Hi Sasquatch. CIE is French for company whereas in English the letters Co were used. This is a common marking out of
la belle province and as usual the stamped letters and numbers are large. I doubt that it would be 40th company so the 40
may be a rack number. Too bad for Quebecers that their government favours registration as that kills most interest in gun
ownership and thus historical research on items such as this. I guess history obscured turns to history forgotten. There are
probably other SMLE Mk III* owners with similar markings. JOHN