Milsurp After Hours

The 1/55 Fazakerley and the 1944 BSA.

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The front band on the '44. These were hard to find until the recent Third World imports---which this one isn't.

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The 1917 Enfield.

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"W 17" and Australian property marks.

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The second NZ/LB, a 1942 Mk1*.

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Finally, a Radcliffe No5 bayonet. As I understand it, Radcliffe were assemblers, not manufacturers.

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I would have even more photos, but the weather here has gone British on me and it has been grey and rainy for three days.

-----krinko

Nice very nice.

what is the barrel like on the 2 marked rifle ? it has been down graded? D^D

nice looking rifles have they been painted on the metal , they look like they are in good nick the No 4 s

"what is the barrel like on the 2 marked rifle ? it has been down graded?"

Near as I can tell, the "2" is a mark for the second military district and not a downgrade mark.

I have Australian marked rifles with the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 5 in this position---the "5" would seem to rule out any possibility that these are downgrade marks. How far gone would a rifle have to be to be downgraded to 5th?

The question of downgrade has been posed before, in relation to this kind of mark---I actually posted a question here with pictures of the three rifles, to see if it would come up again, but it didn't. Then.

The only painted rifle in this group is the 1955 Fazakerley, from the end of the "Irish Contract" block---PF 340899.

-----krinko

I've read about the Irish Contract rifles and how they were special. Can't remember the story about what makes them "Irish Contract" to begin with and special as something to collect. Would you mind.....? Please.

Fazakerley built No4 Mk2s for various countries---there's a list of them somewhere on this computer but I forget where I stuck the file.

Burma Contract, Hong Kong Contract---the Irish Contract was just one of these, but has been touted widely in the US...because of all the Irish here, I suppose.

Serial number range for the 50,000 rifles in this block runs PF 309348--PF 359347.

I have PF 329297, dated 11/54 and this other, PF 340899, dated 1/55.

Some have been issued, some not and there has been argumentation as to whether the Irish actually got any of them or not.

Strangely Brown maintains that some of them did make it to Ireland----maybe he'll add something in the way of details if he reads this?

No difference between the I.C. rifles and regular Mk2 production, aside from this trivial serial number thing.

-----krinko

Well yes Krinko I can add a little to this debate, some did get to Eire but the majority stayed in the UK at a storage base called Weedon.

It would appear that the majority of Irish Defence Force rifles (mainly SMLE No1MkIII's) and those of the Garda (No4's) were destroyed by dumping them in the Atlantic!

I must confess that my research into this matter has taken (and ground to a halt!) a polital view point as to what happened.

I do wonder that the American owned Irish No 4's which have been carried a lot but not fired much may have even been issued to British Army cadets!

Nice selection Krinko, i have a No4 Faz 2/52 PF231707 in very similar condition to your 55. I also notice the 44 BSA has a lightened bolt handle like the No5.?

I would be interested in any more info on the Irish and other foreign contracts.

Joe

So why were they dumped in the Ocean? Just cleaning house? They didn't like the upkeep on the warehouse?

No Robert they were dumped so the Eire government could not be accused of aiding the Republicans in the north, the reason being there had been a few rifles posted as "missing" and apparently recovered by either the British Army or the Royal Ulster Constabulary (PSNI).

This way there would be no come back, selling them off to the states during the late 1970's~80's would have been no good as there would have been every chance that some of them would have found their way home again via NORAID.

Part of my research into the Irish rifle situation has found that a lot of them (mainly SMLE No1 MkIII) were stored in damp conditions and the wood work had deteriorated quite badly, with a new NATO calibre just round the corner although Eire is a *neutral country it was not worth refurbishing them.

I must say every time I look at one of Krinko's post regarding No 4's that he has aquired that the UK government have sold off here I do feel somewhat envious.

*Eire's neutrality is these days somewhat in doubt given the roll the Irish Defence Force has taken within the Balkans and other areas with a NATO resposibility.