Such rifles would have 5-digit serial numbers with either an “E” or an “F” serial number prefix, and the serial number would be stamped on the rear of the bolt handle and on the bottom of the fore-end, as well as on the receiver ring. The Lee-Enfield No. Lookup vehicle identification number is the first thing you should do before you buy a used car. Get Vehicle History Report Vindecoder.eu can decode make, model, model year, body, trim, engine, transmission and other car parts in Europe, US as well as on other markets. Published on 08:50 AM Number of Views: 17241 Categories: Enfield Rifles; 1903 ShtLE (Short Lee-Enfield) Mk1 Rifle (Mfg. (Short Lee-Enfield) Mk1. Rifle (Mfg by RSAF Enfield). Serial # 185 (Mfg by Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd., Crayford, Kent, England). Lee Enfield Serial Number; Hi all, first off I am new to this site having stumbled upon it while looking for some i.d help with a newly acquired Lee Enfield rifle so please bear with me as I am not yet familiar with the idiosyncrasies of the search function. The rifle in question is a 1943 with numbers; N24MKJ(F)FTR /49AP6888 stamped on the. Deactivated Lee-Enfield SMLE rifle No1 mk3. BSA Co. 1917 dated, mag cut-off, matched serial numbers.

SERIAL NUMBERS...

Earlier SMLE and previous MLM & MLE rifles & carbines initially had the action body batches allocated a letter, before the serial numbers were stamped (to 9999 in each series). These commenced with no letter, then progressed A thru' Z, often nominated for different contractors, RSAF Enfield, RSAF Sparkbrook, BSA Co., LSA Co., and the peddled scheme during WW1. It is interesting that different rifle and carbine Marks recommenced with the no letter and A-Z series with each new model, so it is possible to find carbines/rifles of different Mark designations with the same serial number. This is a reason that upon unit issue, serial nos. were not recorded, rather that rack numbers were assigned and stamped on the butt or butt-plate tang. On some rifles, particularly the SMLE, these unit or rack issue numbers were stamped on the top of the action body as well, e.g. in Aussie service '3.M.D.' (3rd Military District) '10381' (the Military District or unit rack no.)
On MLM, MLE and earlier SMLE rifles, the batch letter will be noted sometimes above or below the serial no. because the serial number was stamped later in production and stamped on the body and breech bolt too. Serial nos. stamped on the nosecap boss, fore-end, underside of the rearsight leaf, &c. was done at Base Ordnance Depots and by armourers to keep together components original to particular rifles during maintenenace and repair. This also applied, to a certain degree, to No.4 and No.5 rifles, particularly to the fore-end and later extended to the magazine case as well. For the SMLE, we usually find serial nos. stamped on magazine cases only on Indian issue rifles.

Recording of serial numbers for Enfield muskets, .577 Sniders and .450 & .303 Martini rifles & carbines is essential for your own records (insurance, registers, &c.) however the numbers stamped on the butt or even on action bodies are rarely the firearm's serial number. Rack or issue numbers were stamped on the right side of the butt, or marking disk (.303 arms only), on the butt-plate tang (Sniders & Enfields only) and occasionally on the action body itself, usually atop the receiver ring. While rack or issue numbers help identification, they are not the firearm's serial number.
Until 1st January 1925, the master number of a firearm was that on the barrel rather than the action body. On Sniders and Martinis, the serial number is not visible and removing a fore-end to see the number on the barrel or front inside of the body can damage wood furniture, especially if the securing pin (a la M.H. Mk I & II, M.M. & M.E. too) has rust on it. M.H. serial numbers are found on the inside right, front of the body while .303 conversion numbers used the left side. So as to match critical parts, serial number was also stamped under the rear sight leaf (and fore-ends, nosecaps, bolts, of Lee-Enfields too). You may find serial numbers easily by lifting up the backsight leaf, more convenient than removing the fore-end, IF that leaf is original to the firearm. serial nos. for .577 Sniders and .450 & .303 Martini rifles & carbines is required for your own records (insurance, registers, &c.) but numbers stamped on the butt or even action bodies are rarely a firearm's serial number. Rack or issue numbers were marked on the right side of the butt, or marking disk (.303 arms only), on the buttplate tang (Sniders & Enfields only) and occasionally on the action body itself, usually atop the receiver ring. While rack or issue numbers help identification, they are not the firearm's serial number.
Until 1st January 1925, the master number of a firearm was that on the barrel rather than the action body. On Sniders and Martinis, the serial number is not visible; removing a fore-end to see the number on the barrel or front inside of the body may damage furniture, especially if the securing pin (a la M.H. Mk I & II, M.M. & M.E. too) has rust on it. M.H. serial numbers are found on the inside right, front of the body while .303 conversion numbers used the left side. So as to match critical parts, serial number was also stamped under the rear sight leaf (and fore-ends, nosecaps, bolts, of Lee-Enfields too). You may find serial numbers easily by lifting up the backsight leaf, more convenient than removing the fore-end, IF that leaf is original to the firearm.

