New Enfield No.1 MkIII*

I

ice_snow

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I recently purchased a Lee Enfield No.1 MkIII*, and I was wondering if someone here would be able to help me finding out some of the history of this nice rifle.

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What does the FR 45 mean?

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When was this rifle made and where?

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What does this symbol stand for?

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What does this stamp in the butt stock stand for? It is faint.

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As a side note all of the serial numbers match (Bolt Handle, Rear Sight, Receiver, and Nose Cap). All I'm missing is the Bayonet, which I will be purchasing in the near future.

Thanks in advance for any information that you provide.
 
dangertree said:
Made in Ishapore, India, 1945.
Click to expand...

Factory rebuilt in India in 1945. It is Indian but could be earlier. Any markings on (or evidence they were scrubbed off) the right side of the wrist?

As for a bayonet, the usual 17" blade will do, but the more correct one is the shorter Indian made ones.
 
You have shown us the LEFT side of the wrist (Butt Socket), friend, where it tells us that this rifle was Factory Rebuilt n 1945 at Ishapore, at which time it was rebuilt to the Mark III* specification.

What is on the OTHER side of the same part will tell you how and when and where it was ORIGINALLY built..... and what it looked like when it was built.

From the photo, it appears as if your rifle has been rebuilt later as a single-shot.... or else you have the Magazine out of it for some reason. Magazines always were LEFT IN Lee-Enfields, as a part of the Rifle. The feed-lips are bent easily, making all kinds of mis-feeds possible, so they were not removed. For fast reloading, you reloaded with CHARGERS of 5 rounds each: MUCH faster than changing mags.

A lot of Ishapore rifles and rebuilds have that very DARK wood. Often it is oil-soaked and, if you get the oil out of it, it will come up to that lovely ruddy GLOW which your Butt is attempting to evince. Treatment with the old BOILED Linseed Oil then nails it down solid and you have a beautiful rifle.

So..... can you show us the RIGHT side of the Butt Socket?

Nice rifle, BTW. Ishapore rifles are looked down upon for some reason I cannot fathom. They are certainly TOUGH enough, RELIABLE enough and ACCURATE enough that the Indian Army is still using them for marksmanship training and manufacturing all parts except the Body. For a rifle which went into production 105 years ago (1907), that's saying a LOT!
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They're pretty easy to upgrade as well, and because the bolt is so smooth and fast you can really put lead down range with ease

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