3 small holes in my SMLE receiver

[rl4930]

I've had my smle for about 25 years, I have never shot it, nor really paid much attention to it aside from giving it the odd cleaning.
Today I cleaned it up with the intention of getting it ready to shoot. I noticed 3 small holes in the receiver, I'm wondering if this is normal.

 

[kennymo]

My SMLE's have the same. I believe that's to help protect you from a ruptured casing. Let the hot gas out the side instead of unpleasantly backwards.

 

[rl4930]

Thanks for the quick reply! I guess I'm good to go! It's dated 1943 on the rear stock but the receiver plate says 1942. But all the numbers match, it's a lithgow no1 Mk 111*. So I wondered if the holes we're put there after for some reason.

 

[Stevebot-7]

Those look rather poorly drilled, but I'm pretty sure kennymo has the right of it. As long as the holes are not in the chamber itself you should be okay.

I hearly had a heart attack after I noticed the hole in the side of my GSR right after I shot it.

 

[kennymo]

Thanks for the quick reply! I guess I'm good to go! It's dated 1943 on the rear stock but the receiver plate says 1942. But all the numbers match, it's a lithgow no1 Mk 111*. So I wondered if the holes we're put there after for some reason.

Both mine are 1917 Lithgows. Believe it or not, yours are more neatly drilled than mine!

 

[rl4930]

Haha! I would expect better from the Aussies! My 53 Tula sks has better machining and blueing, but the we're made in a different era. I must admit the action on the smle is very smooth.

 

[John Sukey]

Thanks for the quick reply! I guess I'm good to go! It's dated 1943 on the rear stock but the receiver plate says 1942. But all the numbers match, it's a lithgow no1 Mk 111*. So I wondered if the holes we're put there after for some reason.

The date on the stock is irrevelant. It only means the date the stock was made, not the date the rifle was built Stocks were produced at a feeder factory and shipped to Lithgow

 

[rl4930]

Thanks john!

 

[smellie]

ALSO, the Aussies tried to put the whole history of the rifle onto the Butt. This is why you will run into Lithgows with wonderful woodwork, perfect barrels..... and Butts that are beat half to death.

My Lithgow is a 1918, but the Butt has 5/33 and 5/44 stamps as well, indicating that it was back to the factory for work in May of 1933 and 1944.

After the 1944 rebuild (new wood) it developed The Damned Crack again and so they painted it red (not to be shot) and then sold it for junk. Two bits' worth of Acra-Glas, tiny bit of careful work on the Forestock and it shoots WELL under an inch.

Your Gas Escape holes are a safety measure and were on all SMLE rifles. They are one of the reasons that a separated case is MUCH less dangerous with the Lee rifle than with a Mauser. The Lee allows the escaping gas to blow straight out of th rifle, almost at source, while a Mauser routes it through the action, which is why Mousers sometimes blow the bottoms out of magazines.

 

[vermintrex]

Lithgow's are VERY nice SMLE's, hang on to it please....unless you want to let it go, in which case we should talk.

mine has the exact same vent holes, no worries there...it's correct.

Mine was FTR'd in '54, but still has it's original '42 barrel / receiver match....bolt matches too, but I think the bolt was FTR matched.

Enjoy your sweet rifle, thanks for sharing.

 

[davemccarthy707]

It means your rifle is radioactive. Please send the rifle to me immediately for proper disposal

 

[rl4930]

You guys crack me up. If for some reason I decide to sell me smle, that I paid 0$ for I will throw my 57 Schneider in to sweeten the deal. That was also $0.

 

[vermintrex]

haha....I'll give ya $0...but I'll cover shipping, lol

 

[rl4930]

Sounds like a deal! J/k. Has anyone ever shot the 577 ? I can't find ammo anywhere. I have one round but I don't really wish to use it as it's original.

 

[Claven2]

I shoot mine from time to time. Lee makes the dies, I use trimmed 24 gauge brass shotgun casings from CBC, and I load the KAL Tool and Die "paradox" bullet mould - best I have found yet.

http://kal.castpics.net/Molds.html

 

[HarryD]

The date on the stock is irrevelant. It only means the date the stock was made, not the date the rifle was built Stocks were produced at a feeder factory and shipped to Lithgow

Hello gents, my first post here. Sorry to come into this discussion late but I'd like to add a comment here. The date stamped into the RH side of rifles assembled in the lithgow factory, is in fact the year that rifle, it was assembled to was made. The date indicating when the stock was made is stamped in much smaller font on the underside, and in the case of a butt, just near the butt socket boss. As someone has pointed out, butts very often were reused on other rifles being repaired so the dates can often confuse. In this case, it sounds perfectly normal being a 1942 dated action, assembled into a rifle in 1943 as is indicated on the butt if I understand it correctly. This lag between action manufacture and rifle assembly is common in lithgow production and in some cases can be 10 years.