No.4 and No.5 rifle serial numbers can readily identify manufacturers. British No.4 rifles have five numbers, usually after one or two letter prefixes. The same letter prefix(es) were used by Maltby, Fazakerley & BSA Shirley, A to Z then AA, AB to AZ, then BA to BZ, CA to CZ &c. Maltby rifle serial numbers commence with a number '1', Fazakerley with a '2' and Shirley with a '3', e.g. 1xxxx for Maltby, 2xxxx for Fazakerley and for Shirley, 3xxxx, after the letter prefix. Late Shirley numbers then supposedly ran A4000 to A7999 and with PS prefixes at the very end of production. Post-war Fazakerley No.4 rifles had PF letter prefixes. The only exception to the 5-number sequence for No.4 rifles was the initial BSA Shirley production which ran from 0001 to 9999 then went with A to Z prefixes (A0001 to A9999 to the Z prefix) and some early dual letter prefixes (e.g. AT 0303), but then went over to A30001, &c. So early M47C No.4 rifle numbers could be confused with the Jungle carbine in having four rather than five numbers.
Long Branch (Canada) serial numbers incorporate an 'L' in the serial number while US Savage numbers include an 'C' in a similar relative position amongst the numbers. Both of these No.4 rifle series commenced with 0L1 and 0C1 respectively.
No.5 Jungle Carbines only have 4 numbers, the Shirley carbines have BB to C? prefixes, last production was post World War 2. The Fazakerley jungle carbines ran from FE1 to FE1000 initial production, then with no letter prefix, followed by A1 to A9999 through Z9999.

Serial numbers of certain Lee-Enfields can serve as indicators of the model and help with initial authentication. The 'BS' prefix was used for the .22 British No.7 rifles, 'T1' for the .22 No.5 trials small-bore target rifles in 1945 and 'DA' for the .22 No.8 N.Z. contract rifles by BSA Shirley. 'SKN' was applied to factory sectionized models, an 'XP' prefix was used for Lithgow Shortened & Lightened SMLE and No. 6 jungle carbines, 'X' was used for a small number of Lithgow No.1 rifles with stainless steel barrels and 'FE' was used for early production Fazakerley No. 5 jungle carbines. Trials No. 1 Mk VI and No. 4 Mk 1 rifles made in the early 1930s have an 'A' prefix to their original serial numbers although many were later upgraded to No. 4 specs and the 'A' became a suffix to indicate the fitting of some non-interchangeable components. On No. 4 rifles, an 'A' suffix was stamped by a repair depot or armourer after the serial number when some parts were found to be non-interchangeable.
And of course, with the Canadian No.4 rifles, the letter 'L' precedes the last four numbers as does a 'C' for the Chicopee Falls production Stevens Savage Lend-Lease No.4 rifles and 'J5550' (the drawing number) prefixes the Canadian Lightened No. 4 serial number. After the initial 99,999 rifles, the Lithgow No. 1 (S.M.L.E.) proceeded through 'A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E' and 'F' prefixes before the last rifle F40580 was manufactured in 1953. WW2 production ceased with F39580 and the 1,000 rifle run during the Korean War ran from F39581 to F40580. More details on serial numbers will also be found in the new book, 'The Broad Arrow'.
The 7.62mm L1A1 series serial number prefixes similarly denote makers. UE is Enfield, UB is BSA, UF is Fazakerley and AD is Lithgow, Australia. 'SAF' was applied by the Lithgow factory to certain export sales and 'SR' for Lithgow sectionized rifles. South African 7.62mm FAL's were Belgian production metric models, engraved with the South African crest. Indian 7.62mm 1A rifles ran conventional serial number series with a letter prefix.

