Upside Down Enfield Rifle

[Vikram]

I am positive most us have not seen this rifle before.What an interesting design.

The action in this rifle is an inverted Enfield M1917 (or maybe Enfield P14). It was done so that a lefty could use it! -

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010 ... DX3jO.dpuf

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-c ... tfb-tm.jpg
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-c ... 60-tfb.jpg

Do checck the attachment to read more on the rifle, which is not more than a page.

This is a link to the Guns Magazine from 1959 wherein I found the above rifle. You will find many interesting articles and guns in there

http://www.gunsmagazine.com/1959issues/G0959.pdf

[timmy]

One has to feel badly for left handed people in a right hand world. Going through an exercise like this shows the lengths that some will go to, just to get an ergonomically usable weapon!

Regardless of the reviewer's take, the thing really looks cumbersome, doesn't it? One does have to admire the ingenuity of the maker, however.

[Vikram]

It just looks unwieldy and sin ugly. But, the ingenuity and the thought that went into this design amazes me.

[Grumpy]

Extraordinarily ingenuity .... but I fail to see the point.

[Grumpy]

Extraordinarily ingenuity .... but I fail to see the point.
I`m left handed because I have to be but I`ve never owned a left handed shotgun or rifle. Semi-autos ejecting across my face has never disturbed me either.

[skeetshot]

I would expect this gun to give the shooter much lesser felt recoil than the standard enfield.

The new design puts the barrel axis right into the centre of the recoil pad unlike the offset axis of the conventional design.

[Mark]

Extraordinarily ingenuity .... but I fail to see the point.

Since the article does not know anything about the maker, if I had to take a wild guess this was one of those 1920's modifications designed for disabled WW1 veterans. You can occasionally see a 1903 Springfield with a crazy trigger or funny shaped bolt. Many of these were designed for veterans who had lost fingers or usage of hands/limbs.

So if I had to take a wild guess, this weird looking rifle might have been an inexpensive way for someone with a crippled right hand to be able to hunt and shoot.

[Poccur2]

The amount of work that went into the stock is amazing.
My question is this, if you invert an Enfield action, then the bolt would close at 9 o'clock and open at 6 o'clock...would the stock shown not get in the way?
I see some stock work but wonder if there was more work to the action than just flipping it upside down...
Cheers
Poccur

[timmy]

Actually, in the closed position, ready to fire, the bolt handle would be at about 11 o'clock and when the bolt is open, it would be at about 8 o'clock. If you open that pic and are able to read the text, the author talks about the alterations.

[Poccur2]

so it is not inverted it is rotated 100 degrees anti-clockwise?
Cheers
Poccur

[timmy]

No, it is inverted. On an Enfield, the bolt is pretty low. Usually, a fairly low-mounted scope can be used without having to massage the bolt handle. So in normal position, the bolt would be closed at around 5 o'clock and opening would be around 2 o'clock.