Lee Enfield Markings-Reading-Organizations. The 303 British Service Cartridge UK. Migration Procedures Advice Manual 3. Very interesting site about Lee Enfield Rifle Markings. No4 serial numbers too. The production version of the rifles were serial numbered with a 'BS' prefix. We are able to show both a B.S.A. General Arrangement drawing of the No.7 rifle and a. Lee Enfield Markings-Reading-Organizations. The 303 British Service Cartridge UK. Very interesting site about Lee Enfield Rifle Markings. No4 serial numbers too.
Ive had this rifle for about 40 years and took it apart the other day for the first time; while disassembled I checked to see what parts had the serial no. Its a 1915 SMLE Mk III*, which started production in late 1915 - hence it has a 2 digit serial no. I found it on the receiver, bolt, barrel, magazine and nose cap, but no where else. Would like to know if any of the other parts should have the number (if so, where); as it all looks pretty original and doesn't look like it saw any combat - the bore shines like a mirror and the metal is about 95%, with that deep dark blue that you just don't see anymore. When I have the time, I'll get some pictures. It'd be great to see pictures, sounds like a nice rifle.
As a note on the serial number, the switchover from MkIII to MkIII* occurred during the normal sequencing of serial numbers, which started at 1, ran to 9999 or 99999, then started with letter prefixes from A-Z, then started over. As muffett mentions, knowing the manufacturer would be of some importance. Serial numbers weren't often applied to magazines except in Indian service. A couple of the other places to look would be the underside of the backsight leaf, and the underside of the fore-end just behind the nosecap.
Yes some Indian forestocks were indeed numbered (I have several). While many Ishapore rifles come to us today in rather 'careworn' condition, the finish on them originally, at least up until the late 60s in my experience, is as good as any. Inter-war Ishapores are, in my opinion as well finished as almost any you will find. It is only the later ones that can be rough - and even then it tends to be a product of use rather than original finish IMO.
The fact that the rifle has a renumbered forestock would suggest to me that it has likely gone through an Indian FTR (perhaps during WWII) or shortly thereafter. With the production rates as they were during the WWI period, the entire alphabet was gone through quite a few times. Does your rifle have the slot for the cutoff milled into the right side of the body? Stratton has the changeover from MkIII to MkIII* at RSAF Enfield occurring sometime between s/n Q7916 and s/n R4858 in 1916 (the MkIII* was authorized in the LoC in Jan of 1916, although it's considered pretty certain that some were produced in 1915). Keep in mind that the * could've been added at a later date.hard to say much in that regard as the factory original wood is long gone. I know that 'X' doesn't come between Q & R, but as I said, the entire alphabet was run through several times during each of the high production years during the war.
Two possibilities come to mind.1. That it is an earlier 'prototype', as it's generally accepted that some MkIII*s were produced prior to the official approval date of Jan 2, 1916; and 2. That it's a 1916 dated rifle, as the stamping can be hard to read. The wood is post WWII Indian, there is no doubt about that.
'X' falls into the normal s/n ranges found during each of the 4 wartime years, so it's very unlikely that it means anything else. Should have mentioned it earlier, but I don't think the buttstock goes with the rest of the wood. When I took the rifle apart, I found that the buttstock bolt was too long and crushed the strap, damaging wood inside the rear of the forestock.
Ziggy Marley Family Time Download Zip. Will work on getting some barrel pix. Thanks for your interest. Incidently, I bought this rifle from the importer in Alexandria, Va. Before 1968 - I know this because I bought 6 SMLE's at the same time, picked this one out for myself and shipped the rest to my brother in Ohio (I dont have a dealers license - didn't need one then). The 1968 gun law changed all that. The SMLE's were about $13 each as I remember. Well, the '18 dated barrel seems to lend credence to muffett's eagle eye.looked a bit more like 1916 to me.
Could be a replacement barrel, but my money would be on it being the original. If you brought it directly out of the importer's facility (Interarms was in Alexandria), it was likely refurbed by them, with the wood being added/replaced then.
No British armorer would have fitted the butt so roughly or failed to account for the long stock bolt (which was designed to lock into a corresponding plate on the back of the correct forestock to keep the butt from loosening in use). In post-independence Indian service the square protruding end of the stock bolt would've been ground off to allow for the backstrap on the later forestocks.