Need id help with my .303

kokanee king

kokanee king

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Didsbury, Alberta
I bought this a number of years ago and used it for 2 hunting seasons before "retiring" it to my safe. Lately ive been seeing truckloads of .303's hitting the market here and the idea of getting info about my rifle struck me. So please bear with me as im not the best photographer in the world but I think you can get an idea....
On the right side of the receiver it is stamped with the B.S.A.Co and on the left side it says No 3 S.R other than that there are tons of stamps on the barrel. The bolt on it is a bit of a mystery to me as I see a lot of them on here that dont match with mine.
Here are some pics of it. They arent much but maybe one of you kind folks can point me in the right direction for a history lesson?

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I can tell you it has been sporterized and the overall length is 45"long. The barrel is 24 1/2" long longer if i have to include the threads into the receiver? It still has the 10 shot clip for it. If your wondering why there is an initial on the clip its cause my buddy has a .303 and we didnt want to mix our clips...lol
I dont know to much more on it. Hope you guys do.
 
I think that you have the remains of a Lee Speed sporting rifle. Either that or a professionally sported MLE rifle. Might have been rebarrelled with a SMLE barrel.
 
The "N No.3SR", if I recall, denotes a turn of the century "Army & Navy Store" No.3 sporting rifle.

Sort of like a Lee-speed, but rebranded for the A&NS, which was sort of like LeBaron or JC Higgins in its day.

It's been messed with, Aluminum Williams sight added, possibly rebarelled with a surplus SMLe barrel, etc. but looks to be a real factory sporter action & probably stock too.
 
I would say that BSA built it that way. BUT even if they didn't, it looks like high QUALITY Work
NOW why in the bloody hell haven't you done something about that surface RUST! You have a VERY collectable rifle and that should NOT be allowed to happen.

Agree the rear sight is a later addition. but a suitable one could be found.
 
I suppose i should get it reblued then? God ive been so out of the loop with my firearms its not funny. I got hooked on paintball about 10 years ago and then radio control trucks (gas powered kind) after that.
Now im wanting back into the BOOM BOOM hobby again.
 
This was also crudely mounted to the side of the receiver with 3 screws and a ton of JB Weld. It worked great until the jb weld started cracking then it wouldnt hold true for staying sighted in.

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As for the surface rust on the rifle, shy of rebluing could i get it off by polishing with super fine steel wool?
 
Bronze wool and oil.
Nice scope mount and collectable in itself, but as you said, a rotten method of mounting it. JB Weld has a not of uses but mounting a scope is NOT one of them:runaway:
 
kokanee king said:
Sweet........thanks John for the tip.......as for the mount, thats pretty cool to.

Bronze wool and oil? What "grit" for the wool and what kind of oil?
Click to expand...

I'm not any expert on rebluing...but you would not want to have it polished, thus removing all the marks on it. Some would have it bead blasted and dipped in the bluing tank...

Seems it's a cut above the normal sporterized bubba.
 
Many companies made Lee-Speed rifles when the patent rights have been obsolete.

BSA was one beyond others. Just like they made SMLE sporters and Enfield P-14 and M17.

Below a part of an older BSA catalog.
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My father had something like that. First rifle I ever fired.

I still remember the deep red-toned stock and fine checkering. I think it is possible that it was rosewood.

Then he loaned it to one of his drinking buddies and never saw it again.
 
I was intending to turn it into a range shooter anyway as i dont hunt anymore but I do love the :sniper: BOOM BOOM she makes when fired.
Bead blasting? RE-bluing? Can i strip it and take it to a machine shop for bead blasting or is it best to just send it to a gunsmith for that? Re-bluing, can i get one of those home brew kits i see on S.I.R? Im going to see if the brass wool and oil will help it first before i go the other route.
 
Carbine bolt? So is there any significance to that style bolt? Is this a throw together model? Many questions about it and you guys are helping me. She may be going in for a re-fit to get her pretty more sooner than later.
 
The Lee-Speed Models are quite collectables.... I don't know if personally I would touch anything of it.
If you want to reblue it or to have the stock refinished, I would suggest you to make it like the "original".
It usually commands a premium over the standard SMLE sporter....

Make a little search in the different Lee-Enfield books/web sites and/or at your loval library to find out more about these, and, at the end, you may keep it the way it is.

Anyways, it's yours,.....
 
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Deep down all im wanting is to bring it back to how she should be setup. I know the rear sites are an after market add on. So im going to try to get the surface rust off by the brass wool and oil method and start the arduous journey of discovery for it. All roads lead to somewhere and my hope is that you all can help a guy out. Who knows, maybe someone already has the info i seek?
 
Don't reblue it. Clean it carefully. The bit of rust that has formed isn't serious, and will clean off.
The G&H scope mount is a classic, although it is much newer than the rifle. Seeing as the left receiver wall has already been drilled, why not just get the scope mount properly fitted?
The most common original sight unit would likely have had a standing leaf, two flip ups, and a ladder with an elevation slide. The Williams is pretty awful on a classic sporter.
Not unusual for a sporting rifle to have a "carbine" bolt handle.
Note that the top left corner of the butt socket has no provision for the military long range sight.
 
What is the barrel length, as it looks like an original LS Sporter from BSA it is possible that it was ordered with that style of bolt including the safety. Nice rifle, take care of it it may be worth more than you think. Over here most like that are museum pieces or range rifles as sporting rifles arent easy to use for sporting so people tend to spend on good sporters purpose built!
 
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