7.62mm L2A1 prototypes (heavy barrel auto model) from SAF Lithgow had 'X' prefix serial numbers. Some were onforwarded to Malaya and New Zealand, good customers who purchased quantities of the 7.62mm L1A1 model—
X1 to Malaya (7 June 1961)
X2 to X4 to Malaya
X5 to New Zealand
X6 to X7 to Malaya
X8 to Malaya, returned to SAF and rebuilt, forwarded to Australian War Memorial
X9 to Malaya
X10 AIS (Army Inspectorate) Lithgow
X11 AIS Lithgow
X12 AIS Lithgow
X13 to Malaya
X14 to Malaya
X15 to Malaya (likely only 15 rifles w/ X serials built, following were converted receivers)
X18 rebuilt from X8 at AIS Lithgow
X19 rebuilt from X9 at AIS Lithgow
X20 TT 176 for Army trial, control weapon (normal barrel & gas block, concession trigger mechanism & body bullet lead)
X21 TT 176 (test/trials) used with X20 by the Army
X22 possibly a number allocation and not assembled
Australian L2A1 production commenced in 1962 with 3,000 rifles and continued until 1982 with a total production of 9,557 (excluding the X-prefix pre-production batch referred to above).

Enfield #4 Mk2 Serial Numbers

Lithgow SAF in-house L1A1 test and some special rifles have some different serial number prefixes. SAF was used for target rifles and commercial batches which included the L1A1A rifles for the United States, e.g. SAF830103. TT and TR were applied to in-house test models. TR0001 to TR024 are recorded as having been assembled,
TR0007 Fully chromed barrel & auto to ADE Melbourne
TR0008 Fully chromed barrel & auto to ADE Melbourne
TR0015 Adverse condition trial with selected components; TT56, TT57, TT58, TT59
TR0016 Production rifle for comparison with above
TR0017 Adverse condition trial TT60 / C110
TR0018 Deterioration of Rifle body using proof rounds; TT61
TR0019 For case proof Footscray, special hardened body BRH
TR0020 BRH body
TR0021 H2 body for cartridge case ammo trial
TR0022 H2 body for cartridge case ammo trial
TR0023 H2 body, test on body hardened at finished stage; TT72 & 74
TR0024 HT body, test on body hardened at finished stage. Also ejector trial.
TT64A, TT64B, TT64C, TT64D, TT64E to observe stretching of body
SR1 Sectionized rifle, to Senior Inspector, AIS
SR2 Sectionized rifle, to Senior Inspector, AIS SAF
SR3 Sectionized rifle, to Bandiana
SR4 Sectionized rifle, to Bandiana, for Melbourne Museum
SR5 Sectionized rifle, Factory inspection prototype
SR6 Sectionized rifle, Australian Trade Commissioner, New Zealand
SR7to SR18 Sectionized rifles, to Malaya
SR19 to SR27 Sectionized rifles, to New Zealand
SR28 Sectionized rifle, to Zambia
SR29 to SR36 Sectionized rifles, for factory personnel
SR37 to SR588 Sectionized rifles, service issue, some sold to collectors and museums
SR8800001 to SR8800010 were a special bi-centennial batch of L1A1 A sectionized rifles in 1988, also engraved 'AUSTRALIA'S BI-CENTENNIAL 1788-1988' over 'S.A.F. LITHGOW L1.A1. PRODUCTION 1958-1988' on the right side of the upper receiver. A special copper - bronze medallion was also inletted into the right side of the butt of these 10 rifles.

