Lee Enfield #1Mk 1 1896

I

ianwd

Regular
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
9   0   0
Location
Red Deer
Picked up this old girl today ,one of Queen Victoria`s finest the wood is beautiful, sadly the barrel is pretty much shot out .
I guess there is little chance of finding a barrel for it .
it had the volley sights and cut off installed . safety is on the back of the bolt , and the mag is chained to the action .
I guess they was afraid of the troops loosing the mag .
pictured above her little sister the .22 version
deb8d444-fc79-42ad-9583-74ee6f854dbe.jpg

the sling that came with rifle
IMG_3182.jpg

IMG_3180.jpg

IMG_3179.jpg

it didn't occur to me too look in but stock when I was cleaning it . look what I found ,
IMG_3190.jpg
 
Last edited:
Try loading up some ammo for it with an oversized CAST bullet, using a very quick powder. The idea is that the very quick powder kicks the cast bullet on its rear end smartly. This starts the back end of the bullet moving. Lead, being plastic at pressure, does not like this. What happens is that the back end of the bullet starts moving before the front end. Because lead is not compressible, the means that the rear end of the bullet EXPANDS to fill the bore completely, thus forcing the bullet to rotate and stabilise.

I would suggest starting with the Harris Load, using a quite soft bullet.

TOO nice an old piece not to shoot.

I have a sportered Sparkbrook of the same vintage, same model, with weak rifling. Last time I tested it, it shot about 3 MOA, what you might call Minute of Boer. Didn't dare crow it up to my Doctor. He is a nice guy but also a Boer himself!

You do have a lovely old piece, what I have thought for many years is the classiest-LOOKING rifle of the late Nineteenth Century.

You are right: no spare barrels since about 1902. Just have to figure a way to save the one on it.
 
Now, it's time to cruise the gun shows and EEs on this site and others, for a butchered rifle with an uncut donor bbl. I have seen these go for less than $100 very recently. There were at least 4 at the Kamloops gun show.

They are out there and more than most people realize. They usually just pass them by because they don't know what they are looking at.
 
Very nice indeed. A Canadian rifle. Mine, S/N 1336, is similarly-marked and with a poor bore as well. Canada got the first batches of MLEs off the line, before British troops.



Great score on the oiler and the pullthrough as well. Those early oilers are much rarer and valuable.
 
Eaglelord17 said:
From what I have seen they seem to go for about 1800+ (most fall around 1800-2000) but this is just what I have seen and noted, could be worth more could be worth less, hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Crikey, they sure are expensive over there, they seem to range from around $400 to $800NZ here, paid $320 (was cheap even for here) for a MkII Metford early last year & it only had a re-numbered bolt & later in the year $800 for a full original matching numbers 1901 Mk1*.
There was a time (a few years back when some here were selling them to the Americans) when you could not get one for under $900NZ.
There was a MkII Metford that sold for $1600NZ at auction last month but that was a special exception due to the paper work that came with it.

Eta I think barrels were made way past 1902, a little known fact (in NZ too) in late 1919 NZDF & it appears the Target boys ordered a load of barreled actions to refurb the Longlees still in use, there are many just BSA & Co marked actions some with full military proofs etc & some with commercial proof stamps ie the BM proof which dates from 1916 on & some with '20 dated barrels all fitted into older stocks some the ex-Canadian C14 marked rifles, plus i believe Lithgow was producing Longlee barrels uptill the 1930s, HarryD might have a more accurate date for the Lithgow barrels.
 
Last edited:
Not really mate. Yes lithgow was making MLE barrels like you say but that's about all I know. My latest rpurchase is an MLE with 1909 dated barrel.
 
I am sure that back in the day the the arsenals would have been happy to make MLE replacement barrels for governments who wanted to buy them. The only question is, were there any leftovers. And if so, where are they? You can get a barrel made for pretty much anything. But it will cost you. I was talking to a guy awhile ago who told me that he had a friend who got a brand new barrel made (by Walther I believe) for his #4 Mk1. But it cost him over $400.
 
nw mb said:
...green with envy!

(what's an average price for one of these?)
Click to expand...
Well im not sure about average price because I have never found one for sale . This one was $950, I bought it at the Winfield AB gun show , the guy had it Marked at $1100 . he didn't seem to want to lower his price any so I walked away,
like I wasn't really that interested . then a short while later sent my chief negotiator over (the wife) and she got him to drop his price a little . a tactic I have used once or twice with success .
 
I have an 1896 MLE MkI in beautiful condition that I traded some guns for back about 5 years ago
I also stated it was a No1 MkI like Ianwd with an 1896 Pattern 1888 bayonet but it appears not to have been used very much.
I also have a restored Sparkbrook, 1895 Metford MkII with an 1895 bayonet.
I love the look of the Long Lee rifles.

PC081232.jpg
 
Calling a MLE a No1 Mk1 is a common mistake, i did too when i started out, hell never even knew there was such a think as a Mk1 SMLE for a few years, just assumed the order was the MLE Mk1 followed by the MkII (MLM) then the MkIII SMLE & then came the No4 & i just thought it was strange they did not call it the Mk4, so just thought there was only the 5 models with the No5 being the last, how wrong was i as i found out later :)
 
If you really want to get in a nomenclature nightmare you should check out Ross rifles, especially the MkIIs. I just bought the Ross Rifle Story and I think I'm more confused after reading the first chapter than I was when I started!!!

If Lee-Enfields/Metfords weren't so much fun to learn about I don't know what I'd be into (nuclear physics maybe?).
 
Hows this, see who can figure this out.
I have about 40 Lee Enfields, i also have about 30 No1 Mk1s, i can fit a No1 Mk1 to a SMLE & then slip on another No1 Mk1 (which is a different No1 Mk1 from the other 30 No1 Mk1s) over & down the No1 Mk1 fitted to the SMLE, what do you think i have just fitted to my SMLE?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom