Ƒ R.S.A.F. Enfield: an extremely rare .303 Lee-Metford (Enfield) Mk I bolt-action cavalry carbine

Ƒ R.S.A.F. Enfield: an extremely rare .303 Lee-Metford (Enfield) Mk I bolt-action cavalry carbine issued to the 2nd Life Guards, serial number 9090B, action dated 1895, secondary (1902) barrel 20.75 in. with five-groove Enfield rifling, tangent/ladder back sight graduated to 2,000 yards, bolt with dust cover and turned down handle with flattened knob, safety catch on cocking piece, magazine cut-off, six-round magazine with link loop in front, D-ring to the left of the butt socket, sling bar let into right of butt, delta metal butt plate with trap, full stock with spring-retained barrel band, nose cap incorporating low fore-sight protector wings and extending to shroud the end of the barrel, clearing rod passing through nose cap, Nock's form and bolt stamped 'M.T. 94' (Morris Tube), butt socket impressed 'ENFIELD' over '1895' over 'I' all under a VR crown, brass butt disc impressed '4.96' over '2ND L.G' over '2', barrel and action with Victorian Ordnance proof and inspection marks, 1989 Birmingham Nitro proof. Section 1 - A Firearms Certificate or RFD Authority is required to purchase this lot.

The Carbine, Magazine, Lee Metford Mk I, for cavalry only, was approved on the 29th of September 1894. Limited numbers were produced before the D-ring sling loop on the butt socket was deleted from the specifications in March 1896 and armourers were given instructions for removing them from existing specimens. A large proportion of these carbines were further modified to the Lee-Enfield carbine specification by the removal of the sling bar on the butt and any remaining D-ring sling loops, by the addition of screws to secure a leather cover for the back sight, and by changes in other particulars. Yet others were more radically converted for issue to the Royal Irish Constabulary or to colonial forces. The carbine offered here is, therefore, an extremely rare survivor retaining (with the exception of the barrel) its original features. It was once paired with a Morris Tube sub-calibre insert for short range target practice, and the butt disc shows that it was issued, in April 1896, to the 2nd Life Guards as carbine number 2.