Serial numbers for British made L1A1 rifles and Small Arms ran in blocks with factory code and year prefix followed by the serial number commencing with an alphabet letter e.g. UB60 A85830 (last rifle by BSA for the 2nd quarter 1960). Third quarter numbers commenced with A85831. The initial BSA batch of L1A1 rifles for the quarter ending December 31 in 1957 was UB57 A1 - A870. For the quarter ending April 30th 1960, numbers were UB60 A63625 - A75299. The last serial number for the quarter ending 31st July 1960 was UB60 A85830. An anomaly... factory logged quarters ended with 30th April and 31st July???
'U' indicates UK. The next letter is the factory, 'E' for Enfield, 'F' for Fazakerley, 'B' for BSA Guns, 'S' for Sterling Engineering.
This was followed by the year indicator, e.g. '55' for 1955, then the serial number commencing with A1 which continued to A999,999 after which it advanced to a B prefix, starting with B1. The year indicator was irrespective of the serial number advance, e.g. the last rifle at Enfield in 1956 may have been UE 56 A2136, the first rifle in 1957 would thus be UE 57 A2137, until A999999 was reached after which the 'B' series was to be used commencing with B1, e.g. UF 68 B1.
Repaired weapons are marked with factory code, year and 'F.T.R.' adjacent to the original serial number. Where two or more types of weapons are manufactured or repaired at the same factor, a separate series of numbers will be maintained for each type of weapon, each commencing at A1.
For replacement numbers, i.e. unnumbered or illegible originals, SA prefixes were allocated for Army, SN for the Navy and SR for RAF. An example is an L1A1 returned by police in 1978 with an obliterated number was then engraved SA78 A1.
RSAF Enfield reported production of 103,400 L1A1 rifles, 108,300 L1A3 bayonets and 15,520 L1A2 grenade launchers by the end of the financial year 1961 for the War Office, Admiralty, Air Ministry, Ghana, Rhodesia, Nigeria and Singapore. Enfield FTR'd 10,000 No.4 Mk 2 rifles for Burma in that period, new No.4 rifles were made at ROF Fazakerley.

Yes, of course take it out for the day, and lift its skirts, because this means it not being 'stood up' ..........

................. in a dusty corner of your gun cabinet

Many, but not all, of our pages carry date information on the various rifles illustrated or discussed, where it has been possible to be sure of data. There are a number of methods by which a rifle can be dated, or at least bracketed between certain years of manufacture. For the latter, dates of introduction of military arms can be located within the Government 'List of Changes' (LoCs) as can dates of obsolescence and of modification or upgrade to later marks.

Basic information on these lines is on site from our Chronology of Enfield genre Training Rifles, Adapters & Cartridges.

You may not necessarily find specific date information within the text of particular pages, but often the images of advertisements or catalogue entries contain some dating 'give-away', such as the year in which a particular rifle achieved a notable competition score by someone, but which data is in graphic format and therefore not 'searchable' by a text search engine. Do not briefly glance over a page and assume that the information you require is not there. It may not be immediately obvious, but careful observation may provide you with the information for which you are looking. Such research is a major part of the joy of owning, collecting and shooting classic or historic rifles.

For BSA and Greener rifles view complete catalogues from 1908 to the mid 1930s on our

As far as civilian rifles are concerned, some manufacturers have their own dating systems, with, for example, prefixes or suffixes to serial numbers providing that information. Anschutz target rifles fall into this category, and their system is given on the page for these rifles.

