Location: "...upon the east bank of Big Blue River, a mile or two north of the point where that stream crosses the Michigan road"
Posts: 1,646
My search for a Lithgow is over...
I've always been a big fan of the Lee Enfield Number 4. I have a Maltby Mark I and a Savage Mark I*. I've been curious about the Number 1. But since my collection is WWII era, I never really considered buying a No 1 until recently.
A while back, I decided to look for a Lithgow No 1 Mk III* that was made in the 1940s. Last week after watching them for a few months, I bought one for $256.99.
I shot it yesterday and was really pleased. The action seems smoother than my No 4s, but I don't like the sight picture as well. It was a joy to shoot!
It must be a refurbished rifle or maybe a parts rifle built from an old receiver; it is in remarkably great condition. The rifling is sharp and shiny. It can't have been fired much...if at all.
It has very few markings and the serial number, D462xx is found only on the right side of the receiver.
It has the usual "MA Lithgow S.M.L.E. III* 1942" on the right side ot the wrist band. It has a couple of "*" looking stamps on the rear right of the receiver. It has a several acceptance marks on the left side of the receiver near the gas vent holes, one looks like "<=". On the under side of the stock, near the trigger guard, is a crown with a "5" and a "S" vertically. Further forward on the underside of the stock is "SLAZ 43".
Here are some pictures. Any info from our resident Enfield experts would be much appreciated. Did I do okay? It sure seems like a nice rifle.
And here is my updated "Enfield Family Portrait":
__________________
"Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss." -- Lazarus Long
Please notice your Australian Lithgow has a flat finish, this is because only raw linseed oil was used on the Enfield rifle.
This means the British NEVER put Boiled linseed oil on an Enfield and made them shine so the enemy could see you better and shoot at YOU and your shiny rifle.
I challenge any of you to provide any written material stating that anything but raw linseed oil was ever used on the Enfield rifle.
Location: "...upon the east bank of Big Blue River, a mile or two north of the point where that stream crosses the Michigan road"
Posts: 1,646
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny_Revolver
Well done, nice collection you`ve started there.
Thanks Mr Revolver. The Lee Enfield is the only thing I have more than one. First, thing I did when I picked it up was opened the bolt. The Enfield's charm is in how the bolt practically opens itself.
I was just cleaning out the attic and I found boxes from the first three rifles that started my milsurp interest. It was neat to be reminded of the dates I made the purchase. It started with a K98k in 2004.
Next year, I bought a 91/30 and a Maltby No 4(...this was before I learned to research before I buy! It turned out to be quite the mismatch. Still a good rifle, but I later found my Maltby had a Savage bolt/front band and an Ishpore screw.).
In 2006, I had a buddy that is a wood worker make a custom 10 rifle rack and I decided I'd slowly put together a collection of a rifle from every major country in WWII as attribute to WWII vets...."the Greatest Generation".
It was full with the purchase of my Budapest M95 last year. Now, I have out grown it by 2 rifles...3 if you count my Norinco M97 Trench Sweeper reproduction as a part of my WWII collection(...I do!). They mostly are nice shooters, but not true collectors items cause I'm going to shoot 'em.
I plan to finish the rack soon(...paint and plaques with info of each), I'll post pictures.
__________________
"Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss." -- Lazarus Long
Just as an aside, you could google the town of Lithgow, New South Wales.
Its an interesting spot actually, pronounced Lith go, in the Blue Mountains, I passed through there last year and really want to return and explore more.
Location: "...upon the east bank of Big Blue River, a mile or two north of the point where that stream crosses the Michigan road"
Posts: 1,646
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny_Revolver
Just as an aside, you could google the town of Lithgow, New South Wales.
Its an interesting spot actually, pronounced Lith go, in the Blue Mountains, I passed through there last year and really want to return and explore more.
I did that today as a matter of fact. Apparently, there is a really great firearms museum there as well.
It will definitely be a planned stop when/if I ever make a visit "down under"!
__________________
"Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss." -- Lazarus Long
I challenge any of you to provide any written material stating that anything but raw linseed oil was ever used on the Enfield rifle.
Nobody cares Ed.
Actually some people do care and want to apply the correct finish, but then there are always a few knuckle heads in the crowd that don't care and apply the wrong finish.
Sorry to see you put your tampon in sideways today.
I think TheJoker will enjoy this new rifle for a lot of reasons. Maybe a N0#3 will be next. Adding another interesting bit of equipment from the same family is always good.
Joker,
Does that rifle have "JJovino" as an import mark?
If it does then you may want to check to see if you have the two recoil plates in the forestock.
DocAitch
Location: "...upon the east bank of Big Blue River, a mile or two north of the point where that stream crosses the Michigan road"
Posts: 1,646
Quote:
Originally Posted by DocAitch
Joker,
Does that rifle have "JJovino" as an import mark?
If it does then you may want to check to see if you have the two recoil plates in the forestock.
DocAitch
No import marks at all. I got some great info. A friend who's hobby is old tools made an inquiry to an Australian friend on a tool collectors forum.
