SMLE/.410 Musket Questions

bogusiii

bogusiii

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Question 1: Did they use, and if so for how long, SMLE nose caps with straight (rather than cupped) foresight protector 'ears' on Sht. L.E Mk.III's?

Question 2: is the bolt head for a .410 'India Musket' conversion any different than a standard .303 one?

Question 3: what does the 'FR' in the stamping...

No.1 Mk.III
FR
'37

...mean? It's on the left wrist below the safety spring of an otherwise British looking SMLE. The barrel has a GRI stamp (India) and there are no 'scrubbed' British markings on the right side of the wrist (or they have been very nicely removed.
 
Not those ears...

John Sukey said:
Straight nosecap ears on Indian rifles are post-independence.
Click to expand...


Sorry, I wasn't clear. It's not the square cut ears on the post was Ishapores I mean. It's the nose cap that was used on the 1903/1905 vintage Sht. L.E. Mk.1's
 
The old nosecaps might turn up on the odd Indian rifle, since they scrapped old rifles and re-used the parts in new production. A late Ishapore Mk.III in my collection, built in '52, had parts dating back to pre-WW1, as well as a couple of Lithgow WW2 vintage parts. Both the inner and outer bands were brass Aussie WW2 items, with some sort of black finish. The outer band even had an Indian inspector mark! The cocking piece was an ancient LSA item, the early type used up to 1916 or so. I suppose almost anything could turn up on an Ishapore!
 
The FR means Frazerkly Refurbished...(spelling)

The bolt on an Indian .410 will be the same as the .303 as they used .303 brass that was fire formed to use in the shotguns.
 
Ishpaore .410

BUSHMAN79 said:
The old nosecaps might turn up on the odd Indian rifle, since they scrapped old rifles and re-used the parts in new production. A late Ishapore Mk.III in my collection, built in '52, had parts dating back to pre-WW1, as well as a couple of Lithgow WW2 vintage parts. Both the inner and outer bands were brass Aussie WW2 items, with some sort of black finish. The outer band even had an Indian inspector mark! The cocking piece was an ancient LSA item, the early type used up to 1916 or so. I suppose almost anything could turn up on an Ishapore!
Click to expand...

This particular .410 started life as a 1908 (King Edward) Enfield Sht. L.E. Mk.III. The barrel, receiver and nose cap match, and the nose cap has the straight ears like on a Mk.1 SMLE. The wood is a dark, almost black which I take to be early Ishapore. The Indian conversion to .410 is dated 1940 and it has a coat of green paint under the wood.

Seeing an early nose cap on this beast, I started wondering when they used these caps on unmodified SMLE's. Only the first few I imagine.
 
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