Poor Bubba'ed Lee Enfield MLE - seeking advice / UPDATE Feb. 28, refurbed, pics.

louthepou

louthepou

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Hi folks, well a sad looking gun got here today.

Not sure exactly about my identification, so any help is appreciated.

I believe this was a MLE to start with; which was sporterized.
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The butt stock and forend are useless, so I'm trying to figure out what to do with the rest.

The barrel was shortened (well done though) and a new front sight installed. This isn't the bad part.
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A side note, was the MLE barrel wider than the No1Mk3 barrel? Here they are side by side, the No1Mk3 on the right, and I measured the thickness - the MLE is definitely thicker.
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The top view of the barrel at the knox and the receiver:
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Now, less interesting, the left side of the receiver, showing that parts which use to be there are no longer with us:
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And finally, what was the real disapointment for me (up to there I wasn't too depressed): surprise, look at the very good drilling job!
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I believe the magazine is the proper one.

What seemed like an ok sporter is now a barreled action with a butt socket that looks like swiss cheese. Options? Find some nice No1Mk3 sporter wood, and adapt it to this action; or part it out.......

Lou
 
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"Find some nice No1Mk3 sporter wood, and adapt it to this action. "

That is probably the best course of action. Perhaps try to fit a handguard that wraps around the rear sight and blends nicely with the foreend as well.

Oh man, I am still shaking my head at the swiss cheese. For the few onces that it saved, what a waste.
 
Lou, the left-side parts you are missing are the rear volley-sight arm and the spring/catch which kept it in position. These were commonly removed on sporters, partly because cutting down the fore-end wood generally removed the forward volley-sight. Besides, likely you won't want volley-fire on a 2700-yard target anyway.... not even to mention that you would need another 40 rifles to do it by the book.

On this model (Magazine Lee-Enfield Rifle Mark I) the entire safety mechanism is on the bolt.... and you have that. You also have what looks like a pretty good dust cover, and that is a bonus all by itself: makes for much prettier lines.

That big "E" on the barrel indicates Enfield rifling: 5 lands and grooves, equal width, 1 turn in 10 inches, left-hand twist. Same as the SMLE. The E is there so you know that it isn't a Metford barrel. They dropped this marking when the SMLE came in in 1902, but it stayed with the older models until they were sold out of service.

Yes, the barrel IS heavier. To be precise, it is the same profile as the Number 4 barrel, just the Number 4 was 5 inches shorter and had a bayonet lug. Bayonet lug for the MLE was on the nosecap. A Number 4 barrel will screw up, but it likely will index 180 degrees out, so a bit of machine work is necessary. Original barrel on the MLE was 30.2 inches, as opposed to 25.2 on the Number 4.

The "super-custom grade" lightening holes in the butt socket can be welded up or just ignored. As long as you aren't beating Mastodons to death with the butt, it should be stong enough. Yes, SMLE wood can be modded for this rifle, although it is a job because of the rear-sight protector and rear-handguard spring-catch slots required for the SMLE. If you go this route, start with a Mark III* stock: no volley sights to work around. Cutoffs were left on SOME sporters, removed on others. Personally, I rather like a cutoff: adds a bit of character to a nice old rifle.

You have the makings of a very nice sporter there, Lou...... and you have the skills to really make something of it.

Hope this helps a bit.
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I believe I have a MLE butt in my tickle trunk. Probably have a sported SMLE forend as well. Will check.
 
Thanks guys, this is much appreciated. Smellie, I'm glad my ID skills were not out to lunch :)

I ran out of nice Mk3 sporter forends and butts, so tiriaq if you see anything neat...

And thanks Bob for your offer, we'll see where this project goes, we'll chat for sure. A refurbed sporter it will be!
 
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The barrel is about 23 inches long.

I've been thinking, maybe I'll dress this one up with a Monte-Carlo-style butt stock, it could be nice.

And I just missed picking up a beat-up sporter with that exact type of stock at a NB dealer, shucks! So if anyone has something which would look good on that barreled action...
 
I have a reworked MLM II, job done by A.G. Parker many years ago. S/n is 0019; PH sez that they think they did it about1920. It was beaten almost to death when I got it, now is apart for surgery.

My barrel also is 23 inches. There seem to have been a few rifles in that period done to 23 inches, which was never a standard legth.

There was a thread on here a year or so ago with a rifle identical to mine, very nice job, apart from the fact that my front sight is gold. Photos of that rifle were excellent and well could serve as a guide toward making yours into a period-perfect sporter.... which is what she was.

Hope this helps.
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What's the condition of the rifling Lou?

And that cross in a C on the receiver ring is odd. I've seen such a stamp on woodwork a couple of times but never on the metal. Anyone here recognize it?

You sometimes see Lee Enfields and Lee Metfords with the bolt cover lugs ground off. You could keep this action and swap it around next time you get one of those.

Or make a Lee Speed type sporter out of it. No point doing anything unless the rifling is really good however.
 
It always amazes me when I see one of those commercial Lee sporters. They are so elegant and graceful. And just about every one has the same pattern of backsight - one fixed blade, two folders, and a standup leaf. Saw the same sight on an A&N .303 double rifle.
The tang safety on these rifles is very clever, and quite buildable. The thumbpiece is supported by an inletted plate, and activates a rectangular pushrod that passes through a matching hole in the web of the buttsocket. When pushed foreward, it blocks downward movement of the sear, locking it in engagement with the cocking piece. There is a detent spring under the thumbpiece, just like the one in many double shotguns.
 
Well the bore is quite good, that probably is the one good news I got when I first inspected the barreled action! :)

I wonder if the butt stock I found could be shaped like the Lee Speed's... good idea... And I know Bob Fortier is awesome for checkering... it's coming together... my cunning plan...
 
Well, thanks a lot for the comment Lou. Checkering can work good one day, and not so good the next. I prefer to work on un-finished wood, this way if I mess up something, I sand down and start again.

But I can see where this is going....
 
Well CGN's tiriaq has very kindly found a forend for the rifle, and I found a butt stock (which will need work but should be ok), so... stay tuned. A couple of projects to do before this one, but I'll get there!

Lou
 
Well this project took a slightly unexpected turn.

I bought a sporterized No1Mk3 recently, with what was described as a "good bore". The charger bridge was all buggered up with poor welding, and the barrel has deep pitting in two places; there's little hope for this one (except a .22 insert for the barrel, repair to the receiver etc; it's in the "maybe one day" pile now).

So, let's see. A MLE sporter action. And really nice sporter wood from a donor No1Mk3. I couldn't resist.

I stripped the butt stock and forend (ugly dripping varnish on it, "redone" at some point in the past), patched the right side of the sporter forend, adjusted the butt plate (it was too large), used a bit of stain on the butt stock to match it to the forend and refinished with oil. It may not be as nice and balanced as a Lee Speed (nothing is, right?) but it'll have to do for now! :)

Special thanks to Tiriaq for his help and advice.

Lou

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