Enfield No 2 MK1 Revolver

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dodgestdshift

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A friend showed me a revolver that was "liberated" during or after WWII an Enfield No 2 MK1 revolver. I looked at it but didn't have a lot of time to play with it. I know it is a breaktop revolver, but where is the cylinder release catch (S & W terminology - I don't know what it is called on the Enfield) so I can open the action?

Thanks.
 
There should be a lever on the left side that you push forward with your thumb. Its is all one piece that locks over the top of the gun and on the other side. Push lever forward which unlocks the top and push down on the barrel at the same time.

rk
 
USUALLY on the left side. There actually were many lefthanded models with the latch on the right side. You will locate the latch, use thumb pressure to push it, the top latch should clear the barrel. Push down on the barrel, the ejector star will rise. (Hopefully) To close, push on the latch again, raise the barrel into position and release pressure slowly. NO snappy moves or speed is called for.
 
Hi, Josey,

I don't think I have ever seen a left handed No.2 revolver, or for that matter any British issue revolver, with a left hand latch. Can you post a picture?

Jim
 
My understanding was they were made for Arabic troops. The left hand is unclean. I have seen some. I don't own one. I cannot post pictures and I couldn't find any jpegs anywhere. A Iranian that I went to school with had one as his issue duty weapon. He recognized mine, he said that the latch was on the wrong side. I believe that Wilkinson models were available by Webley in either side latch form.
 
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I had both of these way back - now long gone. Sorry very poor pics. I forget and always did .. which was which ... one with hammer spur for S/A - D/A .... the other spurless for D/A only. I believe the D/A one was issued to guys in the Brit Tank Corps.

Break top just like Webley MkVI .. same basic design ... and eject on full break open. Pity just the putrid 38 S&W round!


Enfield1_hr.jpg



Enfield2_hr.jpg
 
Actually among Arabs, it's the LEFT hand that's unclean, since most people are right handed, you're gonna use the other hand if you don't have TP ya know......


I've never seen a lefty-catch Enfield either, and I've seen dozens, and pics of more than that.

Beware the Enfield shoots the .38/200 (.38 S&W), NOT NOT NOT the .38 Special.
 
Left? Right? Hay? Straw? Up? Down? You got me on that brainfade. The last unmolested Enfield, pre-war, hammer-DA/SA and wooden grips I saw sold for around $600.00.
 
I would like very much to see any Enfield or Webley with a left hand latch (thumbpiece on the right). It would seem to be an obvious option, and easy to do, but I have never seen one and was not aware they offered them. The Pryse latches are on both sides, of course.

Just for info, the Enfield No. 2 revolver resembles a scaled down Webley Mk VI and even more resembles the Webley Mk IV, but it is really a different gun. The mechanism is different and the Enfield has a sideplate where the Webley internal parts are removed through the bottom of the frame after the trigger guard is removed. The "Pistol, Revolver, .38, No.2 Mk I", to give it the full name, is double and single action. The Mk I* is double action only, with no hammer spur*, although some early ones still have the SA hammer notch and can be cocked. After the war, Mk I* revolvers remaining in service were restored to the the DA/SA configuration, and the gun was renamed "Pistol Revolver No.2".

*The spur was removed at the request of tank crewmen, who carried the revolver and found the spur catching on parts of the tank when the crewman attempted to make a hurried exit, a frequent occurrence with British tanks of the early war period.

Jim
 
Jim-

Postwar Enfield .38's remained DA only. But the safety notch in the hammer that was dropped with the ** version was restored, to prevent the gun firing if dropped.

These things have horribly heavy DA trigger pulls. I can readily see why Commonwealth troops who could get S&W .38's preferred them.

I have NEVER seen a reference to left-handed Webleys, and I even glanced through Dowell's book at one time. It was too expensive to buy, alas. Boothroyd, who was very thorough, also didn't mention them in his superb, "The Handgun".

Lone Star
 
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