They may or may not have the serial stamped into the front part of the fore-end and in the case of the Australian Lithgows it may be stamped into the butt as well. SMLEs will have serial numbers stamped on the bolt, receiver, barrel, nose cap and the underside of the rear sight. Once the initial range of numbers was maxed out a letter prefix was added and the numbering began again.

Some SMLEs may be found with as little as a 3 digit number and high as a 5 digit number. What this page will attempt to provide is a basic overview of the serial system and where to find them along with the manufacture markings and barrel date stamp that is common on most Enfields. This is not to say that Enfield serial numbers provide no information or that they are not an interesting subject.įor those out there that want to get deeper into the serial number issues I would suggest purchasing either Skip Strattons or Ian Skennertons books. The Fazakerley jungle carbines ran from FE1 to FE1000 initial production, then with no letter prefix, followed by A1 to A9999 through Z9999.For official references, usually the finished and issued rifle was tracked by its rack number and of course these records have long since been destroyed or lost forever. No.5 Jungle Carbines only have 4 numbers, the Shirley carbines have BB to C? prefixes, last production was post World War 2. Both of these No.4 rifle series commenced with 0L1 and 0C1 respectively. 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. So early M47C No.4 rifle numbers could be confused with the Jungle carbine in having four rather than five numbers. 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. Post-war Fazakerley No.4 rifles had PF letter prefixes. Late Shirley numbers then supposedly ran A4000 to A7999 and with PS prefixes at the very end of production. 1xxxx for Maltby, 2xxxx for Fazakerley and for Shirley, 3xxxx, after the letter prefix. Maltby rifle serial numbers commence with a number '1', Fazakerley with a '2' and Shirley with a '3', e.g.

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. British No.4 rifles have five numbers, usually after one or two letter prefixes. No.4 and No.5 rifle serial numbers can readily identify manufacturers. Congratulations on buying a piece of British history. The below will aid you in answering your questions. Sheffield, England' a subcontractor of Enfield parts.

Lee enfield rifle serial number lookup