Interpreting markings on a No.1 Mk3* ?

RobSmith · Mar 29, 2006

Can anyone point me to a website that can shed some light on the various markings that are to be found on an old Enfield ? I'm sure there's quite a bit of a rifle's history locked in the various stamps on it, if only I could read them...

woodchopper · Mar 30, 2006

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/philqgbr/enfield.html

Scroll down to the bottom of my page and you will find a few other links

Or you could just start with Jay's page

http://enfieldrifles.profusehost.net/

woodchopper · Mar 30, 2006

Or as an alternative you could post pictures here and we could see who can answer first

dw · Mar 30, 2006

Thats what I did. Worked very well. Gunnutz member have a ton of knowledge...........some of it even relates to firearms

RobSmith · Mar 30, 2006

Well, I don't have a digital camera handy but I'll attempt to describe some of them, here goes : the safety lever has a "III", the bolt body and bolt head have an "M" (or maybe it's a "W"), the bolt body and cocking piece are mismatched but both have "A77" on them. The rear sight base has a "C" and a smaller "o" some distance underneath it. Every part seems to have a mark consisting of a crown with one, sometimes two series of numbers/letters under it (actually, most parts have more than one of those), the bolt body, receiver, and barrel have a "E" in front of the serial number. The rear sight slider has a "2", underneath the rear sight there is a small "A", the barrel has an "HV", the rear of the receiver, underneath the bolt there is a "KO", on the right side of the rear receiver there is a "PH". I just found a "Z" on the rear of the bolt head, this thing is just COVERED in stamps, sometimes there are so many in a single area that they overlap, it just seems that everytime I look I find something new...

Sgt Striker · Mar 31, 2006

If you're just buying one or two Enfields, yea check around here or on the net. But if you plan on collection these rifles, it's a good idea to get the book "The Lee Enfield Story". Very good book, and well worth the money!

Cheers
Dean

woodchopper · Mar 31, 2006

the markings on the reciever are the most important, then will tell you the manufacturer and date. They may also contain FTR markings. The barrel may have been replaced you can tell because its normally dated. if teh reciever is a 1918 and the barrel is dated 1927 you rifle was FTR'ed even if you cant find a FTR stamp.

The HV signifies that the rear site is calibrated for Mk VI (?) ammo I forget perhaps its Mk VII, anyways it was a faster ammo (HV = High Velocity) I don't recall seeing any non HV marked No1MkIII's

Small stamps with a crown over crossed flags and little numbers are inspector marks, unless its a lithgow then its little stars with numbers inside.

More information on the reciever markings.

John Sukey · Apr 1, 2006

the E isa part of the serial number. after 99999, an alpha prefix was added and the numbers started again.

RobSmith · Apr 1, 2006

She's a 1917 dated BSA so that's pretty self-explanatory, the barrel does not seem to have a complete date on it but there is a '17 marking. The serials on the bolt handle, receiver, barrel and rear sight match and there aren't any tool marks that would make me suspect she was renumbered. I do suspect that she was FTR's at some time though since the cocking piece's serial does not match the other bits, also, upon close examination of the butt plate I noticed that there are 3 oval-shaped "artifacts" over the top screw, I tried to unscrew the buttplate to check it out but the screws are so rusty they basically turn to dust whenever I apply any kind of torque to them.

RobSmith · Jul 16, 2006

Claven2 · Jul 16, 2006

It's sporterized and was a refurb before sportered. Nothing special from those grainy pics. Maybe worth $70-125 as a shooter. One man's opinion...

RobSmith · Jul 16, 2006

Claven2 said:
It's sporterized and was a refurb before sportered. Nothing special from those grainy pics. Maybe worth $70-125 as a shooter. One man's opinion...

Thanks for the input. I'm not so much concerned about the value of it, I always knew it wasn't worth much. How do you know it was refurb before being sportered ?

My goal is to make a shooter out of it, <but> I'd like to bring it back to it's original military "as issued" configuration <and> I'd like to ensure that I get all the "right" parts for a 1917 BSA, right down to the accessories/bayonet/oiler/whatever if at all possible, yet I have no clue what I'm looking for in this case.

I doesn't matter to me how long it takes, I take it as a tinkering project, not just something to throw any old parts on. And yes, I know it would end up being cheaper to buy an all-matching all-correct Enfield, but it wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

Interpreting markings on a No.1 Mk3* ?

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