Quite apart from such dating information as we have been able to provide on many of the individual rifle types included on this website, there are other ways in which you may be able to confirm the date of manufacture, or at least the date of proof, of your rifle. Do remember, though, that date information coded with proof and Proof-House inspection, viewing or identification marks, does not necessarily coincide with the date of manufacture. Because many rifles may have been imported or, prior to sale on the civilian market, have only had military proof marks, then dating from the Birmingham or London Proof House marks needs to be treated with a degree of both caution and common sense. All firearms sold to private individuals in the U.K. have, for many years, been legally required to carry proof marks from one or other of the Proof Houses. This is mandatory, in the interests of public and personal safety, and any imported, previously un-proved firearm or 'Sold out of Service' ex-military arm must be so proved. Rifles without modern proof still regularly appear on the market, having lain in store for decades. This is nothing new, and proof-house date marks from years past may still not indicate the rifle's date of manufacture. However, if an estimate of the rifle's age from other sources closely matches the date marks, then you probably have pinned down when it was made within a year or so.

British and Commonwealth Service rifles can sometimes be dated by their serial numbers and prefixes, and the manufacturing works can be identified by manufacturers' coded leter and number marks. The keenest researchers will search manufacturers' records where such are archived or available. Fortunately, many of these scholars make their work available to the public in reference books, and details of a number of the most useful ones are to be found in our Bibliography. It is worth mentioning one or two books in particular from which much data relevant to this website's subject matter can be sought. 'The Broad Arrow', and 'The Lee-Enfield Story by Ian Skennerton, afford many specifics of manufacturers' and unit codes and proof marks, and of rifles of Enfield origin respectively. For B.S.A. Co. civilian production of target and sporting rifles, then purchase a copy of ' B.S.A. - The Golden Century by John Knibbs. The ISBN numbers for these reference books are in the bibliography. Hitherto, John, who worked for the B.S.A. Company for many years and holds most of those records not destroyed in enemy bombing raids on the factories during the War, has been willing to help date a particular B.S.A. product where possible, and charges a fee which is donated to one or other of his chosen charities. It should be borne in mind that there is rarely a better way to find out more about your chosen rifle than buying one of the marque or model specific books authored by someone who has spent much of their life researching the subject. Such a purchase additionally supports such researchers and their work, and is, long term, to the benefit of us all.

When inspecting your rifle and comparing marks with reference sources, be careful not to confuse date marks, or 'private view marks', with inspectors marks, which usually carry the factory identification, e.g., 'E' for Enfield, under the sovereign's crown, below which is the inspector's identification number; usually two figures such as '39'. This is not a date mark, although occasionally the number may coincidentally seem to relate to one's approximate estimate of the rifle's age; it does not.

E

39

Also be aware of the Birmingham Proof and Birmingham View marks - respectively BP and BV - each under a Crown.* With, for example, the BSA Model 15 or BSA Model 12/15 Martini-actioned rifles, the view mark should be visible both on the barrel and on the action body RHS top. With such B.S.A. rifles the Proof mark is only on the barrel (and on the action falling-block), and the third mark on the barrel is the 'NP' mark for Nitro-Proof, also below the crown. Proof , View and Black Powder or Nitro-Proof marks have to be easily visible to, for instance, the purchaser of a firearm. Thus they are usually very obviously stamped on the appropriate pressure-bearing parts where thay can easily be seen. The only exception to this is a comparatively recent situation in which the acquirer of a historically important firearm that may have been re-imported, and hitherto have carried no London or Birmingham proving mark, scan request, when that arm is sent for the necessary proof that, the marks are put out of sight, under woodwork for example, in order that the original appearance of a valuable piece is not spoiled.. However, date marks such as are under discussion and described below, are usually out of sight on the under-side of the barrel, and removal of fore-end furniture may be necessary to find them.

Akin to the longstanding hallmarking system for British silverware, in which letter codes relate to years of manufacture or importation, is an equivalent employed by the British Proof Houses. The problem here is that, unlike silver hallmarking, the Proof House codes were only introduced in 1921 and have been only intermittently applied since then, almost on the whim of the Proof Master incumbent at any particular time. The system ceased to be used during 1941, since there was practically no civilian firearm production for the next five or six years, and, with war-time production levels reaching unprecedented proportions, almost all military proofing was effected within the various manufacturing facilities by Government inspectors. The coding was not reintroduced until 1952. However, such date codes as there are are still useful in dating the many firearms manufactured between the First and Second World Wars, including much output from the Birmingham Small Arms Company ( see also BSA Rifles), as indeed is true post 1952 for those rifles more recently falling into the classic class.

