No1 MkIII with strange barrel knox EY stamp and bedding holes in stock/receiver.

[bearhunter]

I recently purchased a No1 MkIII with a new to me "EY" stamp on the barrel knox. This is a prewar rifle with mag cutoff and windage adjustable rear sight.

It also has two holes on each side of the forestock, drilled and filled with wooden dowels that mate with two holes drilled through each side of the receiver at the mag well. These appear to be ''bedding pillars"

The receiver socket is stamped on the left side "BSA 1907" and on the right side SL RFI 1926, which I believe would be an FTR stamp.

The rifle numbers are all matching, with a nice, very dard solid stock. It has that been there, done that look, which I don't want to clean off. So it will just get a couple of coats of Schaftol, which has boiled linseed oil as well as other emulsifying and darkening agents.

I understand the bedding pilliars but I just can't find any references to the "EY" stamp on the knox.

Anyone know what they stand for????

 

[Paul_T]

I recently purchased a No1 MkIII with a new to me "EY" stamp on the barrel knox. This is a prewar rifle with mag cutoff and windage adjustable rear sight.

It also has two holes on each side of the forestock, drilled and filled with wooden dowels that mate with two holes drilled through each side of the receiver at the mag well. These appear to be ''bedding pillars"

The receiver socket is stamped on the left side "BSA 1907" and on the right side SL RFI 1926, which I believe would be an FTR stamp.

The rifle numbers are all matching, with a nice, very dard solid stock. It has that been there, done that look, which I don't want to clean off. So it will just get a couple of coats of Schaftol, which has boiled linseed oil as well as other emulsifying and darkening agents.

I understand the bedding pilliars but I just can't find any references to the "EY" stamp on the knox.

Anyone know what they stand for????

Wayne has my 2 enfield books. I'll get them back in the next day or so and see if the stamp is in either of them.

I think it may have been modified (strengthened) for grenade use.

The internet seems to be confused over the mark, but most of what I read says EY is EmergencY - I saw a reference to an Armourers update that said EY was 'may be used for ball ammo in an emergency'

 

[jtaylor]

Hi Gents. EY equals Emergency Use. That could mean a small variety of faults including pitted chamber and/or bore to well worn sear or cocking piece. After wire wrap its good for grenade launching rifle. So you give it to the Indians which rework it at Royal Factory Ishapore (RFI) to a more useful rifle. Another jewel for your collection. John

 

[bearhunter]

Hi Gents. EY equals Emergency Use. That could mean a small variety of faults including pitted chamber and/or bore to well worn sear or cocking piece. After wire wrap its good for grenade launching rifle. So you give it to the Indians which rework it at Royal Factory Ishapore (RFI) to a more useful rifle. Another jewel for your collection. John

Thanks for this guys.

I knew what the RFI stamp was and where the rifle had been sent to for FTR.

The rifle is very tight and headspace is close to perfect and quite unusual for anything with an RFI FTR stamp all numbers match. Bore slugs at .312 so should shoot acceptably.

The Emergencey Use makes sense.

Now I have a place to start looking for more information. B

Well the murk is getting clearer. The rifle went from the UK to Australia but nothing to indicate when this happened. While it was there, it was stamped "EY" for whatever reason, then converted to a grenade launching rifle, as Paul T/Mr Taylor indicates.

After all of this, the rifle went to India and then to the RFI facility there, established by the Brits in 1904.

It appears to have undergone a full FTR in 1926, repairing whatever was the cause of the "EY" designation. Wasn't the barrel condition though, other than a slightly worn muzzle crown, from cleaning cords, the chamber and bore are shiny bright. A slight counterbore will fix the muzzle.

Forestock ways are very tight with only a few thou of compression so I will leave them alone. The fore end wood was filled with some sort of storage grease, that is more like hardened jellied parafin than cosmolene and much more difficult to remove but just about anything is possible at the local car wash with the soap brush, used for removing road tar and paint.

So now, a few gorilla glue repairs to the upper hand guards at the usual spots and it will be as useful as ever.

Strange, no "dreaded Ishy Screw" I wonder how this fore end escaped that fate???? as it was a standard procedure to install them on all Lee Enfield type rifles used in India, other than their late manufacture No4 Mk2 rifles.

 

[Canuck1977]

I checked Paul's Ian Skennerton book.

E.Y. stamped on the barrel, knox form, receiver or furniture - Only To Fire Ball Ammunition In Case Of Emergency

 

[green]

The SL RFI 1926 is the mark of an SMLE converted to single loading.
This conversion was generally the same as the 410 conversion having the magazine blocked with a wood block retained by pegs and a sheet steel loading platform fitted but retaining .303" barrel.
Official designation "Rifle short magazine Lee Enfield Single Loader Rifle Musket"
In "India's Enfields" authour states that several SL arms reconverted to magazine have been noticed.

 

[bearhunter]

I checked Paul's Ian Skennerton book.

E.Y. stamped on the barrel, knox form, receiver or furniture - Only To Fire Ball Ammunition In Case Of Emergency

It's on the receiver ring and knox.

I checked the ways for set back and they're fine. Magnafluxed the receiver this afternoon and nothing visible. The chamber is normal as is the bolt.

It's pretty obvious that the rifle was restocked after going to India RFI.

The only issue the rifle had, was a worn crown, which was taken care of as well by counterboring the muzzle appx 1 cm.

For my own personal use, I'm in the same park as Mr Taylor. I believe the Brits in charge of the RFI factory FTRed the rifle for re issue to troops in the field.

I won't be shooting it much. I sold off all of my No1 MkIII rifles and regretted not keeping one. I think this one, after a complete clean up, replacing worn parts, etc will go into my safe.

The wear on the furniture and the exposed metal surfaces attest to a lot of field use.

Thanx for checking Skennerton's book for me, much appreciated.

Thanx green for the information. I am willing to bet that this rifle is one of those reconverted to magazine loading.

This is interesting. I haven't heard of the Indian factories switching back from single loaders to magazines.

This makes the old warhorse even more interesting.

Quite a life when compared to that of most of its brethren.

 

[RRCo.]

If the EY is not struck through it should be considered as still in force. That said, we know rifles were stamped "DP" when in some cases there was nothing wrong with them. Sounds like the forend was changed on civvy street or someone possibly here in Canada tried to accurize it; those dowels were a Canadian thing I believe.

Does it have the four holes in the sides of the mag well where the platform was riveted in as Green suggests in post #6?

 

[bearhunter]

Yes, both the forestock and the receiver at the mag well have four holes drilled in them, so I would assume the stock is original to the rifle from when it was converted to a 410 shotgun/grenade launcher.

Yes, the EY stamps have been struck out, with what looks like a chisel.

I would think the barrel wouldn't have the EY stamp, but only the receiver if the rifle had indeed been converted to a shotgun.

My guess would be the rifle was never a shotgun but reconverted from a grenade launching rifle, some of which have similar bedding dowels.

I've seen bedding dowels on No4 rifles from just about every country they went to.

As for this rifle??? I have seen similar bedding done to other No1 rifles that were used in competition.

Lots of questions on this rifle, that will likely never be answered fully.

That's why I did the magnaflux to the receiver. I would like to shoot it and will likely keep it for personal use. It's a bit on the unique side and it's whispering to me that it wants to stay.

It's fun shooting a rifle that has an interesting history.