Here is what this fella said:
1) The rifle in question would be militarily designated as Rifle, Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield (S. M. L. E.)and, unless it has been fooled around with, would be chambered for the .303" British cartridge. As Australian and British calibre diameters are measured from the tops of the lands, not the bottoms of the grooves, the U.S. equivalent calibre would be .311" . Manufactured in Lithgow, New South Wales.
2) From shortly before WWII and thereafter the woodwork on the Australian SMLE was of Australian coachwood, botanically Ceratopetalum apetalum unless the revisionist taxonomists have had a go at it, a tree which grows to about 80' in height. Found in the rainforests of NSW and Queensland. Used to be a fairly common species. We were required to oil the woodwork of our weapons regularly with raw linseed oil both to prevent deterioration of the wood and to preserve a matte finish. It was a disciplinary offence to have a shiny rifle and two days' pay went west whilst the malefactor (Each company has, democratically, its share of dills) scraped down his rifle with pieces of broken bottle and re-oiled it to the Sergeant-Major's satisfaction. Boiled linseed oil would not only have made the rifle shiny but would not have acted as a sufficient wood preservative or conditioner.
3) Notwithstanding a lot of nonsense spoken about the superiority of the Mauser-action rifle, the SMLE can be set up with little, unobtrusive modification (glass bed, floating barrel & lightly stoned sear and, maybe, a lapped barrel), a good set of peep sights and tuned with the correct combination of charge and heavier projectile to become a highly accurate, long-distance target or hunting rifle although some people have difficulty adjusting to the two-pressure trigger system. It used to be common enough for red deer (they are a pretty big target) to be taken at 600 yards out and 800 yard shots were fairly frequent if conditions were right (little breeze, good light). Now that home-loads are permitted there are still a few "specialists" who compete with the "Smelly" over the 1,000 m range, using only peep sights. In the army really good shots could squeeze out respectable accuracy and groups using the standard military sights up to 500 yards out but for us mere mortals things started to go a bit awry using those sights beyond the 400 yards target. The "Smelly" served Australian troops all the way from that business in South Africa through WWI, WWII, Korea and the Malayan Emergency.
4) If the rifle has the same serial number stamped on the bolt's handle and bayonet-mount on the nose-cap it is pretty safe to regard it as being in its original condition as it came from the factory at Lithgow. Because service rounds used mercuric primers the throat should be checked for corrosion. If any corrosion is apparent and it is not too bad (it seldom is) it is a simple job to have the chamber reamed slightly to remove the corrosion and to fire-form a set of brass to be used with it.
5) If old military rounds containing mercuric primers are used the barrel and chamber should be flushed with boiling water as soon as possible to remove the mercuric salts before proceeding with normal cleaning. Under the trapdoor in the butt-cap there should be found a brass oil bottle and a rope pull-through although, often enough, these have been removed by dealers along the line for separate sale. The pressed-steel magazine is inclined to corrode in its lowest corner unless a dab of Vaseline (petroleum jelly) is set there.
My friend further inquired:
Thanks ...
I will forward your information to the gun's new owner. *I believe he told me the stock was made by an Australian maker of cricket bats and hockey sticks - something beginning with "Slaz". *I'm sending you a couple of pictures of the "smelly" so you can see why it's thought to never have been issued (hard to imagine) or built from unused parts from the armory.
Regards,
The gentleman responded:
Slazenger made many items of sporting equipment, including rifles. Many of the rifles (tens of thousands, at least) were based on the S.M.L.E. and, in particular, they rebarrelled them for the "Hornet" cartridge and for *the 303"-.22" and .303"-.25". *If I were your friend I should check to confirm that he really has his rifle chambered and barrelled in .303" British. *The good looking condition of the rifle indicates that, at least, Slazenger cleaned it up for, even fresh out of the factory at Lithgow, the woodwork was darker than shown in the photograph due to the factory application of linseed oil.
If the rifle is in *.303" British, chances are that it was refurbished by Slazenger with a new barrel for full-bore target shooting although the lack of peep-sights (Slazenger made them also) suggests otherwise. Check to see if it has been drilled and tapped to receive peep-sights. *I think Slazenger may also have glassed in the action for such rifles but I am not sure whether they furnished new barrels which were parallel-sided and therefore heavier than the tapered barrel of the military issue rifle. *The parallel sided rifle barrel required either a turn-down at the muzzle to fit the nose-cap or the nose-cap was reamed out to receive the larger muzzle end.
If the rifle is in Hornet, 22" or 25" configuration it should not be possible to load it with a .303" British and invite disaster on discharge but, if I was your friend, I should have all my gauges out to check it.
Of course, the situation may simply be that it is a rifle in original condition apart from being given a bit of spit and polish by Slazenger. However, I was never aware that Slazenger dealt with S.M.L.E. rifles in this way. *The firm usually "improved" them in some way.
Have him check with a soft load, in any event, that the head-space is correct. *The bolt-head is detachable and there were at least 3 sizes made to take care of the problem which arose in manufacture from cutting tool wear in the formation of the chambers. The correct size heads may still be available here.
Regards from Brisbane,
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"Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss." -- Lazarus Long
