Stevie Posted 18 February , 2015 Author Share Posted 18 February , 2015 Lovely weapons... What's your worst ones like? I've never seen so many Mk1*** rifles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smleenfield Posted 19 February , 2015 Share Posted 19 February , 2015 Lovely weapons... What's your worst ones like? I've never seen so many Mk1*** rifles! Here is the worst one. I put a .22 conversion kit into it since the barrel is completely ruined from not being cleaned properly after someone fired corrosive ammo in it. I recovered the bolt head slider, volley sights and the rear handguard to bring some other rifles up to spec. It was well worth the $175 spent on it just for the recoverable parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Posted 19 February , 2015 Author Share Posted 19 February , 2015 That rifle reminds me of a comment made by a friend of mine - the author Michael LoCicero from Philadelphia. When he was last over here in England I helped him out with some advice on how to fix a safety in his Mk1, and he was telling me about him and his father restoring and SMLE that was a 'Bubbad Gun.' He later explained it was some gunsmith who built up a reputation for ruining historical arms by 'sporterising' them in a very bad way! Cheers, Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsparso Posted 23 February , 2015 Share Posted 23 February , 2015 In the US "Bubba" is a generic term for a rough conversion of a military arm into something more generally resembling a hunting rifle. Usually means hacking the stock about and sometime bolting a scope mount on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerhunter Posted 23 February , 2015 Share Posted 23 February , 2015 Bubba is a mythical person, like Uncle Sam. He is usually assumed to be the offspring of an inbred red-neck family. Bubba's work is characterised by its low standard of quality and/or it's high standard of wrecking historic, often rare, firearms. I have a 1914 Colt Gvernment Model that ordinarily would be worth a good deal had it not had its sights replaced by Bubba or one of his cousins; the "improved" front sight was so badly fitted, the slide has been wrecked as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msdt Posted 24 February , 2015 Share Posted 24 February , 2015 Well, the word battered has been used before, but try this one! Another Mk 1** IP, this one from the Royal Palace of Lagan Silekhana in Kathmandu - note the marks on the rear handguard where the rifles have been stacked for decades. It's deactivated. Cheers, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msdt Posted 24 February , 2015 Share Posted 24 February , 2015 If the butt disc is original, that would be interesting. It wasn't a selling point when I bought it. Historically it fits re service before going to the Gurkhas. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thGordons Posted 25 February , 2015 Share Posted 25 February , 2015 Interesting rifle that. Thanks for posting. The 1915 RIF stamp / date is nice. I wonder at what point the volley sight base was gound down? Does the rifle have a transverse wood screw through the fore-end? When you say the "marks on the rear handguard where the rifles have been stacked for decades" what am I looking for? I see the last picture of the rear handguard which looks fairly normal to me with two cross-grain strips of wood inletted into it to prevent splitting and the tops of the brass rivets which hold the spring clips in place. I see one bump/gouge between the left hand strip and the first spring clip rivet - is that what you mean? I really like Indian rifles - this is a great one. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msdt Posted 25 February , 2015 Share Posted 25 February , 2015 Hi Chris, Well, there are always so many things to learn! Didn't know about the inletted strips and obviously haven't examined them closely as I thought that they were marks caused by stacking. There is a good picture in John Walter's book "Guns of the Gurkhas" which shows a stack of SMLE's in the arsenal. The butt has taken on a slight sideways bend which I have always also assumed to be due to the weight of rifles above. Is 1915 too early for the volley sights to have been removed? Re the butt disc mark, what does the 2 likely refer to? Cheers, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thGordons Posted 25 February , 2015 Share Posted 25 February , 2015 Ahhh I wondered if that was the case but I also thought I was missing something. I think 1915 would be early for this style of volley sight removal. This approach with the grinding down is most often seen (in my limited experience) on P14 rifles that went through the Weedon process in 1939-41. With Indian rifles it is hard to know as things are often less clearly documented (at least less accessible). What is interesting is in some respects India was ahead of the UK so some conversions were approved for IP before the equivalent modifications in the UK so I am not sure. By late '15 rifles were being produced by BSA without the volley sights so perhaps it was then. Rifles that remained in Indian Service in WWII very often had a transverse stiffening screw through the foreend (usually from left to right) but i don't see evidence of this on yours Do you know when the rifles were transferred to Nepal? The 2 on the but disk would usually be read as the 2nd Battalion (Highland Light Infantry) but IIRC it was the 1st Battalion that was in India at the outbreak of the war and went on to be part of the 17th Indian Division in Mespot. Looking at the disk and the style of stamping (font) I wonder if it might not be a later addition it certainly looks very clean. as does the screw. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Posted 26 February , 2015 Author Share Posted 26 February , 2015 Hi Tony, An interesting rifle... What are the three cuts to the bolt? Cheers, Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4thGordons Posted 26 February , 2015 Share Posted 26 February , 2015 Hi Tony, An interesting rifle... What are the three cuts to the bolt? Cheers, Steve. I wondered the same but assumed it was part of the deactivation (to cross cut/weaken the bolt) I know at various times various requirements and methods have existed but I am not up to date on it. I thought they were usually internal cuts and removal of lugs etc. It looks like the bolt face has been ground at a 45degree angle which I assume is also part of the deactivation process? Alternatively as I see the bolt-head is DP stamped it is possible that it was part of the DP downgrading in India/Nepal. Many later Indian DP rifles had a .5" hole drilled through the chamber so I thought this might be a variation. Tony? Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msdt Posted 26 February , 2015 Share Posted 26 February , 2015 I'm pretty certain the 3 cuts are nothing to do with deactivation here in the UK. The UK bit will be the grinding down of the bolt face and of the lugs as far as the bolt is concerned. The 3 cuts must be part of the Nepalese DP marking. Re the butt disc, yes the screw looks very clean. Cheers, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Posted 27 February , 2015 Author Share Posted 27 February , 2015 I know that some gunsmiths went above and beyond what they were actually supposed to do for the deactivation process, and maybe that is the case here. I once purchased a deactivated Gew98 (for peanuts) just to test my ability at turning an absolute dog into something more respectable. The rifle in question had been deactivated by Bapty's - the film company. The barrel had been cut through and shortened to carbine length. Both pieces of barrel held together by a length of threaded rod which had been welded in place. The bolt was also welded in place from the underside. The safety assembly and rear of bolt had been cobbled together from bits of scrap metal. I eventually managed to free the bolt with the aid of a Dremel - and replaced it with another more presentable deactivated specimen which I managed to obtain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyH Posted 27 February , 2015 Share Posted 27 February , 2015 A few years ago at a car boot in Norfolk I saw a genuine WW2 Mauser that had been 'de-activated' for use as a stage or film prop. The original rear part of the barrel, bolt and safety had been completely cut away and replaced by a solid aluminium casting. It looked quite convincing from a few feet away. Think the vendor was only asking around £30, on reflection I should have bought it. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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