new to me SMLE *pics*

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archerynut

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just bought my first SMLE. after carrying one on the set of Passchendaele, i felt the call in the worst way. the other day a gentlman in the bargain finder was offering a No.1 Mk.3* in good condition so i called and drove over the same day. i left with the rifle, as is the natural way. heres some pics.

SMLE1.jpg


would this be a BSA?

SMLE3.jpg


SMLE5.jpg


SMLE6.jpg


like the first picture shows, it was made in 1916. theres a couple(2)numbers on the reciever that have been crossed through. the new number in their place matches the one on the nosecap and the bolt. the magazine is new.
theres also small crack about an inch and a half long coming from the magazine housing. is this a common occurence? the bore is in pretty good shape, just needs a good cleaning i think. as in the pics, the forward top furniture is kinda rough shape, i plan on taking some of this off and giving it a good sanding with a block. one other thing, theres a bulge about half way between the trigger group and the muzzle. i've never seen this before in any other SMLE that i've held. its in the perfect spot for bayonet thrusting. strange. thanks for looking.
 
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Congrats on your great find!

My 2 cents: don't sand the woods, especially if they have been with this rifle for a long time. They look like they shoud look, used, like the rest of the rifle.

On the butt socket, you can read "Enfield" - that's the factory where the rifle was made.

A good clean, though, not a bad idea. I use mineral spirits to remove a layer of crud on the wood. A new coat of boiled linseed oil may be ok if the finish is gone in some places (others may have a different opinion).

If you plan on tearing it apart for a complete cleaning, remove the forarm before the butt - always.

Enjoy!

Lou
 
Don't sand it! Terrible idea, you'll be removing value with every stroke of the sandpaper.
Listen to Lou, just clean the wood up and do a new coat of BLO.

NO SANDPAPER!
 
I'd go further, don't even use steel wool. Old woodwork acquires a certain patina over time and if you strip it off it looks like hell and reduces the value of the gun. A lot people - including me when younger - found/find it hard to resist, but don't make that mistake. It's just like old furniture - leave it alone.

Take it apart, clean off all the dirt and crud from the metal parts, wipe the wood down with a wet rag to get the dirt off and re-oil it with raw linseed oil. Keep rubbing a coat in once a month or so and it will gleam!

The rear handguard is a beech replacement, but that's OK. You can find a suitable walnut one some time if desired. The stock appears to have a swell just below the middle band, where the long range dial sight would have been, so that is probably the original forend.

Have you found any ownership marks on the metal of butt marking disc?
 
Nice score!
Whats the butt plate look like?
I saw that ad on Weds. on the Buy and Sell - decent price and if you haggled a bit you did great.
I agree, a light clean up is all I'd do.
 
You mention a crack in the wood by the magazine? If you mean underneath the fore-end, extending forward from the magazine well, this is a crack of moderate concern.

Quite a few Enfields develop cracks there, as a lot of recoil force gets distributed through the vertical screw at the front of the magazine well. You may want to start looking about for another fore-end, if you want to shoot her... AFTER you get her head-spaced of course!

Friends don't let friends blow up their rifles!

Neal
 
That bulge is where the long range sights would have gone had they been installed. They stopped bothering with the volley sights mid way through ww1.
 
Ahh, I wanted to be on Passchendaele! Ah well - nice rifle!

To reiterate - altering a rifle other than cleaning crud off them, BAD! You'll be amazed what a light mineral spirits cleaning will do to wood.

As per usual, strip it down completely to clean it all, be careful, don't force anything (use this: http://www.surplusrifle.com/smle/rifledisassembly/index.asp - read it three times, then hold your rifle, and read it again).
 
archerynut said:
ju one other thing, theres a bulge about half way between the trigger group and the muzzle. i've never seen this before in any other SMLE that i've held. its in the perfect spot for bayonet thrusting. strange. thanks for looking.
Click to expand...

The bulge is only found on ww1 era SMLE's and shortly after the war. Most inter-war and WW2 forestocks are straight here. It's an easy way to tell an original from a replacement forestock on an early SMLE. Alternately, if you are referrign to the hollow on the side of the forestock, that means the stock blank was originally cut for the volley sight, but was installed on a rifle after the volley sight had been deleted on the MkIII* model.

DO NOT SAND THAT RIFLE. You will instantly devalue it.
 
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thank for the replies everyone. THERE WILL BE NO SANDING DONE ON THIS RIFLE. but i do have ample mineral spirits to give it a good once over. i'm gonna post some more pictures tomorrow, especially of the crack coming from the magazine well.

thanks also for posting the link to dissassembly instructions. i'll be using those within the next few days. after the rifle is all cleaned up, i'll post some more pictures. thanks for the good stuff so far. for headspacing, can any gunsmith do this for me? the brass disc on the butt has no markings on it, and the brass buttplate is very beat up and it looks like there has been some chipping along the edges.
 
archerynut said:
thank for the replies everyone. THERE WILL BE NO SANDING DONE ON THIS RIFLE. but i do have ample mineral spirits to give it a good once over. i'm gonna post some more pictures tomorrow, especially of the crack coming from the magazine well.

thanks also for posting the link to dissassembly instructions. i'll be using those within the next few days. after the rifle is all cleaned up, i'll post some more pictures. thanks for the good stuff so far. for headspacing, can any gunsmith do this for me? the brass disc on the butt has no markings on it, and the brass buttplate is very beat up and it looks like there has been some chipping along the edges.
Click to expand...

Take it down to Pro-Line, they have gauges there.
If you talk sweet and buy a box or two of ammo, they'll probably check it for you on the spot
 
i just spent the last while taking my lee enfield apart to see what was inside as per the instructions in that helpful link. thank you! once i had it open, i found the barrel to be very mucky with grease of some sort. is this cosmoline? i didn't go as far as the buttstock, but i had the entire forward section of the rifle taken apart. tomorrow night, i'm going to take the forward section apart again, so that i can give it a good rub down with mineral spirits. i'm going to try posting a picture of the crack coming from the magazine well, and i'm wondering if i might be able to fill this crack with some warm epoxy or super glue?
 
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