"Martin Adjusted" BSA No1 Enfield Rifle

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Blastattack

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I had the chance to handle a "Martin Adjusted" BSA No1 Enfield Rifle today. It was in excellent condition on the outside, the top of the knoxform was marked "Martin Adjusted" and the receiver was marked Martin on the top and BSA Co. on the butt socket. It has an adjustable rear sight, working cut-off plate, 5rd. magazine, a solid nosecap (no holes in the ears). However, it it missing the safety, has a hole drilled and tapped on the left of the butt socket (target or volley sights, part of the safety?) and it has a broken firing pin that needs replacement. It seems to be a Target rifle, though the term "Martin Adjusted" turns up nothing. I'm interested in buying this rifle, however neither of us has any idea what a fair value would be for it. Can anyone offer any information on this rifle and what it may be worth?
 
Any target rifle...$600 without seeing it. Seen good ones around $1200. more if correct sights...sounds like the rear aperture has been removed.
 
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Anything that says "Martin Adjusted" or "Regulated by....." is certainly a rifle to consider buying, as long as the barrel and condition is reasonable. This one was probably gunsmithed by Alex Martin of Scottish Gunmaking fame, and was intended to be a target rifle. Once again, pictures are worth a thousand words, and without pictures only an educated guess can be made. However, some of the Martin SMLE rifles had an extra band on them, half way between the middle band and the front sight. A broken firing pin can easily be replaced, but the target rear sight that mounts near the safety seems to be missing. It is also possible that you may find some Cork packing in the forestock area. If so, DO NOT remove it or clean it out -- it is there to dampen barrel vibrations.
 
That is a rifle which was SOLD BY the Alex Martin shop in Glasgow. They bought them from BSA, worked them over completely to their own standards.

You could count on any BSA SMLE rifle to turn in 2 MOA. By the time Martins' were finished with one, it was a world-beater, in the same class as one tuned by A.G. Parker or W.W. Greener or Holland & Holland. They were all in the very TOP rank of shops building the finest in Service Rifle competition rifles.

Service Rifl competition was something we seem to have no longer, at least for the great old .303s. The rules stated that the Rifle should be the standard Service rifle of the period. In the case of the SMLE, it was factory-fitted with an open sight. An aperture Sight could be fitted; that was in the rules, but the entire rifle had to be returnable to combat "Issue" condition with no tool other than a screwdriver.

Ammunition for the matches was ISSUED to the shooter, 12 or 17 rounds at a time: 12 rounds for a 10-shot target, 17 for a 15-shot match, giving 2 sighters in each case. Sighting shots had to be called BEFORE they were fired. Everyone shot the same ammunition; possession of even a single round of different ammo disqualified the shooter from the entire match. The ammunition itself for the shoots was selected from ammunition already on hand. There was NO special Match ammunition made, unlike in American competitions. Matches were shot at ranges from 200 through to 1200 yards.

If your rifle did not "like" a certain Lot Number of .303 ammunition, you were SOL. This is why the rifls were "adjusted": so they would handle ANY Service Ball ammunition they were fed..... and do it to a MAXIMUM dispersion of 2 MOA, although MANY rifles would do 1 MOA. Yes: with iron sights.

The shooters had to be prepared to put up with anything that might be in the offing: good light, bad light, failing light, following or heading wind...... or a switching cross-wind...... mirage, mirage and wind combined.

It was the most brutally difficult competition in the world..... and the rifle was built to WIN under those circumstances.

Firing pin? Nothing. Standard SMLE firing pin will fit and work fine: $20 installed.

A set of Alex Martin receiver aperture sights, though...... well, that is another matter. They do exist, but they are few and far between..... and they are WORTH whatever you pay for them.

SOMEBODY had REALLY good taste in Rifles!
 
Amazing information guys, thank you! I did not inspect the bore, which was silly, but likely a non-issue doe to the outside condition of the rifle. No aperture unfortunately, but the standard leaf sight is an adjustable model. There are a total of three rifles offered, this one (which is getting more and more appealing) as well as a fair condition sported Ross ($150 maybe) and an excellent condition Snider Enfield in .577 (beats me on price; $400 to $2000 from what I see). However, knowing nothing about the Snider, I can't comment on anything other than it was quite long, had a cleaning rod, was in very nice shape and has the bayonet as well. No comment on date or numbers (if there are any?) I've placed a very conservative preliminary offer, but from what I hear so far, I might want to increase it significantly.
 
