No.5 mk1 marking decifers needed

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dieseldawg

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hey guys picked up this little beauty the other day! my first lee enfield! love it!
just wondering if you gurus could shed some light on its lineage?
thanks guys



its all dutch to me haha



side of reciver



I can take more pics if needed
thanks again!
 
it's a 1945 BSA Shirley, No 5 Mk1 with matching bolt and wrist (receiver).
you can check your magazine for a matching serial, and also under the wood to the forward of the receiver ON the barrel for a matching serial as well. Barrel may be stamped on the left side (non bolt handle side).
Nice piece, get some brass and enjoy working up loads..my favorite Enfield is a No 5.
 
tungngroove2000 said:
it's a 1945 BSA Shirley, No 5 Mk1 with matching bolt and wrist (receiver).
you can check your magazine for a matching serial, and also under the wood to the forward of the receiver ON the barrel for a matching serial as well. Barrel may be stamped on the left side (non bolt handle side).
Nice piece, get some brass and enjoy working up loads..my favorite Enfield is a No 5.
Click to expand...

barrel matches mag does not!
now about that hideous shiny coat shes wearing!!! that cant be right!! can it??
would it be considered a travesty to lightly remove the shiny clear coat and do a nice tung oil treatment? im a wood worker I can be gentle!
 
I think saw that one at the show. My freind Jamie was selling. It Looked good. I would take a bit of the shine off of it if it were mine.
The broad arrow on the bolt is a Brit acceptance mark. The "England" stamp on the butt socket is an export mark after it was sold out of service. As Tungngroove said, it is a BSA. The M/47C is their factory mark. The myriad of small stampings are inspectors marks. You need a book to call them all. The one I can make out, the crown over GR over crossed pendants over P is and England proof mark.
As to value. What is it worth to you? If the bore is good and all else is equal, somewhere around $400 and a bit up
 
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If you're keeping it, go ahead and strip that shine off. You can work it up very nicely using boiled linseed oil. Some good videos online about full strip, steam and refinish using boiled linseed.
 
Nice rifle. You definitely scored a good one! Nowadays, any half decent No.5 that can stand up on its own is worth $500. They aren't likely to go down in value either.

Yes, I know they sell cheaper, too. My buddy and I have tables at gun shows on the Prairies and we see more and more young people (men and women) snapping up military surplus rifles. A few of the older guys can only make snide remarks about the prices, but some of them buy as well.

Seeing as I am now considered to be in the bed wetting class, my opinion or advice should be ignored.:p
 
to me its worth every penny! I probably over paid but I don't mind one bit! always wanted one of these!
the bore looks new everything looks new actually 0 signs of wear! shoots well too! only had her out once so far and had a blast!! pun intended! :p
 
The inlet for the sling on the butt doesn't look right to me; looks like someone has sanded it. Any time you find one with a really excellent barrel you have something though.
 
RRCo. said:
The inlet for the sling on the butt doesn't look right to me; looks like someone has sanded it. Any time you find one with a really excellent barrel you have something though.
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I have no idea if it's correct or not. Could be that damn shiny stuff making it look weird though?? I'll do a little research tomorrow!
 
As a semi-retired woodworker, my favourite tool for stripping old finish off of gun stocks is the cabinet scraper. Properly used, you can take off old finish without the mess of moisture-based cleaning methods (ie: paint stripper) and get to the wood with minimal damage to any stamps or marks you wish to keep. I have an old and dear Ruger M77 heavy barrel that's been my premiere game-getter over many years. The thick factory stock finish had started to flake and degrade so I finally stripped it all off and did a matte oil finish on the stock. You can go that route, or just use a fine steel wool to dull the shine off the stock. If you choose the steel wool option, take a strong magnet wrapped in linen and pass it over everything. It'll pick up all the fine steel wool residue and when you pull the magnet off the cloth, the fine particulate will mostly just drop off.
 
Thank you all for the info and tips!
One more question. What are you guys using for a screw driver to remove the butt stock?
 
For that bolt I would use an old large blade flat screw driver and grind or file the flats until they are parallel instead of sloped (like a real gunsmiths screwdriver). If the bolt is really stubborn you can put the screwdriver in a bench vise and use the rifle as it's own lever to loosen the bolt. Nice n easy!
 
There's some pretty good info here. No W's. candrsenal.com/rifle-lee-enfield-no-5-mki/
All those 'dutch' markings are assorted proof marks. Add the W's. .marstar.ca/html/reflibrary/firearminfo.html
There should be the surplus pre-sale proof marks too. Those are the BNP et al stamps. Required by Brit law on any surplus rifle sold through there.
I'd be refinishing the stock anyway. No. 5's do have some serious felt recoil too.
 
points said:
I think saw that one at the show. My freind Jamie was selling. It Looked good. I would take a bit of the shine off of it if it were mine.
The broad arrow on the bolt is a Brit acceptance mark. The "England" stamp on the butt socket is an export mark after it was sold out of service. As Tungngroove said, it is a BSA. The M/47C is their factory mark. The myriad of small stampings are inspectors marks. You need a book to call them all. The one I can make out, the crown over GR over crossed pendants over P is and England proof mark.
As to value. What is it worth to you? If the bore is good and all else is equal, somewhere around $400 and a bit up
Click to expand...

M47 does mean BSA, and the C narrows it down to their factory at Shirley. (They had others.)
 
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