L1A1 wood furniture / receiver marking question

[karl]

A couple of questions for the L1A1 experts. The British production L1A1 had three types of front handguard over the years, is that correct? Wood with three holes, wood with two slots, and plastic with slots. I beleive the plastic came out early 1970s, but what were the differences in the wooden types and when were they issued? Also I have an Enfield made L1A1 which has the Enfield ED monogram and the date 1958 in full infront of the pivot screw. Is this a standard marking, as I have seen other Enfield L1A1s which don't have it.

[NZ L1A1 Collector]

The British did produce 3 types of handguards for the L1A1 during it's production. Firstly all L1A1's from the factory came with solid wood handguards (2 slots), like you have on your rifle at the moment.

Your marking is typical of the Enfield made handguards, handguards made by BSA have something like B1958 and those by Fazackerly would have F 58

Then in 1968/69 following the Australian's the British also produced Laminated Handguards (3 holes) made by R & CO., these were replacement parts for rifles in service. They were stronger and cheaper to produce and it had been well known right from the start of service that they had to find a replacement for the expensive full wood handguards, this was the first step.

Then around 1972 the British managed to produce a stable set of plastic furniture which were then put into service as replacement components.

The reason that some handguards don't have the makings is because of the hard service life of the rifles the markings can be worn off or you get people wanting to make the rifle look 'new' and they get sandpaper happy and remove the markings.

[karl]

Thankyou very much for the information, you have answered my question very thoroughly, , although I think having re-read my message I didn't make myself very clear. The furniture is currently the black plastic type and I was trying to find out what type it would have had originally in 1958, which thanks to you I now know. The Enfield monogram and 1958 date are actually on the receiver just infront of the pivot screw. I haven't seen this marking on an L1A1 before, not that I have had that many to look at, and wondered if it was unusual or perhaps only on early manufactured guns? I have a photo of it but I don't think you can load photos up on the message board can you?
Thanks again for your help.

[NZ L1A1 Collector]

karl said:

Thankyou very much for the information, you have answered my question very thoroughly, , although I think having re-read my message I didn't make myself very clear. The furniture is currently the black plastic type and I was trying to find out what type it would have had originally in 1958, which thanks to you I now know. The Enfield monogram and 1958 date are actually on the receiver just infront of the pivot screw. I haven't seen this marking on an L1A1 before, not that I have had that many to look at, and wondered if it was unusual or perhaps only on early manufactured guns? I have a photo of it but I don't think you can load photos up on the message board can you?
Thanks again for your help.

If you can send me your pics I will ahve a look and see what markings you have.

Here's a 1961 dated Enfeild, yours would of generally look the same in 1958


Magwell marking


Handguard marking

[karl]

Thanks for sending the photos. I haven't worked out yet how to attach a photo, but your picture of the magazine well shows the marking I was talking about very well. The only difference with mine is that the date is in full (1958) below the Enfield monogram.

With regard to the laminated front handguards, I have seen two types, one with flat rivets and the other with dimpled rivets. Do you know if this is significant with respect to date or country of manufacture or whether there are any other variations? Do you know what type the British ones were?

Many thanks