Enfield Identification

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   A little confused, can any help? I looked at an Enfield No. 4 Mark II today and it looked too good to be true. Aside from some very light wear to the wood and brass buttplate it looked unfired. Serial number reads UF 55A2509. My understanding is that the "U" refers to country of manufacture (UK), the "F" refers to ROF Fazakerley, the 55 for the year 1955 "A" being the beginning of the serial number series, the "2"  of the serial number for fazakerley and then I am assuming 509 being the 509th. of the year 1955. I was under the impression that all No. 4's had 5 digit serial numbers?, I had read that the only ones with 4 digit serial numbers were early BSA Shirley's or No. 5's. Also, this rifle came with some paperwork stating that it was an "Irish Contract Rifle". I read that the "Irish Contract Rifles were serial numbered PF between 309348 and 359347. The "PF" I assume is for Fazakerley, but the serial numbers start with a 3, which is what the BSA Shirley serial numbers start with and there are 6 digits. the rifle also has CAI St Alb VT  on the end of the barrel. I am assuming this is Century Arms Internationals import stamp? Anyway, I am wondering if I lucked out and found this rifle in incredible condition for a great price or if it is a fake? Any wisdom would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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SIG555 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: March 02 2010 Status: Offline Points: 1	Topic: Enfield Identification Posted: March 02 2010 at 8:12am
	A little confused, can any help? I looked at an Enfield No. 4 Mark II today and it looked too good to be true. Aside from some very light wear to the wood and brass buttplate it looked unfired. Serial number reads UF 55A2509. My understanding is that the "U" refers to country of manufacture (UK), the "F" refers to ROF Fazakerley, the 55 for the year 1955 "A" being the beginning of the serial number series, the "2" of the serial number for fazakerley and then I am assuming 509 being the 509th. of the year 1955. I was under the impression that all No. 4's had 5 digit serial numbers?, I had read that the only ones with 4 digit serial numbers were early BSA Shirley's or No. 5's. Also, this rifle came with some paperwork stating that it was an "Irish Contract Rifle". I read that the "Irish Contract Rifles were serial numbered PF between 309348 and 359347. The "PF" I assume is for Fazakerley, but the serial numbers start with a 3, which is what the BSA Shirley serial numbers start with and there are 6 digits. the rifle also has CAI St Alb VT on the end of the barrel. I am assuming this is Century Arms Internationals import stamp? Anyway, I am wondering if I lucked out and found this rifle in incredible condition for a great price or if it is a fake? Any wisdom would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Ed Hill Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Special Member Donating Member Joined: February 06 2006 Location: Northern PRK Status: Offline Points: 1394	Posted: March 02 2010 at 9:51am
	Fazakerly was the only factory still producing these rifles in 55 as far as I know, and you are correct the UF series is out of the group generally noted as "Irish Contract". These rifles were the same as the others, and were in fact never delivered to Ireland, so I'm not sure why they are considered more collectible. It is not unusual to see them in very good condition, unissued one still in the paper wrapping show up from time to time. Yes the CAI is Century. Is the paperwork from Century? Ed

Shamu Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 20510	Posted: March 03 2010 at 6:57am
	IIRC the Irish Contracts were also 54 dated, not '55. I'd seriously doubt the "Irish Contract" based on what you've posted, no matter what the paperwork may say. I believe that many of those '55UF Faz rifles were imported as mummies & some were later unwrapped, if this is so then it would explain the excellent condition. From what I've been able to discover most of the '55s were actually from different unfilled contracts & many of them were reserved for the RAF, but few were actually issued, they just sat in storage. Is yours a blond? (very light colored wood).
	Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)

A square 10 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Special Member Donating Member Joined: December 12 2006 Location: MN , USA Status: Offline Points: 16998	Posted: March 03 2010 at 11:52am
	there were 15 "contracts" all were PF series rifles , the smallest was hong kong for 10 rifles at the end - those would be the rifles to have , hong kong is probably still useing them , the largest was 50,000 for the irish , i cant see what makes them special eather short of the brits holding them in stores for so long , the next largest was the burma contract at 39,827 - mine is one of those , and a fine rifle but it came to me used not NIW , but in excelent condition . all of the rest were third world countries that took 20 to 2500 , and all were assigned PF serial number prefixes , in all there were just over 114000 rifles made for the contracts , if you have a NIW rifle or even a mummy wrapped rifle you have one that is as new as they get , and they aint makin them anymore , treasure that - and the fact that the mk2s were the last and most accurate in general ,