Yesterday's Weapons Forums

I wrote up an article on which Italian rifles to look for... how about a similar piece on the Enfields for noobs like me who know less than zero on the topic?

I have no plans to ever collect these but as a gun nut I attend every gun show & pawn shop I can. Where there might be a real sleeper lurking among the cobwebs.

If I was armed with this critical information, I could snap something rare up & pass it along to the Enfield collecting community. Keep bubba from making a 'deer gun' of it!

I'm not asking for a lot of details - just what's rare and how to tell it from the common garden variety stuff. Maker - year made - that sort of thing.

Oh. If I'm not tying a knot in anyone's dental floss... could the post use actual arsenal names? I see stuff like ishy - squishy - malty tossed around casually & those abbreviations mean nothing to me... or other noobs.

Just for one post? SW

Hmmmmm.....................


Coggansfield's sticky on this forum is a good indication as to just how many models and variants there are and he really covers the more rare rifles. I'll give it some thought but writing a post on what is rare/ unusual will be a lot of work as so many of the things that make rifles rare are very subtle and things only the advanced collectors identify after much research.

Well, if it's a lot of work it wouldn't be enjoyable so that wasn't a viable idea on my part. SW

Wow, I just looked at what you've done so far on the italian site - great job.

ive been following your entries on the eye tie's you have done a marvelous job of keeping it understanmdable and interesting to the novice-know nothing like me

as to the enfeilds , neil is right about the rare nuances being subtle , perhaps boreing to those not really interested , but if one were going to name a couple -

the SMLE mkI's would be a less found item and a prime item for ones basic collection ,

the SMLE mkV trials is another , also key to a collection ,

the harder to find SMLE mkVI transitional no4 rifle would be another , but these generaly need much TLC when found because there were very few and they got issued as no4s ,

the various long lees would be another area , some are dificult/rare to find becuase of the upgrades performed to extend their service life , and many were later relegated to colonial use ,

as would the trainers - which take on a number of configurations , this could be an area all its own

as neil said this could get real complicated , entire books have been written , the 'bible' is the lee enfield story [LES] by skennerton , but strattons paperbacks offer a carryable data source worth having ,

RFI 'ishy' royal ordinance factory ishapore , india - no1 rifles and reworks [some older versions as a colony]

POF pakistan ordinance factory - no4 mk2s

'savage' US - no4 mkI & mkI*s

'longbranch' canada - no4 mkI & mkI*s as well as Cno7 trainers

'lithy' lithgow austrailia - no1 mkIII & mkIII* and trainers in no2 mkIV & mkIV*

royal small arms enfield , sparkbrook , BSA birmingham small arms , LSA london small arms , SSA standard small arms , NRF national rifle factory - england based mfgr and assembly - MLM , MLE , SMLE [no1s] and no2 trainers [as well as war department trainers]

BSA also made no4 mkIs & no5s and the trainers , ROF [royal ordinance factory] maltby made no4 mkIs , and ROF fazakerly made no4 mkI & mk2 and no5s

the no4 mkI*s were only made in north america

this gets even more complicated when you consider the nuances of war production such as BSAs 'dispersal' productiion at shirley , redditch and smallheath as well as all the parts supliers that were alpha/numericaly identified [the alpha signified N=northern , M=middle , S=southern locations]

the simple collection would include :

a "long lee" [MLM magazine lee metford or MLE magazine lee enfield] in one of the many configurations

an "SMLE" short magazine lee enfeild in one of its configurations [no1 rifles]

a "no4" in one of its configurations ,

and a "no5"

but it gets extensive and complicated as you progress from there requireing knowledge , storage space , and luck in the search

The 0.22" cal. trainers should be a category of their own. I've seen five different variations over the years. Nuances can be hard to spot, as mentioned above. Off center/centered bores, single shots, extractor/non extractor/extraction tool , repeater, and various bolt head configurations all add to the rimfire trainer SMLE mix. I did my first ever rifle shooting on a single shot .22 smle that had an extraction tool corded to the trigger guard. It had what appeared to be a standard c/f bolt head. I didn't do too bad with it either- all of my string ended up on the paper- an 8"X10" sheet with a 3" square at 100 yds.

Regards,

Doc Sharptail

I limit my Enfield collecting to the No4 and No5 models. Not as many odd ducks but still enough to keep me interested. The LB and Savage no star MkI's, the MkI/2 or MkI/3 are desirable finds. I'm still looking for one of the Maltby's with the star mark, a run of 50k, they must all be in England

then there is that very illusive Pattern 1913 rifle - to me thats like looking for a pederson device to go with your mkI springfield

the metford rifl;eing was considered inferior for smokeless , but it would be fun to own one

You can still find Martini's with medford rifling

absolutely , and a few long lees are floating around as well