1953 Factory Thorough Rebuild (FTR) by Enfield of a 1917 BSA No.1 Mk.III* SMLE

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mkrnel

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Anybody know much about the 1950's Enfield Factory Thorough Rebuilds (FTR) of SMLE's? Why did they rebuild SMLE's when they had already long moved to the No.4 Mk.2 and even then they were about to start adopting the FN FAL as the L1A1 rifle as the standard service arm? Did most of these go straight into storage and then get sold off as surplus?

Anyhow I picked up a very nice one recently that was still new in grease done by Enfield on a 1917 made BSA No.1 Mk.III* SMLE. The bore is like new, still had grease in it when I got it, all matching numbers and even the bolt head face looks new.

Here are some pictures of my one, should be a great shooter -

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Not sure why they kept on refurbishing the old ones even with No4's all around, but that SMLE sure is nice! Thanks for the pics,

Lou
 
There are both SMLEs and .22s with the '53 FTR. Don't know if these were done to be placed in British reserve holdings, or if they were to be supplied to other countries. The ones that I have seen are in this sort of condition, so I assume that they were refurbished, stored and then sold off as surplus. I do not know from where they were sold off.
 
Yes it is confusing as to why such a late full rebuild to as new for these SMLE's, sure glad I found this one in such nice unfired condition, I guess it could have been a make work project to keep the armourers busy until they got fully setup to start building the 7.62mm L1A1 rifle later that year.
 
I would think the reason being is that if its in the system, they continue keeping their equipment up to date. Saying that, didnt think this was still in the system at that time.
 
mkrnel said:
Yes it is confusing as to why such a late full rebuild to as new for these SMLE's, sure glad I found this one in such nice unfired condition, I guess it could have been a make work project to keep the armourers busy until they got fully setup to start building the 7.62mm L1A1 rifle later that year.
Click to expand...
It only takes basic tools to refurb the rifles and is probably more cost effective. Every little bit counts.
 
Well, there WAS a little thing called The Emergency in Malaya. Went from 1948 through to 1960: 12 years.

Commie who started it took a 7-year break, started up again in 1967 and it went until 1989: another 22 years. Officially, the State of Emergency was still in place as late as 2008, so, who knows what is going on?

Korea had just ended.... with two heavily-armed forces dug-in and facing each other. Still going on.

Makes more sense to refurb what you already have, than to manufacture all-new, especially when you are flat broke.... as Britain was.

Remember, the Number 4 was adopted in 1931 but did not go into serious manufacture until a decade later. In a "come-as-you-are party" kind of war you don't tell the enemy to wait around another 10 years until you can make a rifle to shoot at him with. You refurb the ones you already have.... and start fighting. Besides, if you are conducting a war in an area which still uses SMLEs, it makes more sense to rebuild SMLEs than to send 50,000 tons of Number 4 parts.

The 1950s were a time of big, fast cars, surfing and cheap food: the Good Life.... in the USA. In the rest of the world, they were a great deal more tense.

And so a beautiful rifle such as this, once in a while, survives without being beaten to death in the interim.
 
The military cannot take a year or 6 off and hope for the best. It has to have it's front line arms, and reserve arms. Until the FNs were selected and in place, that may have meant the no4s were front line and the no1mk3s were in reserve. Perhaps some of it may have been "make work" for the various arsenals, but that would be cheaper than having to go find all new labour when the new arm was selected, or if SHTF.

Armies were caught off guard just a dozen or so years prior to that. At the outbreak of WW2, Canada's Army had two light tanks, 82 Vickers mgs, 10 Bren guns, 5 mortars, and 4 AA guns with a regular force of approx 4200 men. That lesson was not immediately lost after the war, and the states of readiness stayed high throughout the cold war.
 
had a buddy who was issued a lee enfield in `67 or `72. reserve unit in kamloops i think. he`s recently passed, so i can`t confirm. he was also issued battle dress and pant weights for blousing his trousers. he had some really funny stories.
but reserve units still had them up until then. was anyone here in during those years?
 
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