Lihgow MK3 Lee Enfield and Bayonet

stevejones

stevejones

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Location
Courtenay, BC
I just acquired this Lithgow Enfield with bayonet. The metal is lightly pitted on the surface but the bore is excellent. Wood ( I think its coach wood?) looks nice as well. Matching serial numbers on bolt and receiver. Bayonet looks like its never been used.

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Nice. I need to track down a WWI bayonet for my 1916 Lithgow. I love SMLE's, they just feel right in their original configuration.
 
Mate sorry it was upside down on my phone. Sure looks the right way now though.

Very nice rifle and good to see a lithgow on this forum
 
It might be just the lighting, but that wood looks too dark for coachwood to my eyes.
 
Thanks for the compliments guys. The rifle came in a gunny sack with the gun swimming in oil. Lots of work cleaning that up...Except for the marks in the butt stock the rifle is in fantastic condition. I can find no markings on it that would indicate the unit(s) it belonged to. No evidence of paint on it either so not a cadet rifle.

Cheers. Steve.
 
stevebc said:
It might be just the lighting, but that wood looks too dark for coachwood to my eyes.
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No wood definitely looks like coachwood in color to me and I'd be gentle when cleaning to not use anything other than linseed oil. Alcohol and other aggressive type cleaners will draw that color that is so typical of unspoiled coachwood out of the grain and it is almost impossible to reproduce. I've often seen it asked, "Ive just cleaned my coachwood stock but I'm not happy with the color. How do I reproduce the dark tone that I removed?"
 
Im glad you mentioned that. Thanks for the tip. Its nice wgen you don't have to learn something the hard way....

Cheers.

HarryD said:
No wood definitely looks like coachwood in color to me and I'd be gentle when cleaning to not use anything other than linseed oil. Alcohol and other aggressive type cleaners will draw that color that is so typical of unspoiled coachwood out of the grain and it is almost impossible to reproduce. I've often seen it asked, "Ive just cleaned my coachwood stock but I'm not happy with the color. How do I reproduce the dark tone that I removed?"
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Nice old rifle! 72 years old, and still looks so good. In 1942, the Australians were getting quite edgy about the Japanese. You have a neat piece of history there. :)
 
I have a nearly identical rifle - totally unissued. It still amazes me that, during a time when every rifle was needed and then some, a batch seemed to get put away somewhere and never used. I have seen a few 1942 Lithgow rifles like this. It makes me thing a large number must have been sent somewhere and lost in the back of a warehouse.
 
I think rifles would had to have been kept in reserve to be sent to any theater in case of an emergency.

Also you'll not only find 1942 lithgows in new looking condition but also 1941,43,44 and 45. The OP's rifle was most probably assembled mid to late 1943 and Lithgow's production had well and truly caught up to the required supply by that time, probably allowing for many new rifles to be kept in reserve.
 
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The earliest production of lithgows are said to have had slightly tighter tolerances between action and bolt than English made rifles but they soon loosened the specs when if was found the tighter tolerances caused some problems in the muddy conditions of France during WW1. This is apparently why the factory H model marksmen conversions done during the 30's were mostly early lithgow actions. It was thought that these early actions with tighter tolerances had superior accuracy than the later models and in turn these H model conversions were the platform for the HT sniper rifles assembled during 1944/45. I must say, I have some doubt about all of that.
 
Not at all, your not going to throw it on the ground are you? There's no evidence to suggest its unissued either. I would only pay particular attention to the draws inside the forend. What's the serial number and barrel date?
 
Where would the barrel date be located? There are no marks on the top of the barrel were it joins the receiver. The serial number on both the bolt and receiver is 17###
On top of the receiver is 1V

HarryD said:
Not at all, your not going to throw it on the ground are you? There's no evidence to suggest its unissued either. I would only pay particular attention to the draws inside the forend. What's the serial number and barrel date?
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