What does the red stripe mean???

[Hecklerusp45]

I have an enfield made in 1965 in India. It is chambered in 308. It is one of the ishapore 2A1 rifles. It has a red stripe painted around it right at the mag. Does the stripe mean "do not fire 303 ammo" or does it mean "not safe to fire at all". Any help would be appreciated.

[p246]

In commonwealth service (at least India, Australia,Britain) drill rifles found to be not safe to shoot were marked with a red stripe, emergency use yellow, serviceable green. I don’t remeber if Canada or New Zealand used this system, maybe Sunray can comment on that. The red stripe on 30-06 lend lease rifles during WW2 was a different animal.
I’d have the rifle checked by a gunsmith competent on the LE system before shooting.

[lyman]

In commonwealth service (at least India, Australia,Britain) drill rifles found to be not safe to shoot were marked with a red stripe, emergency use yellow, serviceable green. I don’t remeber if Canada or New Zealand used this system, maybe Sunray can comment on that. The red stripe on 30-06 lend lease rifles during WW2 was a different animal.
I’d have the rifle checked by a gunsmith competent on the LE system before shooting.

that is my understanding as well,
I cannot remember where they were marked tho,


re the different caliber, that was marked on the end of the stock, near the barrel, ,


BTW, go here

https://forums.gunboards.com/showthr...rved-data-HELP

and put your data in, if you would

[Hecklerusp45]

Thank you both for the info.
Lyman, I will enter my rifles info to the web site you listed as soon as i can.

[Sunray]

It's about a 2A1 being a 7.62 and not .303 Brit. Easiest 'tell' is the square mag though.
No paint on CF rifles. Painting 'em with lines was primarily a W.W. II Brit thing with all the assorted Lend/Lease kit laying around. India did it's own thing. Never seen any Aussie kit with paint indicating a rifle was safe to use either.
Drill Purpose stuff was stamped 'DP' by the Brits. We just left the breech block out of our weapons. No. 4 rifles were just not loaded for parades.

[Hecklerusp45]

It's about a 2A1 being a 7.62 and not .303 Brit. Easiest 'tell' is the square mag though.
No paint on CF rifles. Painting 'em with lines was primarily a W.W. II Brit thing with all the assorted Lend/Lease kit laying around. India did it's own thing. Never seen any Aussie kit with paint indicating a rifle was safe to use either.
Drill Purpose stuff was stamped 'DP' by the Brits. We just left the breech block out of our weapons. No. 4 rifles were just not loaded for parades.

So are you saying it is safe to shoot?
what does CF mean?

[Sunray]

Canadian Forces. The best trained civil servants on the planet. 8 to 4 Monday to Friday with a half day off per week for 'sports'. Sports being undefined.
It most likely is safe to shoot with any 7.62NATO or .308 Win ammo. Wouldn't hurt to check the head space just on principle, but 2A's aren't known to have the same issues as No. 1 Rifles. Not many have been assembled out of parts bins with no QC like No. 1's and 4's have been. They're not converted No. 1's either. Purpose built using good steel.

[JB White]

The stoplight system was only used by Australian cadets to the best of my knowledge.
Green = Proceed. Good for ball ammo
Yellow = Caution . Good for occasional use of ball ammo.
Red = Stop. Unapproved for firing live ammo.

The India DP marking is typically red bordered with white.

Canadian and British are often marked white. Red has been noted.

At one time rifles not chambered in 303 were marked with red to denote the caliber difference. I feel the 2A1 came a little late to the game for that, but I'm not certain.
Red is a warning indicator nonetheless. I would solicit opinions if it were mine. Unless there is DP stamped on it somewhere. Then it's a display only item.

[Conductor]

Several years ago I saw a US Model 1917 rifle at a local gun show. It was marked in two places with the Canadian "broad arrow" property mark, and had a 1 1/2 inch red stripe painted around the forestock and handguard. The red stripe was to signify that it was 30-06 caliber and not .303.
The gun was issued to members of the Pacific Coast Militia Rangers during WW2. The vast majority of PCMR guys were issued Winchester Model 94s in 30WCF (30-30) caliber, but several hundred Model 1917s were bought by the Canadians for issue to the PCMR after they ran out of Winchesters.

[Johnny P]

The M1 and 1903 rifles Lend Leased to England were painted with a red strip to indicate non-British caliber.