The Enfield No. 2 Mk. 1 .38 Caliber Revolver

Is that the rumble of tanks you hear? Are SS Storm Troopers about to go house-to-house in your neighborhood? If they were, would you be prepared like any good Boy Scout? I think not. But, fear not good lads, with the Enfield No. 2 Mk 1* .38 caliber revolver at your side, you might be able to meet the challenge. Seventy years ago plenty of perfectly good neighborhoods around the world were being redecorated by thoughtless Nazis. The Enfield No. 2 Mk 1* .38 caliber revolver was one of the tools used by British and Commonwealth forces to fight back in a world gone quite mad. It is a wonderful collectible firearm and can be regularly found at gunshows around the country.

Right then, while the mainstream firearms magazines cover the new Ruger SR-9 9mm pistol or latest weapons from Glock over and over again, we'll dive right in to a review that you will only find exclusively on Associated Content. After the Great War, the British government decided that a .38 caliber revolver firing a 200 grain bullet would be just as effective as their traditional .455-caliber round. In 1932, they fielded the Enfield Revolver No. 2 Mk. 1. In 1938, this was followed by a double action only No. 2 Mk 1*. The Enfield No. 2 Mk. 1* revolver had a spurless hammer which appealed to tank commanders who had to bail out of burning vehicles and did not want to be impeded by the hammer spur of a regular revolver. Those who had the misfortune to actually meet German Tiger tanks in their neighborhoods were often put in a bad way. The original 200-grain bullet featured performance that was probably similar to that of a .38 special cartridge. However, due to concerns about potential Geneva Convention violations, the weight of the bullet was dropped to 183 grains. Due to an underpowered cartridge and a heavy trigger pull, the Enfield No 2 Mk 1* revolver was never popular with the soldiers, but served the United Kingdom with honor until 1969. This revolver was carried by military officers of the British Commonwealth throughout World War II. Of course, none of this background mumbo jumbo affects your ability to fight off an actual Panzer battalion.

I've been fortunate enough to regularly shoot a pristine Enfield No. 2 Mk. 1* revolver for many years now. The six-shot revolver fits my hand well and I like the simple top break loading mechanism. To load the revolver, you simply grasp the barrel in your left hand and the grips in the right and depress a barrel catch on the left side of the pistol with your extended left thumb. The revolver pivots open around a hinge in front of and below the cylinder. All of your spent shells are simultaneously ejected by a star-shaped extractor and the pistol is ready to reload.

The modern ammunition for this pistol is .38 caliber S&W ammunition which fires a 145-grain bullet. The gun is not made for .38 Special or any other higher powered round. Some reloading manuals may have specifications for the original .38/200 round. However, there is no reason to be silly and risk putting an eye out or worse. The .38 S&W round is a pleasant to shoot, offers very mild recoil, and is easily digested by this antique firearm. The .38 S&W round is also currently manufactured and leaves non-corrosive residue. Over the years, I've often thought that the revolver fires slightly high due to the lighter round. However, at close ranges indoors, there is not much practical effect. Unfortunately, the round is not great for home defense. The round has a muzzle velocity of about 685 feet per second and 150 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle. This is less than half of the velocity and energy of a typical 9mm round. In addition, only hard ball ammunition is available in .38 S&W caliber so you won't find any hollowpoints or exotic ammunition. This pistol is an artifact of history not a product of hysteria.

The Enfield No. 2 Mk. 1* pistol has many of the ingredients needed for decent accuracy: a five-inch barrel, a tall and visible front blade sight, a narrow rear sight that brackets the front sights well, a mild shooting cartridge, and fairly decent ergonomics. Unfortunately, all of the good is completely undone by the bad. This pistol has a quite heavy double action trigger pull. During a long range session, there have been times that I've been sorely tempted to use the forefingers of both my left and right hands simultaneously to pull it when I've become fatigued. However, if you pull together all of the fundamentals of shooting (breathing control, sight picture, trigger control, and follow through), you can be quite accurate with this revolver. At about 25 feet, I was able to keep two dozen shots in a 6-inch by 4 1/2 inch oval in the point-scoring area of a narrow human silhouette target. I used standard Winchester Super X .38 S&W, 145-grain, lead round nose bullets. I found this performance is quite acceptable for a service revolver and collectible firearm. Of course, my poor trigger finger might disagree.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend taking on a Panzer battalion or anyone else with an Enfield No. 2 Mk. 1* pistol. However, this revolver is an exciting historical artifact to own, great fun to shoot, and an excellent gunshow or auction find.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enfield_revolver
http://www.arrse.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Enfield_No.2_Revolver
Handloading, William C. Davis, Jr., NRA Books, 1981