Pg 9, Second impression 1962. And this was no target rifle, nor was it ever intended to be, it was deadly efficient in its intended role and proved an extremely solid and dependable battle rifle. Jeff wrote a superb article that ive included in the articles section, well worth a read regarding the accuracy. Along with Graeme who wrote an interesting article on the No4T, again worth a read.
Serial Numbers, Model, Mark and Manufacture Identification Over the years I have received many emails regarding serial numbers. The volume of serial number inquiries has prompted me to fashion this page together and try and explain how best to identify a particular rifles manufacturer. Truth be known about Enfield serial numbers is simply, the serial number was used more for production counting than any other reason.
Lithgow Enfield Serial Numbers
For official references, usually the finished and issued rifle was tracked by its rack number and of course these records have long since been destroyed or lost forever. This is not to say that Enfield serial numbers provide no information or that they are not an interesting subject. For those out there that want to get deeper into the serial number issues I would suggest purchasing either or books. What this page will attempt to provide is a basic overview of the serial system and where to find them along with the manufacture markings and barrel date stamp that is common on most Enfields. SMLE rifle manufacturers were given no serial ranges to begin or end production with, so it is possible that two rifles may exist with the same serial number produced at different factories. Some SMLE’s may be found with as little as a 3 digit number and high as a 5 digit number. Once the initial range of numbers was maxed out a letter prefix was added and the numbering began again.
Serial Number and Manufacturer Information Locations Seen in the picture above are the places where the serial number and manufacturer can be found. Along with the manufacturers name both the date of manufacture and the type and mark of the rifle is also shown. SMLE’s will have serial numbers stamped on the bolt, receiver, barrel, nose cap and the underside of the rear sight. They may or may not have the serial stamped into the front part of the fore-end and in the case of the Australian Lithgow’s it may be stamped into the butt as well. When reference is made to an “all matching” SMLE the serial numbers must all be the same. No4 rifles were given a starting number that may be used to identify manufacturers, but again there was no set serial blocks. British No4 rifles were set up with a 5 digit serial number system with 1XXXX being allotted to Maltby, 2XXXX Fazakerley, 3XXXX BSA Shirley.
Yet again, once the sequence of numbers caped out letter prefixes were used to start the sequence over. In the case of Savage Stevens the serial numbers began with a 0C1 and for Long Branch 0L1, these serials progressed in sequence directly relating the serial number to the number of rifles produced. An example would be: rifle serial number 52C2689 would be the 522,689 th rifle produced by Savage Stevens.
No5 rifles (Jungle Carbines) serial numbers consisted of a sequential 4 digit number starting with 0001 running through to 9999, the numbers were preceded by a letter prefix. When the number sequence reached 9999 the next letter assigned to the factory would be substituted in place of the former.
These specific letter prefixes were assigned to ROF Fazakerley and BSA Shirley, the only two manufacturers of the No5 rifle, this ensured that there would be no duplicate serials during the production run of No5’s. The prefixes were assigned as follows: ROF Fazakerley A, B, C, D, E, F, G, L, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T,U, V, W, Y,Y, Z, AA, AB, AC BSA Shirley BB, BD, BE, BF, BG, BH, BJ, BK. Serial Number and Manufacturer Information Locations Seen in the picture above are the normal spots to find the serial number and manufacturers’ information on the No4 and the No5 rifle. Places that will have the serial information is on the bolt, receiver and normally the barrel. They may have the numbers stamped into the front portion of the fore-end and on the bottom of the magazine.
M1917 Enfield Serial Numbers
Manufacturers will be noted either on the left side of the receiver or on the left side buttsocket. The mark and type of rifle will be stamped onto the left side receiver wall. Like the SMLE an all matching No4 or No5 will have all the serial numbers matching wherever they are found on a particular rifle. Certain serial number prefixes were reserved for trial rifles and specific rifle types.
These prefixes can be used to authenticate these rifles if found in a gun shop or personal collection. The most common of these were: XP was used for the Shortened and Lightened Australian Lithgow (No6 Jungle Carbine) rifles, A was used for No1 MkVI trail rifles, BS was used on the British No7 small bore rifles, and T1 for the No5 small bore rifles. There are more but again I would suggest reading either Skip Stratton’s or Ian Skennerton’s books on the subject.