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Hi all,

Could anyone tell me when L1A1 prodution ceased in the UK, I have a deactivated old spec 1959 Enfield made L1 and the barrel and gas block assembley are marked with the Enfield stylised "D" and 1978 dated, were they only making repair parts or still manufacturing complete rifles?

I know Parker Hale started making pressure bearing parts, barrels , gas blocks, bolt carriers, etc, around 79-80, did they also conduct the FTR program, or was it done in house by the REME ?

Can't find the info anywhere :cool2: :cool2:


Cheers, John.

I had a look on wikipedia for this , RSAF Enfield closed in 1988 and production of the L1A1 continued into the 80s , but there isnt a definite answer as to the end date . But the SA80 was already in production by then at Enfield .
Wether any one would have production dates linked to proof marks or S/N s may be a way to find the answer you are looking for . The problem is does any one have these records now as ownership passed to BAE I think , I know this is a problem trying to date Vickers Armstrong Martini action rifles the records have been lost over the years .
Maybe contact LERA or some other associaciations who may have some info that would help .

Dave

Heres some interesting vids on RSAF Enfield with a bit on the L1A1 in the first vid .
http://www.rsaf-aa.co.uk/rsaf/heritage/ ... ideos.html
You may be able to contact the RSAF apprentices assc perhaps they can help .
My late father was an apprentice there in 1939 .

Dave

Thanks guys, good leads there, I will explore them.

I find the lack of info regarding L1 production intriguing and frustrating in equal measure!

As I have stripped and restored this rifle, I am quite taken with this wonderfully simple and robust design, typical F.N / Enfield genius, so much so in fact, I am seriously considering buying a straight pull L1, especially as they are built on original receivers and not just look-a-likes, (Bank Manager and Wife aside)

I buy and sell (old spec) deacs to fund my growing (Live) Lee Enfield collection, which is how I came to have this 1959 Enfield made upper, 1961 BSA made lower and 1978 Enfield made barrel and gas block Frankensteins monster L1A1 in my possession!

I guss that's 30 odd years of squaddie abuse for you!

I assumed (rather stupidly) this information would be easily obtained, as it is for the Lee Enfield and its many variants.

If I can get some concrete info I will report back.

Cheers, John.

Hi all,

The very knowledgeable and great Captain Peter Laidler has very kindly responded to an enquiry I made regarding L1 production...very interesting.

I had no idea we bought top up L1's from the Australians...talk about selling sand to the Arabs!!!

Here is Peters e-mail:

To be honest, I haven't got a clue when production of the L1A1 ceased but I would think that it was about the mid 70's because I NEVER saw a rifle later than 1975. There might have been overseas orders but I doubt it as the Australians were undercutting Enfield on cost by 40%. That's why much of their production was for export Don't forget that we make the full required production at the time. Thereafter it's spare parts.

We did buy some complete rifles from Australia to keep stocks up but these were small runs, as and when they were producing for export. We have many L1A1's in the collection of course

Cheers all and many thanks to Peter, John.