Lee Enfield ????

Reflex_84

Reflex_84

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Alliston, ON
So my father in law has an old Lee Enfield. We were looking at it the other day and i took some pictures of it. I don't know much about this particular rifle, nor does he, and i thought that you folks here might be able to shed some light for us.

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Tha Magazine also has a small arrow in it, and the number 4.

Thankyou everyone in advance.
 
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This is all cool. i know it may not be some rare find or anything like that, but it is still really neat. The bolt is so smooth and easy to operate and it really does feel good in the arms when shouldred.
 
Canada seems to have collected most of the SSA (peddled scheme) rifles. They are on the "rare" side elsewhere in the world. I too, have it's sister.
 
Reflex_84 said:
This is all cool. i know it may not be some rare find or anything like that, but it is still really neat. The bolt is so smooth and easy to operate and it really does feel good in the arms when shouldred.
Click to expand...

The Lee-Enfield bolt-action is a thing of beauty.....:)...and the wood on your SMLE looks nice, too!
 
My buddy sez to tell you it's a b*tched pellet gun and offer you 5 bucks for it.

It is a Short Magazine Lee-Enfield rifle Mark III* and it was built by Standard Small Arms in 1918.

It had a COMPLETE rebuild in 1944 (Factory Thorough Repair), so it served through BOTH World Wars. AFTER World War Two, it was sold off, made into a budget sporter.... and now you have it.

Being that I'm not yet COMPLETELY corrupted by the prospect of owning EVERY Lee-Enfield ever made, I suppose I should tell you that this is the only 1918 SSA I have come across. I think it must be very early in the 1918 production year, before they had the new stamps made for NRF (National Rifle Factory). SSA was a private company that built rifles for the Army only during the Great War. They were nationalized very late in 1917 under the name National Rifle Factory Number 1 (metal work) and Number 2 (woodwork). Plants were closed at the end of the War, of course.

BIG problems at SSA/NRF: Govt wanted rifles and wanted them NOW but would not give SSA the priorities they needed to equip the plant but the Govt wanted rifles RIGHT NOW. How they were supposed to make the things with no machine-tools no-one could say but the Government is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, sort of like God but, unlike God the Government never forgives. So they were shafted from Day One but they did the best they could, setting up for one part after another, shipping parts to Enfield for finishing for about 2 years before they turned out their first whole rifle. Once the Government in its divine wisdom took over, there were no problems getting tools, but they already had what they needed, so the original people took a licking and the Government took the credit.

In World War One, Standard Small Arms built only THREE percent of the Lee-Enfields actually produced in Great Britain. This figure shrinks further when you consider the number of rifles built also in Australia and India. They are rare, no guff.

And YOU have an SSA. I can think of a lot of serious collectors who want one. Took me 20-odd years on a minimal budget to run into one and it's no better than yours.

Give yourself a pat on the back. I think this would make rather an impressive centrepiece to a World War One Lee-Enfield collection (7 Mark III*, 6 Mark III).

PS: Friend, you REALLY want to see 'slick', put a couple of drops of oil on that bolt.... then work it fast.
 
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Wow, that info was great Smellie. I just checked my Enfield and it also is an SSA from 1918. But the wood has a bit lighter colour. I would love to find out what all the little stamps mean. You're lucky Reflex 84, they're gorgeous guns. I enjoy shooting mine.
 
Each and every one of those little stamps has a meaning, friend. There are people here who can tell you what just about all of them mean, without even having to look it up!

The stamps that you won't be able to find much about are the Inspectors' stamps, this because the stamps were used by particular Inspectors, each to his own stamp at a given time, and the records have been destroyed of who was using, say, Birmingham Inspector Number 8's stamp at any particular time.

But all the rest, somebody can tell you.... or you can get the list and work it all out for yourself. Got ink for the printer?

Have fun!
 
I have a sportster'd SSA from 1917 as well. Judging by the stamps on mine (there's a fair bit of overlap on some) mine was rebuilt in 1936.

At some point I'll post ALL the hieroglyphics on this rifle before I get going on restoring it.
 
I have had and may still have in my collection 1916 and 1918 SSA rifles, those were the 2 years of very low production and are fairly rare as far as enfields go as smellie has pointed out in his excellent post above
 
SSA had an awful time getting anything at all into production. Machine tools just were in such very short supply and often could not even be purchased from the USA, what with the enormous military contracts being picked up there.

They were able to turn out a very few Bodies (receivers) late in 1915. These were delivered to RSAF Enfield and built into complete rifles. I have never seen one.

Their production increased slowly in 1916, then they did turn out a fair number in 1917, the vast bulk of their production, in fact. Just as their production was getting somewhere, the Government took over, late in 1917. I would suspect that the few 1918 SSAs were built from Bodies manufactured either just prior to, or very early in, the Government phase of operations.

My only SSA is a 1917: the most common year. It, also, is a minimal sporter which is why I am CHEWING THE CARPET awaiting a supply of new wood.

On the other hand, I DO have a 1918 NRF which is all-numbers-matching and appears completely original except for the renumbered bolt..... but this was something which did occur at that stage of the War. Certainly, everything was finished at the same time: there is no difference at all in finish between bolt and body, for example. By the way, it shoots 1 MOA if you can hold it, bore is extremely nice and very strong. I suppose I really should put up a picture, if I can figure out how to use friend photobucket. I may be an Editor and Journalist by profession, but that does NOT mean than I am COMPUTER-literate! LOL!

But just imagine: THREE 1918 SSAs in ONE thread! I think we must have made history here.

And here is a question: does anybody here have an un-cut SSA handy? I was thinking it might be nice to have a photo on here of what they looked like when actually built, just so folks can compare and see where they want to go.
 
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