Sounds like the rifle was set up to use the No9 style rear sight, that folds along the side of the gun



it can be mounted with or without the mount plate depending on the rifle. The one shown is a bit odd but this gives a general idea of what they look like.
 
enefgee said:
Sounds like the rifle was set up to use the No9 style rear sight, that folds along the side of the gun



it can be mounted with or without the mount plate depending on the rifle. The one shown is a bit odd but this gives a general idea of what they look like.
Click to expand...

That would explain why the trigger-guard screw protrudes so very far out the side. I see there is one of these on Ebay... but only 11 hours left... might be worth a bid whether or not I get the rifle(s).
 
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Back about 15 years ago, at a .303 Match in B.C., I used a similar BSA No.1 Mark III* rifle with a similar rear aperture sight. I was almost 60 years old at that time, but of the 12 Medals awarded, six of them came home with me. My rifle had "Regulated by Fulton" on it. Ammunition was issued as SMELLIE relates, with it being from one Lot of Canadian .303 ammo.

One of the reasons that pictures should be posted if possible is that they give "clues" to just what a rifle is, possibly it's Heritage, and anything special about it. When you state "That would explain why the trigger-guard screw protrudes so very far out the side. " a Member on this Forum who was a target shooter would have almost immediately noticed it.

If you can afford it, you should probably make an effort to buy that SMLE.
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You can pick up a 9G sight for $275 -325 that should mount on the rifle given your description. These are awesome shooters. FP is a non issue and an easy fix. Love to see a picture of this. Attempt to get its history as it adds to the rifles provenance. Ron
 
Here is a pic of martin adjusted SMLE.It was owned by a Lt Col G patrick.His name is on the butt disk.
I was told he won the governor gererals shooting match in 1934 with this rifle.
Is there a list of winners of this match somewhere so I can confirm it???
Any info??



 
tacfoley said:
Anybody want me to look over here in UK for a sight?

tac
Click to expand...

If you could that would be great.

I have the money to buy the rifle, I'm just not terribly sure that the seller wants to sell it, or really even knows what it his. The rifle isn't "his" per-se, but was passed to him by a family member a very long time ago.
 
I must say that I go all goo goo inside over old fashioned target rifles, especially lee enfield based ones!!

OP, if you can buy that rifle, you won't be dissapointed once you play with her at the range:)

Steve
 
Hmmm. I have to admit that waht I know about A J Parker could be written large on the eyelash of an amoeba, but Alfred, the founder, set up his business in or around 1890, but the address is not known to me.

http://www.rifleman.org.uk/PH_Service_sights.htm

'Prior to 1928, Alfred left to set up his own company; Alfred J. Parker & Co. Ltd. For many years until recently (the business closed late in 2007), the firm was at the "Armoury Works" in Moseley Road on the outskirts of Birmingham city. It was previously at Bath Street Old Schools in Birmingham (the company was still at Bath Street in 1956, but had moved to Moseley Road by the mid Sixties). Here he produced the first Twin Zero rear aperture sight - a folding version.

And if you have a minute, have a look at the bottom of the page on the BSA .22 target rifles - the cased Alex. Martin take-down BSA MkI/II is mine.

tac
 
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GGFG is Governor Generals Foot Guards. A good place to start for information on the original owner. The Nominal Rolls and Diaries should be available.

Captain George Patrick was one of the four Officers who was on the Guard attending the body of Lord Tweedsmuir on February 12, 1940, as it lay in State in Ottawa.
 
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Here is my "Martin Adjusted" No 1 Mk III*. This one was made by National Rifle Factory (NRF) and later modified for target use. It has the aforementioned hose clamp around the wood between the middle band and nosecap. The barrel is a BSA commercially made model. It shoots fantastic.

rifle.jpg


NRF%20action%20markings%202.JPG


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Here is a photo of the sight that came with it. The plastic labels were on the rifle when I bought it, and since the same type of labels were on the DCRA No 4 that came with it, I didn't want to take them off.

side%20of%20action.jpg
 
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