Blind old pig finds another acorn!

[kjohn]

I had a few tables at the Maple Creek show this weekend. My buddy "Juggy" was there helping. The fellow next to me had a nice array of military goodies. I noticed that he had an old No.1 Mk3 on the table. Towards the end of the show, I noticed a No.4 was keeping it company. Both had been sportered, but both had uncut barrels. I wandered over to have a look. Bingo! The No.4 was a Lend-Lease Savage, matching bolt and........a matching magazine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Needless to say any more, but I will anyway.

Both came home with me. 71 years later, the old No.4 still has its original magazine. It doesn't look like it was humped.

The old No.1 was made in 1911, no star, just III.

 

[ENFIELD1911]

My 1911 doesn't have a star and appears to have the original clip(no marking) matching bolt although it appears to be stamped at a later date. Is this rare? I have not seen many pre WW1 enfields on the exchange

 

[flying pig]

Ya most of them were lost in WWI. I don't think the war time expedient MkIII* variant started showing up until some time in 1915. Sledge has one of those Transition rifles that is marked as a III but built to III*, no magazine cut off etc.

 

[5THBATT]

No such thing as a transitional rifle, the LoC of 1916 introduced manufacturing concessions to the MkIII in part1 & in part2 of the LoC introduced the MkIII* so after 1916 there were two models, the MkIII & MkIII* & the only difference between the two was the cutoff, the MkIII but sans Volley sights etc were still being made up to & including 1918 by some factories, Lithgow & LSA to name two.
The MkIII did not morph into the MkIII* this is a common misconception, if you carefully read the last paragraph of the LoC you can see a MkIII* can be assembled with Volley sights etc & will still be "to Pattern" the only difference is the cutoff.

 

[flying pig]

Thanks for the info 5TH. His rifle is a 1915 BSA marked as a III but has no mag cut off slot. Was told that these were done before the III* mag cut off slot ommitance became official.

 

[5THBATT]

Have seen a few 1915 MkIII*s one having a matching forend with Volley sights plus a 1916 MkIII* with Volley sights but no MkIIIs with out a slot.
Any photos? the star may be very faint and missed or he has read the markings wrong, there is of course the chance the rifle was marked wrong, this is unlikely but you never know.

 

[flying pig]

I do have a bunch of photos of the rifle on my computer at home. I will try to post them here when I can, maybe tomorrow morning. I have to work super late tonight or I would do it then. I inspected it very closely when it was here and I could not find any trace of it having the mark. The original wood on the rifle was Sporterized but no evidence of the volley sights remained. I don't remember if it was low cut or high cut where the mag cut off would have been. It also had a non windage adjustable rear sight on it, if I remember right it was numbers matching.

 

[flying pig]

These were taken when I was doing the restoration on it, Thanks Sledge for allowing me to post them.

 

[kjohn]

Blind old pig has taken some pics of the No.1 Mk. III. Upon closer inspection (see pics), it looks like the serial number has been changed on the rifle. See pic 1 and 2:
View attachment 7999
View attachment 8000

Couple of more:
View attachment 8001View attachment 8002

 

[kjohn]

And three more. The old girl was set up originally for a cutoff.
View attachment 8003View attachment 8004View attachment 8005

 

[cote_b]

Are these lend lease Savages with matching mags valuable? I have a full wood No.4 Savage, all matching including mag aswell. Mine has ben ftr'd and is a mk.1/3 with the dial rear sight.

 

[flying pig]

Built at Enfield in 1911, rebarrelled in 1928. Nice find!

 

[kjohn]

Are these lend lease Savages with matching mags valuable? I have a full wood No.4 Savage, all matching including mag aswell. Mine has ben ftr'd and is a mk.1/3 with the dial rear sight.

Well, mine is. Not sure about yours!! All full wood Lee Enfields are valuable, some just more than others.

Seriously, if I were to restore one to full wood, it would be nice to have one with matching magazine. I don't know what the actual value of a "sportered" uncut Savage with a matching mag would be. Mine has also been FTR'd.

Someone might tune in with some more info.

 

[5THBATT]

These were taken when I was doing the restoration on it, Thanks Sledge for allowing me to post them.

Thanks flyingpig, certainly interesting pics but cant enlarge good enough to be sure, can see a mark just below the L in ShtLE but could be anything.

 

[flying pig]

Pm sent 5TH...

 

[cote_b]

Well, mine is. Not sure about yours!! All full wood Lee Enfields are valuable, some just more than others.

Seriously, if I were to restore one to full wood, it would be nice to have one with matching magazine. I don't know what the actual value of a "sportered" uncut Savage with a matching mag would be. Mine has also been FTR'd.

Someone might tune in with some more info.

Good point! I should have rephrased that to ask if they were particularly valuable among full wood No.4's. I got a good deal on it a few years back so it would be nice to find out that it happens to be an especially valuable one. I believe mine also has the hung trigger conversion.