Milsurp After Hours

Spoke to the man today, its a 1915 BSA Mk111*, so it looks like an early one ; , woodwork/blueing/metal in excellent condition some minor dints to the wood.





Rebarreled by Enfield in 1939 and supposedly never shot since then, the barrel is supposed to look like it, mirror bright. lands sharp and no evident throat wear.





The only blemish is a small spot of rust pitting under the foresight which is not visible as the nose cap covers it, at less than £200 I've put a cheque in the post so its mine.





Just need to get a few days to head into the wilds of Scotland now.





Could be a happy chappie especially if its a genuine 1915 MK 111*, any one got any idea of production numbers of 1915 SMLE Mk111*?





Skennerton says that it started in September that year and was an unnoficial mod by BSA ommitting the cut off, for which they were initially censured, total BSA Mk111/Mk111* for 1915 was 276,000 so just on a monthly prorata basis we are looking at only around 90,000 rifles.

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Adam.





Why don't you visit .

It sounds like a good rifle. I haven't got a WW1 SMLE rifle yet. My two SMLEs are both WW2 manufacture and Mk III*. I would like a WW1 MkIII. I got my renewal paperwork this week for my FAC and SGC. I feel a .303 variation or three coming on when I fill it in.


Regards


Peter.

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Adam, I've read reports of two or three other SMLEs that were very early MK.III*s. (IIRC, one was an LSA.) Nobody seems to <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>really</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> know anything beyond what Skennerton wrote. With other examples of after the fact paperwork catch-ups he writes of, it seems valid and perhaps final.





While the unissued during a time of conflict always makes collectors wary, things like that do happen! Waiting on pics!





Take Care, Brad <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :tex --><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v51/N ... all/Tx.gif ALT=":tex">;

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Aye Brad,





the trick is going to be if the woodwork is genuine, the reciever markings are the receiver markings, a rebarrel says that it got shot and then they might have redone the woodwork at the same time.





I have seen a quiet a few, relatively speaking, war period BSAs in good strip. They came from private ownership and I think that BSA might have sold a few to individual officers as private purchases, hence having some protection from the rough and tumble that an issue piece would be subjected to.





This speculation is fun and we'll just have to wait and see. ;

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Adam.





Why don't you visit .

Adam, By now anticipation should be at a fever pitch! ;





I'd also read that some of the rifles used in WWI and perhaps in S. Africa were privately owned. Interesting.





Take Care, Brad <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :tex --><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v51/N ... all/Tx.gif ALT=":tex">;

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bradtx, "Adam, By now anticipation should be at a fever pitch!
I'd also read that some of the rifles used in WWI and perhaps in S. Africa were privately owned. Interesting. Take Care, Brad."

I have a 1913 EnfieldMKIII with stock disk that I've been told indicates that it was once issued to the East Indian Railroad Volunteer Rifles.

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Apparently the rifle has not been FTR'd by the Indians and I am curious to know if anyone else has come across any similarly marked pieces.

The pictures wouldn't link with the BB code because of the unusual tag ending. If in future you wish to post with this picture storage source post using HTML rather than the BB code. If you hit edit you can see the proper way to do this. Jason, our webmaster explained it to me. Just a site quirk when using the BBCode.

Hi oldcuffler,

don't know why your pictures haven't come through, it all seems OK to me.

I've put up a post for those who know more than I do to try and get them through.

Nice looking rifles BTW and an unusual history, those early MK111s were the pinnacle of SMLE production in my book.

Hi dromia,

Thanks for checking out my post. I think I followed proper procecdure for entering the images, but they won't open.

Anyone that wants to see them can cut and paste the http address (without the 8and[/pic]) into their browser address window and press enter to go to the web site that contains the photos. I've tried this and it works.

Thats what I did oldcuffler and the rifle is worth the effort, but we'll get the link sorted in due course never fear.

I might be slow but I get there.

a vey nice looking rifle you have there with an interresting bit of history to go with it.