I recently picked up this nice wire wrapped No.1MkIII* for my collection. I bought a discharger cup (WW1 NPFL manufacture, National Projectile Factory, Lancaster - I believe) here on CGN a few weeks ago to go with my mills bomb, so of course, I needed a proper discharger rifle. (And good lord have the cups and mills dewats gone to crazy high prices in Canada the last couple years!!)
This one (like so many in Canada) is RFI manufactured, a 1948 made gun, just after British rule and still during the Dominon of India period where the Kingwas still the monarch (until 1950). It's made to the general British Ordnance MkIII* pattern, before Ishapore started cheapening the guns with machining shortcuts circa 1950. It still has the GRI cypher. One popular Canadian dealer has (a very over-priced) wire wrapped MkIII* done at Lithgow, but by far we see these Ishy guns from the old 1990's Springfield Sporters stash, sold here in the early 2000's.
I've owned a few of these over the years I sold off for one reason or another, but now that they are harder to find, I plan to keep this one. The cups are getting even more challenging to locate too, now that the US dealers will no longer ship discharger cups north.
I realize these are kind of a niche item for SMLE collectors, and though these can be shot no problem (most have really great bores and weren't shot much), if you are buying a gun to shoot, most people opt for a standard infantry rifle. They are lighter, more plentiful, can be disassembled more completely for maintenance, etc.
I remember when these came in, they were cheaper than unwrapped SMLEs and some guys bought them to unwrap, refinish the wood, and get a cheaper SMLE. I would not recommend that now! These wrapped rifles definitely sell for more than an infantry SMLE these days in comparable condition. Rarity matters.
Anyone else got some grenade discharging enfields to show and tell?
I saw another in the EE this week (for a lot less than I paid for this one!), the first I had seen in a while for sale on CGN.
This one (like so many in Canada) is RFI manufactured, a 1948 made gun, just after British rule and still during the Dominon of India period where the Kingwas still the monarch (until 1950). It's made to the general British Ordnance MkIII* pattern, before Ishapore started cheapening the guns with machining shortcuts circa 1950. It still has the GRI cypher. One popular Canadian dealer has (a very over-priced) wire wrapped MkIII* done at Lithgow, but by far we see these Ishy guns from the old 1990's Springfield Sporters stash, sold here in the early 2000's.
I've owned a few of these over the years I sold off for one reason or another, but now that they are harder to find, I plan to keep this one. The cups are getting even more challenging to locate too, now that the US dealers will no longer ship discharger cups north.
I realize these are kind of a niche item for SMLE collectors, and though these can be shot no problem (most have really great bores and weren't shot much), if you are buying a gun to shoot, most people opt for a standard infantry rifle. They are lighter, more plentiful, can be disassembled more completely for maintenance, etc.
I remember when these came in, they were cheaper than unwrapped SMLEs and some guys bought them to unwrap, refinish the wood, and get a cheaper SMLE. I would not recommend that now! These wrapped rifles definitely sell for more than an infantry SMLE these days in comparable condition. Rarity matters.
Anyone else got some grenade discharging enfields to show and tell?
I saw another in the EE this week (for a lot less than I paid for this one!), the first I had seen in a while for sale on CGN.
