Lee Enfield newbie

B

BiggRed

New member
EE Expired
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Location
Calgary, AB
So I just inherited a .303 Lee-Enfield, Yay me!! The rifle came from my grandfather who passed 5 years ago, who got it from his father and has been in storage until someone obtained a PAL of which I have (also Yay me again). We have done some searching online to help identify the year and model and we are having a hard time coming to a conclusion I think it looks like a SMLE and my father thinks otherwise. I have tried to match a lot of the markings but I am not entirely sure if I am finding matches.

Most of the history of this rifle was lost with my grandfather, so I am hoping to get any help to clarify the model at least.

AMYgjbb.jpg
[/IMG]
op16YpM.jpg
[/IMG]

7uH8XsF.jpg
[/IMG]

Thank you for reading.
 
It's an SMLE all right, probably marked Sht. L.E. Mk.III* on the right wrist under the bolt handle. It has no slot for a magazine cutoff so is a Mk.III* (not a Mk.III) and I bet dates from 1917 or 1918. It has a sporter stock replacing the full military wood and also has had the charger guide over the receiver removed.
 
That's a good way to get a Lee Enfield. Would have been even better if he had handed it down to you before he died, but anyway, go get a deer with it to honour your ancestors.
 
bogusiii said:
It's an SMLE all right, probably marked Sht. L.E. Mk.III* on the right wrist under the bolt handle. It has no slot for a magazine cutoff so is a Mk.III* (not a Mk.III) and I bet dates from 1917 or 1918. It has a sporter stock replacing the full military wood and also has had the charger guide over the receiver removed.
Click to expand...

Thank you for providing me with more to work with. As for the markings the only (III) is on the safety, and I have yet to find an MK anywhere.

3wB0c4O.jpg
[/IMG]

I have provided an image of the markings that I have been able to locate, any and all help is great. But if this is where the thread dies thank you for your time.


I certainly plan to take it out and fire off a few rounds.
 
This rifle was probably bought for $10 at a small town hardware store sold as war surplus. The standard practice was to remove the offending military parts and anything else that was heavy or unnecessary. So the first owner after the Army disassembled the gun, handsawed off the foreend, threw away the heavy bits, unscrewed the charger bridge and went hunting. It probably kicks worse now than in the service, because it is lighter. It is also less handy, because the short foreend changes the balance.

But --- it came from family and should be cared for because of that. I have a WWI German Mauser rifle that was converted into a bolt action 12-ga shotgun. My grandfather had one; this one isn't his but it is very much like his.
 
BiggRed said:
Thank you for providing me with more to work with. As for the markings the only (III) is on the safety, and I have yet to find an MK anywhere.

3wB0c4O.jpg
[/IMG]

I have provided an image of the markings that I have been able to locate, any and all help is great. But if this is where the thread dies thank you for your time.


I certainly plan to take it out and fire off a few rounds.
Click to expand...

Interesting pics. The top left has pic shows a C with an arrow in the middle which means it was Canadian owned. The oval tab in the top middle picture for the safety is a late WW2 version which suggests it's been replaced. Have a look on the wrist exactly opposite this tab for the maker and date (ie under the bolt handle). If there's nothing there it's possible someone has 'scrubbed' it clean when they de-militarized it. If there is nothing there the barrel is most likely dated under the wood just below the C arrow marking.
 
bogusiii said:
Interesting pics. The top left has pic shows a C with an arrow in the middle which means it was Canadian owned. The oval tab in the top middle picture for the safety is a late WW2 version which suggests it's been replaced. Have a look on the wrist exactly opposite this tab for the maker and date (ie under the bolt handle). If there's nothing there it's possible someone has 'scrubbed' it clean when they de-militarized it. If there is nothing there the barrel is most likely dated under the wood just below the C arrow marking.
Click to expand...

Having spent a lot of time looking the rifle over, I would have to think that it was scrubbed, as you put it. But I'm not quite ready yet to take anything apart, but thank you for all of the advice and information. I really do appreciate it.
 
I'm in the same boat, just got a lee enfield on a trade and I'm learning about these rifles as I go. ..allot of information out there and allot of people with tons of knowledge that can help out.
 
The lowest price I ever saw these rifles retail for was $17. Mostly they were in the twenties.
Several major big outlets, like Woodward department stores and Spencer's department stores in Vancouver, the Army and Navy store in New Westminster, bought surplus Lee Enfields by the trainload, cut the most of them down to the common "sporter" we see today, then sold masses of them.
If you went to the store you could likely buy them before they were cut down, just as they came from the military. Some places graded them into about three categories, so for a few dollars more you could get one in really great shape.
 
H4831 said:
The lowest price I ever saw these rifles retail for was $17. Mostly they were in the twenties....
Click to expand...

Ahh, yes. The first centrefire rifle I bought was in 1968, an un-Bubba'd Longbranch No4Mk1. It was in pristine condition with a bore that looked brand new, heavily coated in cosmoline. I paid the princely sum of $15.00 for it. Mind you, I had a great job that paid $145.00/wk to put this in perspective. It was was stashed in a large barrel with about a dozen or so of No4Mk1's. Bought it in a surplus/sporting store at Jane and Wilson in good old TO when you could still buy firearms in lots of places there.:(
 
H4831 said:
The lowest price I ever saw these rifles retail for was $17. Mostly they were in the twenties.
Several major big outlets, like Woodward department stores and Spencer's department stores in Vancouver, the Army and Navy store in New Westminster, bought surplus Lee Enfields by the trainload, cut the most of them down to the common "sporter" we see today, then sold masses of them.
If you went to the store you could likely buy them before they were cut down, just as they came from the military. Some places graded them into about three categories, so for a few dollars more you could get one in really great shape.
Click to expand...

I remember as a child in the early 1960s, the local "Simpson Sears" store selling surplus Lee Enfield rifles. The No. 4 was $9.99 and the No. 5 was $12.99. I asked my Dad to purchase one for me, but he would not. I was many years later when I bought them for myself and paid a whole lot more.......

Ah! the good old days :)

B
 
You don't have to disassemble it to check the stamping on the right side, just lift the bolt knob and pull it back- the identification is stamped on the outside of the butt socket. If there's nothing there, it has been linished off sometime post-war. It is a historical piece in that it has family history and a Canadian broad arrow indicating government ownership, and I would suggest cleaning it up and leaving it as-is. It won't be a candidate for a military restoration to original, as the charger bridge has been removed, and the inner barrel band looks missing too. Enjoy it as it is, knowing your ancestors owned it is now part of it's history.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom