Who's Doing August? (August Purchases)

joe n

joe n

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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BCD42 K98 all matching except bolt, which matches itself. Thanks for looking:)
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Got a very nice ex-Aussie cadet '42 Lithgow (with a bunch of '45 dated parts, which seems a little early for an FTR to me) from 303carbine. Can't wait to shoot it!



Its also got KM scratched very faintly into the butt - probably bubba but I like to imagine it was a bored Digger.
 
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OK, well I finally got through the about 20 gallons of cosmolene packed into and onto this rifle. It's a 1916 made Mle.1907-15 Mannlicher-Berthier in 8x50R Lebel made by Établissement Delauney Belleville. Delauney Belleville was a Luxury Automobile Maker (Limousines - one is featured when Kate Winslet is ravaged by Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic...) that answered the call in WW1 and switched production over to making arms and munitions for the French Army during the war. Of the two Établissements (private companies) that did so (Continsouza and Delauney Belleville), Delauney Belleville was the only one to make complete rifles, Continsouza only supplying receivers and small parts. D-B is the rarest manufacturer of 1907-15 rifles. They are very uncommon as Berthiers go.

This one has been rearsenalled, like nearly all Berthiers still in existence. It has not been converted to the later Mle-M-16 pattern, but has received the Balle N chamber and sight upgrades. The stock has been arsenal renumbered matching and the bolt is, sadly, mismatched. Berthier bolts require partial disassembly to remove them though, so I suspect it was fitted at the time of the sight upgrades. In the late 20's onward, FRench arsenals stopped force-matching replacement bolts.

All in all, this is a great August acquisition for me as I've been chasing a clean D-B Mle1907-15 for a long time :) A HUGE thanks to the CGN'er that sold it ;) - You know who you are!

Did I mention the bore is about perfect?

Now to go rewatch "Beau Geste", "A Very Long Engagement", "All Quiet on the Western Front" and my personal WW1 French favorite, Stanley Kubrik's "Paths of Glory". :)

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Just found out something intersting... a French collector contacted me with this little tidbit:

The sights on your rifle are somewhat of an oddity. Between August 1916 and march 1917 these rifles were produced with a night vision system, the rear of the front sight had one hole and the rear of the rear had two holes. Those holes were filled with a fluorescent substance supposed to glow in the dark.
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guess you could call it an August purchase. Can't pick up the No5Mk1 I bought on 31 July until the 14th. (15 day police hold in case the seller stole it.)
 
Lithgow SMLE Cadet Rifle

RAAC - Royal Australian Army Cadets
This is signified by the Green wrist band.
Rifle has a few dents but otherwise is in excellent condition.
Fairly rare to see something in this condition.

ENJOY THE PICTURES
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Aaaaaaargh

More bad luck. Have been looking for a Westinghouse noisey maggot, and found one at the local gun store today. Turns out they just bought it, so another 15 day police hold until the 28th.

Nice part is it has a good bore, not beat up and the markings are nice and clear. 1915. I suspect it never was delivered .
 
Skippy said:
Nice SMLE Riflechair, I'm on the hunt for any sort of .22 lee-enfield, where do you find all the good ones? ;)
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I know of a CNo7Mk1 Long Branch 1942 - Chap wants $1195 for it

I know of a RCAF marked .22 Sht. Mk IV* converted from LSA 1915 SMLE rifle, C broad arrow marked on stock and action, BSA commercial .22 barrel, Bore VG+. Bolt empty type, no follower, not .22 marked. Bolt does not match. for $775

CLICK ME
 
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August finals...

I snatched three very nice rifles at the very end of July and received the registrations in August, so:
1 very nice U.A.R. (United Arab Republics) marked Rashid, made in the first weeks of 1968, all-matching with only one minor repair inside to the trigger mechanism still to do, barrel sharp and mirror-bright
1 all-matching Enfield Mk1 No.5 (Fazakerley) with matched walnut stock, barrel all bright with strong, sharp rifling
1 Finn (SA marked) Remington 1917 Mosin-Nagant M-91 with its original walnut stock and a beautiful barrel that cleaned really well.
I guess I'm a happy clam.
I'll post pics soon.
PP.:D
 
John Sukey said:
More bad luck. Have been looking for a Westinghouse noisey maggot, and found one at the local gun store today. Turns out they just bought it, so another 15 day police hold until the 28th.

Nice part is it has a good bore, not beat up and the markings are nice and clear. 1915. I suspect it never was delivered .
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John,

I would like to see some pics of that when it gets out of jail!
 
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