Enfield “No 8 Mk I Trainer” by Savage……………(F 1289)
Created on July 3rd 2026
A very good copy of the revered No 8 Mk I
As the MOD and the Military have had made the brilliant desicion to destroy all the retiring number 8’s, I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later. As soon as anything becomes valuable, the ingenoius types appear back in the workshop and get busy. Having said that; this is a very good facsimilie of the above, with lots of correct original components. It gets let down in the end, by absolute finite detail which has been omitted. I do feel however that it would be hard to spot this on the firing line, in a competition for such rifles, so it would be possible to compete without too much difficulty. The advantage being the brand new lined barrel.
What we actually have here is a converted Savage No 4 action. Many of the originals were made from converted No 4’s and 5’s. Overall length is 41″. Round heavy barrel is 23.1/2″ long. Trigger pull is 13.1/4″ to center. Flat butt with correct pad marked; “D.R. Co / C.P.1194” ribbed rubber. Pistol-grip Beech stock with lower sling swivel. Number 4 action with matching numbered bolt. Shortened bolt body with .22 adapted head, screwed in. Extractor mounted on bolt head. The outside of the action wall is freshly engraved;- “22 No 8 Mk I / 28C9065” This matches the serial number on the wrist, with the “C” denoting Savage war time production. Savage used their own bolt release system, which involved a slot in the bolt guide rail, this is still evident but way behind the end of the screw-in .22 barrel breech. As this is obsolete the “conventional” bolt release has been retrofitted behind the action bridge.
The main omission which places doubt of originallity is the lack of drilled and tapped mounting points for the additional apperture sight which would mounted at the rear of the action – this rifle is completely devoid of such drillings. This is peculiar as nearly all the other aspects of the rifle are correct down to the highly adjustable correctly mounted trigger group. There may be a perfectly rational reason for this omission but in my breif research I can not find it. The other missing piece of the jigsaw is the CR number which should be applied to the wrist. This was added at convertion, the “CR” meaning Carbine as this is the short Infantry pattern weapon. Everything else seems correct. Correct but extremely new! The stock, the finish, the stampings – as they are. Especially the serial number under the forend. Including the CR number in the woodwork!
So in the end, pays your money; takes your choice…! Somebody in the trade knows how this came to be. I suspect this rifle shoots very well – haven’t tried it yet. It has the correct rear sight with graduations for 25, 50 and 100, including the landscape “H” for Harmonisation and the interchangable guarded front sight. Correctly coded sheet metal plate blanking off magazine well, with traces of correct “CR”code. It will do the job and it looks very smart. Proof applied 2023
Stock No F 1289 – FAC Required.
£ 1250.
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