I originally bought this because I wanted an Enfield that was bad enough to deactivate, paint, and weld to the bracket on a Jeep, without feeling guilty about destroying a piece of history. On closer examination, it started to look more interesting.
What looks like a poor original finish could be partly rust pits and partly damage from rough handling. The rivet that holds the trigger guard to the receiver in place of a screw could be a bubba repair. The loose bolt could be wear and tear. The thing that really got my attention, though,was the 2-piece barrel. The chamber is a separate piece, with the main part of the barrel brazed into it. The verdigris doesn't show up well in the picture and polishing to make the brass shine would ruin the overall effect.
Markings are hard to find and harder to read either because they were poorly stamped, or because of the beating they've taken since then. There's nothing that resembles a maker identification or a proof mark. There is a number that could be 1940 (would anything made in 1940 still have had a magazine cut-off?) and a couple of other numbers that could be serial numbers.
Everybody's heard about Khyber Pass Enfields, but most of us have never seen one. I think I may have stumbled on one.
