1917 BSA Lee Enfield N°1 Mk III*(negated)

[Marco_01fr]

Hello all, hope you are doing well 

 

I would like to introduce you to this Lee Enfield manufactured by the BSA in 1917 which intrigues me a bit.

Indeed, it appears to be a Mk III * but the star mark has been negated by two bars:

 

It has a magazine cut-off, a Taylor & Parsons rear sight with no windage adjustment, a rounded striker and no brass disc.

It is possible that it has been reconditioned as many parts have the RSAF Enfield "EFD" inspection marks.

For the record, this weapon comes from my family. He was reportedly parachuted to the French resistance, more specifically the “maquis de l’Ain”, through the SOE (Marksman circuit).

 

I'm wondering about certain markings and couldn't find the answers in the Skennerton.

1-      There is under the butt, just behind the pistol grip, a letter "E" surmounted by a star. What can it be?

 

I don’t think this is a brand of Enfield, which is already present in front of the butt:

 

2-      On the foresight block, a mark “-015”. Can this be a correction index indicating which blade height to use?

 

3-      On the right side of the backsight, a mark that I have trouble identifying (in fact, I don't even know which way to read it). Can it be a subcontractor brand? Has anyone met him before?

 

I will be happy to have some answers to help me complete the description of the weapon, which is otherwise very precise at the shooting range.

 

Best regards,

 

Jean-Marc

 

[4thGordons]

Bonjour Jean-Marc,

 

4 minutes ago, Marco_01fr said:

Hello all, hope you are doing well 

 

I would like to introduce you to this Lee Enfield manufactured by the BSA in 1917 which intrigues me a bit.

Indeed, it appears to be a Mk III * but the star mark has been negated by two bars:

 

This is quite common and indicates the rifle was manufactured in 1917 as a MkIII* (without a cut-off) but was modified (in the inter-war period) to MkIII status - with a cut-off.

If you have a look at the barrel you might see it is dated later (if it was replaced during this upgrade - the date is usually on the left side of the barrel)

So the rifle was, as you said certainly reworked at Enfield probably (my guess) in the late 1930s (I'll suggest why below)

 

 

4 minutes ago, Marco_01fr said:

I

I'm wondering about certain markings and couldn't find the answers in the Skennerton.

1-      There is under the butt, just behind the pistol grip, a letter "E" surmounted by a star. What can it be?

 

I don’t think this is a brand of Enfield, which is already present in front of the butt:

 

This 6 pointed star E mark is well known to me -- but not typically on No1 (SMLE) rifles.

It is usually found on P14/No3 Rifles that went through the WEEDON REPAIR PROCESS (bringing them out of war reserve storage and making them ready for WWII)  The star indicates they have been brought up to this standard and the letter indicates where the work was done E is indeed for Enfield

J was for BSA, P for Parker-Hale etc (there are 10 letters of which I am aware)

As I say this is usually seen in on the butts of Pattern 14 (No3 MkI*) rifles rather than ShtLEs however in may of 1939 RSAF Enfield got a contract to repair and refurbish 147, 831 mkIII* rifles "to ETR (Enfield Thorough Repair) and WRS (Weedon Repair Standard) " so I am fairly confident this is the meaning of this stamp.

 

In short indicating the rifle previously held in reserve had been refurbished to wartime standard.

 

 

 

4 minutes ago, Marco_01fr said:

 

2-      On the foresight block, a mark “-015”. Can this be a correction index indicating which blade height to use?

 

Correct there were a range of heights available.

 

 

 

4 minutes ago, Marco_01fr said:

 

3-      On the right side of the backsight, a mark that I have trouble identifying (in fact, I don't even know which way to read it). Can it be a subcontractor brand? Has anyone met him before?

 

There seems to be two stamps here (at least!)

One is an Enfield stamp (Broad arrow EFD)

 

however the other IVI  5?16 -  is not known to me - it is not in standard format for a WWII production code (which were a single letter indicating region and a then a number indicating the contractor) - I will have a look in my resources but I am not sure about this one - the font looks more recent to me.

 

 

4 minutes ago, Marco_01fr said:

 

I will be happy to have some answers to help me complete the description of the weapon, which is otherwise very precise at the shooting range.

 

Best regards,

 

Jean-Marc

 

Hope the information helps!

Welcome to the forum.

Chris

[Marco_01fr]

Thank you very much Chris for these very interesting explanations which improve my knowledge on the SMLE and more particularly on this weapon.

thank you for your welcome.

Regards,

Jean-Marc

[Marco_01fr]

Hello everyone,

Chris, I still took the time to look at the date on the barrel… I stupidly thought I had to dismantle the weapon almost entirely to access it, when it's so simple…
Unfortunately, the barrel is not dated 1917, nor is it 1939. It seems that it was changed by RSAF Enfield during a first reconditioning earlier in the interwar period.

 

Left side of the barrel:

 

Right side :

 

Regards,

 

Jean-Marc