Turn on a bright light, flip the Bolt Handle UP and read what you find there.
There will be a Marking there which tells you precisely what it was when it started out. This Marking will be in several lines.
At the TOP, a Crown with a couple of letters beneath it: VR or ER or GR. These together comprise the Royal Signet of the reigning Monarch, who was the actual OWNER of the rifle. VR signifies Queen Victoria (1837 - 1901), ER her son, King Edward VII (Edward the Peacemaker, reigned 1901 - 1910, rifles markd 1902 through 1910), GR signifies HIS son and grandson, both Georges: George V (reigned 1910 - 1936) and Georg VI (reigned 1936 - 1952. Edward VIII did reign between the two Georges, but I have never seen a British rifle with his Signet, although a (very) few were made in India.
Below that will be the place of manufacture, generally ENFIELD, BSA or LSA: the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock, about 15 miles North of London, the Birmingham Small Arms Company or the London Small Arms Company, which made very few rifles. Rifles made in India will be marked ISHAPORE, rifles from Australia will be marked LITHGOW.
Below that will be the DATE of manufacture. I own rifles marked between 1896 and 1949 and I have rifles from ALL SEVEN manufacturers, so there is a good variety to be found.
Below that is the precise TYPE and MODEL of your rifle. Often this is abbreviated as "Sht LE III*" (the most common type): the SHORT MAGAZINE LEE-ENFIELD rifle, MARK THREE STAR, which was produced from 1916 into the 1960s, depending on where you were.
And that is the whole tale. There ARE a few anomalies which don't fit in here: test rifles, experimentals, the rifles made by Standard Small Arms and the National Rifle Factory (both marked with weird-looking Crowns but the manufacturer's name abbreviated SSA or NRF on the Receiver, just to the left of the back end of the bolt raceway..... and there were WW2 coded emergency-built rifles and Indian post-Independence rifles also.... and Conversions: whole telephone-book full of Conversions.
There is a STICKY on th first page of the Index to this Forum, giving quite complete instructions for the posting of your photographs. Put some up and let's see what you have!
Hope this helps.
