Where are all the Enfield's?

Polish-Jack

Polish-Jack

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I keep seeing YouTube C&R channels that are constantly showing off their sub $300 Enfield that they just picked up at this importer or that importer that brought them in for Ethiopia or India, or etc. With full wood Enfield rifles going to over a thousand dollars these days in Canada why are there no Canadian importers bringing any in?
 
The ex-Ethiopia Lee Enfields from Royal Tiger are currently US$400-$500 retail. RTI bought a large quantity of arms from Ethiopia. If these rifles were routed to Canada from RTI, they wouldn't be sub C$300 rifles.
The Ethiopian hoard was known in the business for some time. Other businesses thought the price was too high and passed. RTI seems to be moving a lot of product even though the days of cheap military surplus are gone.
Navy Arms just bought a load of Lee Enfields from France. Decent quality surplus. But not cheap.
Even if a lot can be located and purchased, the fun has just started. They have to be shipped. Paper and permits. The RTI rifles arrive by Ethiopian airfreight, in palletized loads of about 200 rifles. This simplifies the shipping of arms.
 
I used to ship by air, and it is very expensive
You also have to get clearance from the various
Airport's the plane stops along the way
 
tiriaq said:
The ex-Ethiopia Lee Enfields from Royal Tiger are currently US$400-$500 retail. RTI bought a large quantity of arms from Ethiopia. If these rifles were routed to Canada from RTI, they wouldn't be sub C$300 rifles.
The Ethiopian hoard was known in the business for some time. Other businesses thought the price was too high and passed. RTI seems to be moving a lot of product even though the days of cheap military surplus are gone.
Navy Arms just bought a load of Lee Enfields from France. Decent quality surplus. But not cheap.
Even if a lot can be located and purchased, the fun has just started. They have to be shipped. Paper and permits. The RTI rifles arrive by Ethiopian airfreight, in palletized loads of about 200 rifles. This simplifies the shipping of arms.
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Thanks! This clears up some things for me.
 
You wouldn’t want one from the eithiopian hoard as most of them were rotten goat pissed on junk
Just go on gun boards and look at the reviews on them and on the carcanos that came from eithiopia
Be thankful we dodged that bullet
There’s gotta be some decent enfield rifles in storage out there somewhere?
 
Deathrawt said:
You wouldn’t want one from the eithiopian hoard as most of them were rotten goat pissed on junk
Just go on gun boards and look at the reviews on them and on the carcanos that came from eithiopia
Be thankful we dodged that bullet
There’s gotta be some decent enfield rifles in storage out there somewhere?
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You would think there is a large stock of them somewhere, considering over fifteen million were manufactured over the decades.
 
There probably are governments/government agencies holding not only Enfields but also all sorts of obsolete and obsolescent arms that would be importable.
May be police, may be military, could even be wildlife management.
The UN is actively discouraging the sale of surplus arms. Wants them destroyed.

So, track them down. Negotiate the purchase. Develop an ulcer arranging for export, shipment, import.
 
Polish-Jack said:
You would think there is a large stock of them somewhere, considering over fifteen million were manufactured over the decades.
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Your question was answered about fifteen years ago when the Canadian Forces went looking to restock its Lee Enfield inventory for the Rangers. As much as romance and nostalgia gave everyone hope to dream, the Life Cycle Material Managers could not locate a significant quantity of No.4s. The principles of good inventory management demanded that there be enough rifles in safe condition, with a low percentage of rejects, and not made up from parts. Nothing nowhere. Had they gone looking thirty years ago, those stocks and inventories would have been available, but what modern army was interested in keeping obsolete bolt actions any more?

Ditto for an Australian company. They figured there were enough No.4 parts floating around that they'd just build new stocks, actions and barrels. Then add on all the screws and fittings "from spares". Ummm? Nope. Similar problems of quality control and pricing.
 
shoota said:
sourcing .303 ammo now is a problem too
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One might suggest it is the biggest problem at $2.50 to $3.50 a round, old Enfields are no longer cheap to shoot.



Polish-Jack said:
I'm never concerned about availability of ammo. I can always reload what I can't get buy.
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While I mostly agree with you, cases seem to be the biggest issue. They are not RARE but they aren't exactly common either. New PRVI cases are pretty spendy.
 
I read that 30-40 Krag brass can be shortened and sized to become 303 Brit and the cases are much stronger. Maybe I'll try that sometime in the future but I have about 350-400 .303 cases at the moment.
 
tiriaq said:
There probably are governments/government agencies holding not only Enfields but also all sorts of obsolete and obsolescent arms that would be importable.
May be police, may be military, could even be wildlife management.
The UN is actively discouraging the sale of surplus arms. Wants them destroyed.

So, track them down. Negotiate the purchase. Develop an ulcer arranging for export, shipment, import.
Click to expand...

Yes. Is why my little Mauser family increases by one every know and again.
 
tiriaq said:
There probably are governments/government agencies holding not only Enfields but also all sorts of obsolete and obsolescent arms that would be importable.
May be police, may be military, could even be wildlife management.
The UN is actively discouraging the sale of surplus arms. Wants them destroyed.

So, track them down. Negotiate the purchase. Develop an ulcer arranging for export, shipment, import.
Click to expand...

Canadian Parks has or had a huge inventory or surplus military arms.
 
Parks Canada actually use NSN to track items, they used to be the third largest holder of Ross Rifles after the CF and Army, then to the largest, then the tree huggers got involved it’s a sad story really in the end.
 
R711 said:
Parks Canada actually use NSN to track items, they used to be the third largest holder of Ross Rifles after the CF and Army, then to the largest, then the tree huggers got involved it’s a sad story really in the end.
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I happen to know a manager at Parks Canada who has been assigned a role in their small arms "department". It is important to distinguish between their historic and antique pieces that were excavated from a dig site and have genuine cultural value, from the reproduction pieces that get fired off for salutes and other smoke-belching reasons. I've seen the syllabus for their cannon safety program. No one fires any black powder piece on Parks property who does not have that qualification. Consider it the difference between an ordinary driving permit and the ticket to operate a vehicle on an airport apron.

Apparently Parks has a large inventory of more modern small arms for their living history displays and programs. Like a lot of organizations these days, there are knowledge gaps across the demographics. The old-fashioned subject matter experts die, retire, or get other duties, and the new incumbent arrives ill equipped. Not necessarily their fault, but where does anyone get develop in-depth firearms experience these days? This is where my friend comes in. Meeting the subject matter experts across other departments makes a difference! And forming those friendships pays off.
 
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