This so-called 'secret' marking system was as follows, with the marks illustrated below applying as indicated. As far as we are aware, all B.S.A. production was proved at Birmingham and the marks should therefore comply with these series.

These marks are also not to be confused with the crossed flags stamp of the miltary proof markings, which may carry similar letter codes identifying the country and/or place of inspection.

From 1921 to 1951 Figure 1 applies, and for firearms proved between mid 1921 and mid 1922 the code letter is A.

Lest they were confused with other characters, I and Q were not utilised, so the date letters to 1941 were as follows

1922/23 - B; 1923/24 - C; 1924/25 - D; 1925/26 - E; 1926/27 - F; 1927/28 - G; 1928/29 - H; 1929/30 - J; 1930/31 - K; 1931/32 - L; 1932/33 - M; 1933/34 - N; 1934/35 - O; 1935/36 - P; 1936/37 - R; 1937/38 - S; 1938/39 - T; 1939/40 - U; 1940/41 - V.

The alphabet was restarted several years post-war in 1950 with A, but now each letter change was made at the beginning of the year.

The mark was modified to that shown in Figure II, with D to the left representing 1953,

and the B to the right identifying the Birmingham Proof House.

Enfield 303 Serial Number Lookup

The number below identified the inspector.

Thus the year codes have hitherto been understood to be 1950 - A; 1951 - B; 1952 - C; 1953 - D; 1954 - E; 1955 - F; 1956 - G; 1957 - H; 1958 - J; and so on through to 1974 - Z; ................ we also believed that Q was then used in this series for 1965.

However, we have been made aware, by a contributor, of two contemporary rifles, a BSA Mk.II Lightweight Martini International and a BSA Century, that each carry what certainly appears to be the letter 'I' in the left quadrant (as in Fig.II above). This would suggest that 'I' as well as 'Q' was no longer deemed to be ambiguous, as had previously been the case with the Fig.1 stamp configuration. There is therefore an undeniable possibility that year letters after 1958 may each represent dates that should be advanced one year, with 'Z' falling in 1975, although this would then conflict with the 1975 commencement of the next series.

Confusion remains; unless you know differently. Conjecture may suggest that perhaps there was even indecision at the Birmingham Proof House, and only a few rifles were stamped with an 'I' in 1958 before 'J' was substituted, or, a long shot, the 1957 'H' stamps wore out before the end of the year. We may never know the answer, but can meanwhile entertain ourselves dreaming up such explanations.

The two markings are shown below, the International to the left, and Century to the right.

..........

From 1975 a further modification was made to the mark, as in Figure III, with another adjustment soon after to Figure IV.

The date code letters were thus 1975 - A; 1976 - B; 1977 - C; 1978 - D; 1979 - E; 1980 - F.

To give some idea of what you are looking for, the image below shows the mark, as Figure I, on a BSA Model 15 rifle. It is to be found under the barrel just foreward of the receiver, and requires removal of the fore-end woodwork to view. The rule is calibrated in millemetres. It is possibly the diminutive size of this mark, and its usually hidden location, which has led to it being described as 'secret'.

In this instance, the code letter is 'M' for 1932-33, indicating that the rifle was manufacture,

or at least proved, between July 1932 and June 1933.

Note that this is a pre-WWII rifle. Post-War rifles such as the BSA Model 12/15 will not carry this mark.

Date marks for the London Proof House did not commence until 1972 and are therefore of limited value in dating classic rifles.

They were literal marks in the form

LP
72

* A 1930s BSA brochure for their rifles included a page relating to proof of same.

Click the image to see the full catalogue

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