Old BEAT UP Enfields, What have I come across here (PICS) Help Needed

walleyed99

walleyed99

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I'm not telling, Sask
Here we go
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Whats this hole about? Deactivated??
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Barrel, no much bluing left
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25" Barrel
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And the second one, stock is carved up, front site replaced, Drilled and tapped for a back site pennies "installed" into the stock....LOL BUBBAFIED!!!
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I can take more pictures if need be, If they are even restorable I know it would be a HUGE job. Volley sights are gone from both. Let me know!!

Cheers
W99
 
Well, you have 2 rifles, one with a lightweight barrel, one with a heavier barrel.

The one with the lightweight barrel is a Short, Magazine Lee-Enfield Mark III* rifle, built at Enfield in 1918 and sporting the original barrel. It is properly full-length, was built without Volley Sights and, despite the new rear sight by Bubba the Execrable, you have enough here to begin a restoration.

The one with the heavier barrel, I am afraid, has been chopped too much for a restoration (you would need to find a new Barrel of a type which has not been made since 1902), although there is enough here to make up rather a wonderful Sporter, should you have the mind. It was a (Long) Magazine Lee-Enfield Rifle, Mark I and it was built by the London Small Arms Company. Being that it is UNDATED, I would think it was built as a Volunteer or Territorial rifle, some time between 1895 and 1901, saw Service during the Second Boer War and was surplussed likely following the Great War. Rifles built for the War Department were always DATED as per specification but there were many local Regiments which had to purchase their own rifles, being that National Defence was popular, volunters were plntiful and the Government kept the Army as broke as possible. Note that if this rifle were built by BSA, it likely would have sported the coveted "Lee-Speed Patents" marking (although, in theory, this was limited to the Lee-Metford Mark II commercials, it carried over to rifles with the Enfield barrel rifling, of which this is one). I wonder what the kill marks are for..... deer, I would hope.

Neither of these is worth much MONEY, but they utterly REEK of History.

Very fine Toys!
 
Smellie, Is that pitting/hole by the BNP mark of any worry?? It has not been deactivated, has it? How much if ANYTHING would one want to pay for them. I know there is a TON of work to bring it back...
 
I have not looked all that close at the bore. I manage a car dealership that is located right across the street from the local RCMP detachment, and the pics were taken on the trunk of a car on the lot, LOL. I didn't want to scare anyone or bring out the ERT team, so I didn't check out the bores!!!!

Heres a couple other pictures that I missed, Sorry(1918)
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Another pictures of the older of the two
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No, that is something to make you breathe easier.

I know the Mauser guys like to boast how wonderful their rifles are with a separated cartridge or a blown primer, always pointing out the excellent gas-handling of the German rifles. Well, the Lee-Enfield rifle also had pretty good gas-handling for pierced primers and separated cases, and this is it. Works fine, too.

SOME of these rifles, especially ones coming out of the Indian Subcontinent, have been deactivated with HUGE holes right into the Chamber, so you are right to be suspicious. THOSE ones are EXTREMELY dangerous to reactivate and SERIOUS INJURIES have resulted from firing them.

THIS hole is entirely different: this one is a safety measure....... and it works very well indeed. It routes gas from a Separated Cartridge out the Side of the rifle and AWAY from the shooter's eyes. It works so well that, generally, you never even notice when it is helping you!
 
Trying to be just a bit fair, I think anyone can see that they both NEED work.... and lots of it.

Truth to tell, I have seen rifles just as good being thrown away when they were not wanted.

I have also had rifles just as good or better, GIVEN to me.

They need a LOT of work. But you can MAKE something very nice from them. Whoever owns them now certainly doesn't value them.

Being fair, I would offer $100 for the pair but, you have to remember, I am on a very limited budget.

One man's dollar is not always the same as another man's dollar. You might want to go a bit higher, but I think that would be a good starting-point.
 
BEST thing to do is ask flat-out: "What do YOU think would be fair?"

Very good friend taught me gun-buying in a few words. His lesson was:

"NEVER offer; ALWAYS ask. If you make an offer that THEY think is high, they will think that either you are a fool..... or you know something that they don't know..... and then they get suspicious and the price goes 'way up even though it shouldn't. If you make an offer that THEY think is too low, they will think that you are a crook. If you ASK FIRST and they come back with a reply, all you have to say is 'Yes" or 'No"."

Words of wisdom from Cornelius Ens, one of the most HONEST and ETHICAL men I have ever known.

Good point about this is that, if a deal is made, BOTH parties come away happy.

Who knows; you might even end up with them as Gifts. In that case, find out what you can about the original Owner, just so you know, and write it down.
 
smellie: you have given the man good advice. I learned that method many years ago when I had a tractor salvage yard. I bought well over a thousand tractors. I also agree about Mr. Enns. A fine gentleman indeed!
 
Thanks for the info guys! Any directions to point me in for the materials to start working on? And books on how to research the parts. I know about the Lee Enfield book, but its next to impossible to find, and big $$$$. Might have to bite the bullet and try and buy one, but any help you can give is appreciatted!! Thanks for everything so far!!
Cheers
Rob
 
First one is what I'd call a "tomato stake". As for second rifle, what are all the letters carved in the stock? Could be an Enfield captured during the Anglo-Boer war? Most likely someone's old huntin' gun, but ya never know.
walleyed99 said:
Here we go
null_zps5b5017b7.jpg

null_zpsdd666f6f.jpg

Whats this hole about? Deactivated??
null_zps934f9b01.jpg

Barrel, no much bluing left
null_zps9487cde2.jpg

25" Barrel
null_zpsc165b21b.jpg


And the second one, stock is carved up, front site replaced, Drilled and tapped for a back site pennies "installed" into the stock....LOL BUBBAFIED!!!
null_zps6d895f15.jpg

null_zps2458649e.jpg


I can take more pictures if need be, If they are even restorable I know it would be a HUGE job. Volley sights are gone from both. Let me know!!

Cheers
W99
Click to expand...
 
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i would not call them a tomato stake the action could be used the stockis butt ugly id find out where they may have came from the the 2nd one was used in the boer war it may have been cut down then by a boer
 
smellie said:
Trying to be just a bit fair, I think anyone can see that they both NEED work.... and lots of it.

Truth to tell, I have seen rifles just as good being thrown away when they were not wanted.

I have also had rifles just as good or better, GIVEN to me.
They need a LOT of work. But you can MAKE something very nice from them. Whoever owns them now certainly doesn't value them.

Being fair, I would offer $100 for the pair but, you have to remember, I am on a very limited budget.

One man's dollar is not always the same as another man's dollar. You might want to go a bit higher, but I think that would be a good starting-point.
Click to expand...

100 is tops pos enfields
 
These are OLD sporters. I like em!

Cut down Lee Enfield hunting rifles are part of the Canadian Heritage, and have probably put more meat on the table than any other gun.

I restore these old war dogs, but my thinking has come around full circle and now believe that not every sporter should be restored. My taste is for ancient arms, and a well worn and beat up shooter can look good in my eyes. A rifle that has well made mods and showing a lifetime of use has a place on my gun rack. In fact, they seem to be multiplying. I shoot them all.

Take these rifles for what they are. They is wot they is. If they are shootable, around here, they would fetch around a hundred bucks each.

Nice find, the LSA is not a common rifle in any form.
 
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