Help with rifle ID please

[Red Herring]

Hi All,

I have inherited what I think is a Lee-Metford Sporter MkII. It is numbers matching, and in decent shape. I have no idea how old it is, what it might be worth, how collectable it is, or what it shoots like.

It needs some love, but the action is nice, the bore is good, and the trigger is fricking fantastic.

It needs a mag, and if anyone could tell me which might fit, I would be thrilled.

Under the upper hand guard, the barrel is stamped .303 Proved for Nitro, and a half doven other small stamps with an "E" as well.

Thanks in advance. Any info would be great!

 

[Craig0ry]

Looks to be sporterized by parker hale, It is in great shape, If you post this in Milsurp you will get much more help

 

[mooncoon]

The stock looks nice enough that I would leave it as it is. It appears to have been a military rifle based on the provision for a volley sight on the left side of the stock at the breach. It should also have a broad arrow (to denote government property) and perhaps a pair of facing broad arrows (to denote no longer government property). Value I am guessing in the $300 - $400 range because it has been sporterized. You would need to check the barrel length to see if that has been shortened or alternately rebarreled to the short lee length for WWI

cheers mooncoon

 

[buffdog]

Lee Metford

What you have is a Lee Metford Mark II military rifle that has been rebarreled with a Enfield rifled type barrel. That is the "E". It was manufactured by London Small Arms (LSA LM II ) and is a sporterized military rifle. It appears that the magazine cut off is missing. The straight bolt handle is indicative of a rifle, as is the lettering on the right side of the butt socket. Carbines of this era are lettered on the left side.

The Lee Metford Mark II was made from April 1893 to April 1895. This rifle has a later Lee Metford Mark II* bolt in it (Safety Catch on the bolt was made after 1895), and originally had a 30.2 inch barrel. Original Makers were Enfield, Sparkbrook, LSA, and BSA&M Companies. The Mark II* was only made by the Government plants at Enfield and Sparkbrook, and only for a few months then the Enfield rifling came into use.

The interesting thing is that this rifle has both Parker Hale and BSA names on it.

The Mark II was the first to introduce the 10 round magazine, but a later No.1 Mark III magazine should fit.

 

[smellie]

The first 10-round magazine was the Mark 2 and it is marked "2" on the back rib.

The second 10-round magazine was the Mark 3 and it also is marked on the back rib. It is distinguished by a little flip-forward-and-down tab at the right front. I have no idea what this was for, unless to aid in unloading mags... which it does all too well. I have the twin to this rifle (Buffdog has seen it) and this is the mag I have installed in it.

The third 10-round magazine was the final one and it is marked with a '4' on the back rib. This is the magazine for the SMLE and it works just peachy-keen FINE in this rifle. It is also a lot easier to find.

All of these magazines have the triple back-rib and they will all work in this rifle.

The magazine of the Number 4 has only a single back-rib and has NO cryptic and mysterious number stamped into it, although it does have small inspection marks. If you hold your mouth just right and mutter the appropriate bloodcurdling threats, you can often get them to work, but they still aren't the right magazine.

Guys, will somebody please tell me what is wrong with the bolt-cover which is ON the rifle right now? EVERYBODY insists that the bolt-cover is missing. See the last photo: bolt cover. It's in ALL of them! Granted, they were very sleekly designed and just look so very INTEGRAL that you barely notice them.... but they are there. Beautiful condition, too.

Buffdog, would you call this as good as mine, or better? Be honest; I won't go into the sock closet and cry. Again.

VERY nice rifle.
.

 

[buffdog]

Bolt cover

Yep, you are right George. The bolt cover is there. The only thing I can say is that I looked at the first photo where the bolt was open, and it was late last night when I got in.

From the photos, and not wanting SMELLIE cry again, I would say that this one is about equal to his. (The last time he went to the Sock closet and cried was when I brought in an 1896 Lee Enfield Royal North-West Mounted Police Carbine in and asked him what kind of an old beat up piece of junk it was. We had to slip pizzas under the bottom of the door for a week before he finally unlocked it and came out.)

Since I am going to town today, I just might have to take a 1928 dated Enfield made, SMLE No.1 Mark III* for him to look at, and cheer him up a bit.

You have a very nice rifle there. It is a bit unusual in that it has London Small Arms, BSA, and Parker Hale markings on it. It is a very nice factory sporter conversion.

Looking at this, if asked for a guess, I would say that this rifle was manufactured by London Small Arms as a Lee Metford Mark I rifle, then upgraded by Birmingham Small Arms with a barrel change to Enfield type rifling and possibly an upgrade to Mark II status with a new bolt, then sporterized by Parker Hale.

Does the serial numbers on the bolt, receiver, barrel and rear sight match?
.

 

[Red Herring]

Smellie, you have to send me some pictures of yours! I was fascinated when you mentioned that the checkering was likely done by the same man. That's pretty neat considering how long ago it was done, and how few of these there are floating around.

The serial No. all match. 373.

Incidentally, this rifle was sent to me by an older friend who never used it and found it in his house after he moved into it 40 years ago. When he said, "I'm sending you a Parker-Hale", I figured on a Parker Hale 1100 or 1200, something like that. I never figured on this little dandy.

I thought at first that I might fire it, but frankly, I'm thinking I am just going to clean her up as nicely as I can, and just admire it! I don't think I will get any more pleasure out of it if I shoot it.

I have a very nice SKS that I am going to refinish, re-crown with a Manson reamer I just bought, and do some trigger work on. I think that will remain the shooter, even if it won't ever shoot as nicely as the LM.

 

[rgg_7]

You've got a Parker Hale sporterized military LSA MK11. It's been rebarrelled with a BSA barrel and most likely OK with modern loads as it's been proofed. I'ts also been given a Parker Hale serial number. I'd find a mag; clean it up and enjoy it. Ron

 

[sergey96]

Looks very nice. I like the shape of it.