Help with ID and dating this enfield ?
- Thread starter BlairW
- Start date
Purchased from BSA by King Rama VI, a graduate of the finest English military academies.
IIRC, 10,000 rifles in the contract.
When you are the King, you can do things like that!
BSA had lots of parts left from wartime production, so you will find British-marked parts in many of these. It is entirely possible that the King got a good deal on these rifles. They are marked specifically to his Wild Tiger Corps, a rural village militia. Being that Siam (Thailand) is next-door to Viet-Nam, these poor rifles were in absolutely the worst climate in the world for a piece of precision equipment. Many of these show the ravages of the South-East Asian climate, but they survived half a century in conditions which would turn an M-16 into powder in 5 years.
The "Siamese Smellies" represent only a fraction of 1 percent of total SMLE production. They are rare by any standard, their values being held down mainly by the terrible condition in which most are found.
The regular Siamese Army of that period was using a mixed bag of Mausers and special Siamese Arisakas in 8x52R Siamese calibre. The SMLEs, of course, used .303.
A Sandhurst education does pay off, even for a King!
Anybody who buys 10,000 Lee-Enfields at a crack is my kind of guy!
IIRC, 10,000 rifles in the contract.
When you are the King, you can do things like that!
BSA had lots of parts left from wartime production, so you will find British-marked parts in many of these. It is entirely possible that the King got a good deal on these rifles. They are marked specifically to his Wild Tiger Corps, a rural village militia. Being that Siam (Thailand) is next-door to Viet-Nam, these poor rifles were in absolutely the worst climate in the world for a piece of precision equipment. Many of these show the ravages of the South-East Asian climate, but they survived half a century in conditions which would turn an M-16 into powder in 5 years.
The "Siamese Smellies" represent only a fraction of 1 percent of total SMLE production. They are rare by any standard, their values being held down mainly by the terrible condition in which most are found.
The regular Siamese Army of that period was using a mixed bag of Mausers and special Siamese Arisakas in 8x52R Siamese calibre. The SMLEs, of course, used .303.
A Sandhurst education does pay off, even for a King!
Anybody who buys 10,000 Lee-Enfields at a crack is my kind of guy!
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I have no idea as to "value".
"The value of an object is what it will bring." (Legal maxim)
I think the fact that generally they are so little-known helps keep these at a very low price in the marketplace. Added to the condition, that makes for low prices.
All that horrible stuff said, I would think a decent one should run at least 500 bucks, considering their rarity alone.
I paid $54 for mine, many years ago. It is in much worse shape than this one..... and it ain't for sale, either!
"The value of an object is what it will bring." (Legal maxim)
I think the fact that generally they are so little-known helps keep these at a very low price in the marketplace. Added to the condition, that makes for low prices.
All that horrible stuff said, I would think a decent one should run at least 500 bucks, considering their rarity alone.
I paid $54 for mine, many years ago. It is in much worse shape than this one..... and it ain't for sale, either!
Pays off for the British Army and defence industries, too. We were told to serve our own interest by making their experience at Sandhurst a positive one for our foreign cadets, hopefully they would be influential in purchasing decisions over their careers and if they bought British weapons and equipment we'd be able to afford more and better.
I think this would make a very presentable specimen of a Siamese SMLE with just a bit of work.
Were it mine, I would dismantle it completely, clean it, make the wood repairs very carefully and spend about 2 weeks giving the woodwork a drink (from the inside) with raw linseed oil to restrengthen it. I would check the bedding as it went back together, making corrections as necessary and, when it was back in one piece, it would go to the range for an afternoon, just to see what it wants to do.
It does need a proper, careful cleaning, no matter what and the wood does need that drink.
That said, it is a fine centrepiece for a collection.
In the shape it is in, I would call it a good rifle with a lot of potential.
If I were in the market for one, I likely would shell out $500 for it, as-is.
Compared to the majority of Siamese rifles which have surfaced, this one is close to the "good" end of the scale. Many were like mine: bloody awful!
Were it mine, I would dismantle it completely, clean it, make the wood repairs very carefully and spend about 2 weeks giving the woodwork a drink (from the inside) with raw linseed oil to restrengthen it. I would check the bedding as it went back together, making corrections as necessary and, when it was back in one piece, it would go to the range for an afternoon, just to see what it wants to do.
It does need a proper, careful cleaning, no matter what and the wood does need that drink.
That said, it is a fine centrepiece for a collection.
In the shape it is in, I would call it a good rifle with a lot of potential.
If I were in the market for one, I likely would shell out $500 for it, as-is.
Compared to the majority of Siamese rifles which have surfaced, this one is close to the "good" end of the scale. Many were like mine: bloody awful!
- Location
- Western Manitoba
Just a word of caution to the Original Poster - unless you have had some training or experience working with these rifles, you might want to spend a good amount of time researching how to take this type of rifle apart, if you are thinking of doing it yourself. For example, unlike many other two piece stock rifles, DO NOT pry down on the front of the forearm in an attempt to remove the forearm. There are recoil lugs called "draws" in the receiver, above the trigger, that must be (should be) tightly fitted to the wood - these forearms must be removed travelling in a nearly straight down direction from the receiver. As well, if you try to remove the butt stock before removing the forearm, you will likely split the forearm, because the bolt through the butt stock ends in a square that is recessed into the back end of the forearm. Also, be sure to be using a tight fitting set of screwdrivers that are hollow ground, or at least parallel bladed - ordinary household screwdrivers will nearly certainly "bugger up" the screw slots. Damaged draws, split fore end, buggered screws are guaranteed to take a $500 rifle to $150 or less.
