Lithgow SMLE markings help please
- Thread starter bogusiii
- Start date
If it's the original butt, the markings will be darned hard to avoid seeing.
The Aussies tried, as far as possible, to keep the original butt attached to any given rifle because that is where they stamped the whole history of the rifle from Day 1.
My own Lithgow was built in 1918, rebuilt in 1922 and rebuilt yet again in 1944..... and when my friend bought it, you could not tell it from an unfired, new rifle. It had been bashed about a lot on parade squares and on guard duty, but the thing had never been fired.
But the markings are all there. The rebuild markings are just dates (eg.: 5/44) but there also are the Lithgow shield and original date of manufacture.
If the rifle has had the butt changed, it's a whole new ball game.
The Aussies tried, as far as possible, to keep the original butt attached to any given rifle because that is where they stamped the whole history of the rifle from Day 1.
My own Lithgow was built in 1918, rebuilt in 1922 and rebuilt yet again in 1944..... and when my friend bought it, you could not tell it from an unfired, new rifle. It had been bashed about a lot on parade squares and on guard duty, but the thing had never been fired.
But the markings are all there. The rebuild markings are just dates (eg.: 5/44) but there also are the Lithgow shield and original date of manufacture.
If the rifle has had the butt changed, it's a whole new ball game.
Here's a link that will help with official markings. 
It's a site provided by Amatikulu with some good information to bookmark for the future.
Lee Enfield Rifle Markings (click here)http://home.earthlink.net/~smithkaia8/index.html
Regards,
Badger
It's a site provided by Amatikulu with some good information to bookmark for the future.
Lee Enfield Rifle Markings (click here)http://home.earthlink.net/~smithkaia8/index.html
Regards,
Badger
