South African No.1 Mk3's, Anything special about them?

LeeEnfieldNo.4_mk1

LeeEnfieldNo.4_mk1

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I just got a sportered 1918 No.1 Mk3. Bolt (with old style cocking piece), receiver and barrel match, and I believe its the original barrel as well which looks to be in good shape. It has a broad arrow inside a "U" which I believe makes it South African owned. Is their anything special about them? Anything bad? Were they looked after well?

The front sight has been modified with a ramp, but it looks to me that its just an add on to the original sight and should be removable. No magazine (it came with a No.4 mag that was crammed in their) and the obvious cut down stock (that now bears several scratches as i dropped it on the pavement taking it out of the truck, never try to carry three rifles, a binder, and a textbook all at once). Its also covered in a tan colored paint, with no visible parkerizing where the paint has chipped off.

I will see if I can post some pics of the front sight, as I hope this rifle is restorable.
 
LeeEnfieldNo.4_mk1 said:
So the paint is supposed to be their?
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I honestly don't know ....

My wife is into Enfields and I'm a K98k collector ... :D

I just noticed your original question and remembered some past threads about South African Enfields, including the "paint" subject, so I thought I'd point your there.

I would guess there are several serious Enfield collectors and published authors in those threads (including Ian Skennerton and Peter Laidler), as well as perhaps other threads on SA Enfields I didn't find in a search, who could probably help you out. :cheers:

Regards,
Badger
 
I had another look at the rifle and it occurred to me, their is a ramp add on to the front sight, nothing permanent as it just looks like its being held on by the blade. Its the same paint, so I would have to assume its not military paint as they would not have had the front ramp on it.

So, what wouldbe the best way to remove this paint? Its most likely just common spray paint.

Also, the finish under it looks like it was either really worn or removed. So assuming it is all gone I was thinking of getting some high heat BBQ paint for a temporary finish until I can get it re-parked. Will this cause any bad mojo to come and find me? I am only thinking of this if the park is indeed all gone and it will be for protection. If its just worn on a few places i will leave it alone of course.
 
LeeEnfieldNo.4_mk1 said:
I had another look at the rifle and it occurred to me, their is a ramp add on to the front sight, nothing permanent as it just looks like its being held on by the blade. Its the same paint, so I would have to assume its not military paint as they would not have had the front ramp on it.

So, what wouldbe the best way to remove this paint? Its most likely just common spray paint.

Also, the finish under it looks like it was either really worn or removed. So assuming it is all gone I was thinking of getting some high heat BBQ paint for a temporary finish until I can get it re-parked. Will this cause any bad mojo to come and find me? I am only thinking of this if the park is indeed all gone and it will be for protection. If its just worn on a few places i will leave it alone of course.
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A Mk.III should be blued. The colour can range from black to light grey, depending on the wear. Those ramps are indeed held on by the front sight, I believe they were put on by Cogswell & Harrison. They went on their bottom end sporters.

I'm curious, is the rifle made by L.S.A. Co. Ld? Reason I ask, by 1918 most Mk.III* rifles had the later cocking piece, looks like the one on a No.4 Mk.1. The old style was phased out starting in early 1916, but L.S.A. kept making the old type. They were also building Mk.III rifles long after the other factories had switched to the III*.
 
BUSHMAN79 said:
A Mk.III should be blued. The colour can range from black to light grey, depending on the wear. Those ramps are indeed held on by the front sight, I believe they were put on by Cogswell & Harrison. They went on their bottom end sporters.

I'm curious, is the rifle made by L.S.A. Co. Ld? Reason I ask, by 1918 most Mk.III* rifles had the later cocking piece, looks like the one on a No.4 Mk.1. The old style was phased out starting in early 1916, but L.S.A. kept making the old type. They were also building Mk.III rifles long after the other factories had switched to the III*.
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Right on then, I will probably use the Outers blue kit I got, its not a bad finish for the price.

As for the make, It says "Enfield" on the wrist so I thought it was the Enfield factory.

Its a ShtLE Mk III* made in 1918 (might be 1919 its hard to see with the paint).
 
LeeEnfieldNo.4_mk1 said:
Nice, now back to the matter of the nasty paint. What would be an effective means of removing it?

Also, Is their any trick to removing the front sight blade? IE is it a left to right only kinda thing?

Thanks.
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Varsol should gobble up the paint. As for that ramp.... :( It could get ugly. I've removed a few of them, it doesn't matter which way you drift them. The trouble is, sometimes the base underneath is buggered up, the dovetail too loose to retain the sight. I fixed a couple of them, by carefully tapping the dovetails down to tighten them. One was hopeless, I just replaced the whole base. One of them was perfect under the ramp, so you never know!
 
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