1918 Lee Enfield No1 MkIII SHTLE

[goodkill11]

Hey everyone!

I recently came into possession of a Lee Enfield No1 Mk3 SHTLE,

I've had no problem finding information on 1918 SMLE rifles, however I cannot seem to find anything on this particular SHTLE marking. (I believe it stand for Short Lee Enfield, but I'm really taking a stab in the dark here)

I really hoping someone on here is an Enfield enthusiast and has some more information that could be helpful for me?

I acquired the gun without any of its original furniture.

The bore seems to be in decent shape, I've been slowly removing parts and cleaning them, Im currently looking into rebluing the barrel, I've attached some pictures to show you the original condition when I received the gun and some progress pics.

does anyone have any experience cold bluing a barrel?

I've heard mixed things about quality/finish when compared to Hot bluing, and I'd rather not blow my budget by having to send the gun out to someone who will Hot blue it for a couple hundred bucks and figure since I'm not in a rush to finish this project i could afford to take the time to do quality prep work myself to assure a proper cold blue finish.

I was told in another thread that the star formation onto of the barrel may mean rust in the rifle bore :S, I'm very new to the firearm community, and I was planning on shooting this rifle.

Any suggestions on the best way to deal with this rust in the bore problem if it's the case?

(I can see a couple tiny spots in the bore though the rifling seems clear enough, I tried to show the worst one in one of the pictures, about 3 inches in from the muzzle, but its really unclear, not easy to take pictures in there)

Thoughts? Any help would be much appreciated guys!

((Note; the receiver and barrel was only degreased and polished once over 000 steel wool))

 

[canuck98k]

It's Canadian marked. Good find.

 

[stevebc]

I see that is a star on the knox, but your barrel looks good. You mention you have some rust- in my case, having nothing to lose, I used a steel brush and steel wool wrapped around a jag to get the worst of it out. It's still a ##### to clean, but it shoots very well. Your muzzle looks good too.

Numrich carries forends for these- they require some fitting, but nothing's perfect. If you're patient, you can scrounge all the other bits you'll need to restore it. I have a very small buttstock for that (bantam size), no buttplate, but if you want it, it's yours for the cost of shipping.

If it's any help to you, I posted a thread on my rebuild:

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1108659-My-bitser-Lithgow-No-I-Mk-III-no-star?highlight=bitser

 

[stevebc]

Added: I didn't see your reply in the other thread, saying you were going for a sporter configuration, until just now. I assumed you were planning a restoration- my bad.

Of course, in the milsurp section, leaving it as a sporter makes you the spawn of the devil. Just warning ya…