I have a Fazakerley No.4 Mk1/2 that has a matching bolt but their is no serial number on the barrel There the word "England" stamped in a semi circle pattern into the top flat of the barrel, ahead of the front part of the receiver. The barrel looks great. Does this mean that it was replaced at the factory? It doesn't have an FTR mark. It was made 10/49 Thanks for info on this.
Fazakerley No.4 10/49 gun with no serial no. on the barrel
- Thread starter steelgray
- Start date
As a Mk. 1/2, it was rebuilt. Don't know if barrels were serial numbered at that time. Is the barrel dated? There is also no way of knowing to a certainty if the barrel was changed again. The "ENGLAND" is a mark applied after the rifle was sold off as surplus for export purposes.
It could also have got a target barrel in the UK at some point. Hard to say. England is an export mark, not necessarily a surplussing marking. It could have been in private ownership when rebarelled. You'll likely never know.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
Your picture is showing the BNP proof stampings on both that barrel and receiver - so likely below the wood line - on the barrel, are crossed pennants - with a letter each side and below the "X" - the letter below indicates the inspector who did the test. The letters will be very small - like 1/8" tall - I need to use magnify glass to read them. The letter to the left indicates a "clump" of years within which that proof test was done - yours is likely "B", meaning from 1950 to 1974. The letter on the right side indicates which year, of that "clump", it was done. You can likely assume that the barrel was mated to that receiver and that bolt BEFORE the proof test was done - so the proof test year is telling you close to the earliest year that rifle could have been made. The codes for those BNP and other proof marks can be found here: http://www.hallowellco.com/proof_date_codes.htm
It was a British thing that the bolt handle was usually stamped with the receiver serial number - is several Parker Hales here from 1960's that continue that - and typically have the "BNP" mark on that bolt knob. So far as I know, the USA military never stamped the receiver serial number on their 1903 Springfield or their M1917 rifle bolts.
FYI - unlike Canada and USA, in Britain and in many European countries, all firearms sold to a consumer MUST be proof tested in a government facility - by their law - that includes home put-togethers, ex-military guns and so on. So British military could very well have placed stamps when they did their thing to a military gun, but then needed a Birmingham or London Proof to be able for that rifle to be sold to a consumer in Britain - the military process was good enough for service men to use, but apparently not good enough for a consumer.
It was a British thing that the bolt handle was usually stamped with the receiver serial number - is several Parker Hales here from 1960's that continue that - and typically have the "BNP" mark on that bolt knob. So far as I know, the USA military never stamped the receiver serial number on their 1903 Springfield or their M1917 rifle bolts.
FYI - unlike Canada and USA, in Britain and in many European countries, all firearms sold to a consumer MUST be proof tested in a government facility - by their law - that includes home put-togethers, ex-military guns and so on. So British military could very well have placed stamps when they did their thing to a military gun, but then needed a Birmingham or London Proof to be able for that rifle to be sold to a consumer in Britain - the military process was good enough for service men to use, but apparently not good enough for a consumer.
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