volley sight fore end

infideleggwelder

infideleggwelder

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bought a fore end for my No1 MkIII* from numrich with provisions for volley sights. (looked again a day or two later on their site and they had regular fore ends). my Lee is a 1942 model. would it be possible, probable that these older fore ends ended up on newer rifles during rifle rehab/ refit? i plan on filling the holes with wood. it does`t really bother me at all to have a WW1 fore end on a WW2 rifle.
 
It is entirely possible that they used old stock to repair newer rifles.

Can you post a pic of the forend you got? I'd like to see it as volley sight fore ends for SMLE's are as rare as hens teeth.

You could trade that forend for a newer mkIII* version with someone who needs the earlier pattern probably very easily.
 
I think it's likely to find the WWI era forends on rifles throughout the Great War, but not so much WWII. The SMLE was phased out starting in 1942. You've got one of the last SMLEs made in the UK (if it's not a Lithgow). The chances of finding a volley-sight divot on a 1940s era SMLE would be nearly impossible. That said, WWI era SMLEs were definitely dusted off and put to good use throughout WWII.

It all depends on what you envision your rifle to represent. Do you want something that could've rolled off the line at BSA? Do you want something that you'd see if you were hauling a British Tommy aboard ship at Dunkirk?
 
Never say never with Enfields but I would think it highly unlikely such an early forend would have been fitted to a 1942 dated action in normal practice.
 
From what I can research Numrich took normal forends and inletted the volley sites to meet demand. I don't really need one yet (have yet to find a N01 Mk3 with the cutoff at an affordable price) but if the OP wants to sell it we can try and work out a deal, PM me and the worse that can happen is I'll invite you over for beer and BBQ deer steaks!
 
These forends that were converted for volley sights, did they have the correct profile of that found on actual volley sight forends? I've seen some done around my area and they were crap because there is an obvious and significant difference in profile between a forend with volley sights and a forend without. The best forends to convert if you have the means are the transitional type. They are forends that had the correct profile for volley sights but never had the final machining operations completed before the volley sights were removed from production.
 
this particular fore end is a numrich machined fore end, they let in the recesses for the volley sights. i do not know if this is new wood or converted new/old stock.
the excellent condition it is in indicates to me that it is reproduction, or at the very least, kept from the light of day wrapped in bubble wrap since 1914…ok not bubble wrap.
i had to fit it to my receiver, as it had never been installed on any rifle.
if i do fill it, i`ll use fish glue, which can be softened for removal.
 
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