quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
Wish the top photo had more light on it as it looks like nice condition walnut.

The stock is in excellent condition, especially considering its age. Unfortunately, the rifle arrived late in the day, so I had to snap a quick photo in the fading light.

As for the "broad arrow" stamp, the British have used a "broad arrow" marking to denote government-owned arms and equipment for several hundred years.



Many of the Commonwealth countries adopted a variation of the British "broad arrow" military acceptance mark, which was used on their military arms and equipment. It wasn't specific to one arsenal or maker.

Here's a better shot of the M1917, in more direct sunlight. It's now sporting a period-correct Kerr sling, instead of the WW2/postwar USGI web sling that it came with.

And here's the latest addition to my collection, which I purchased from SigForum member qasoswat. It's a Lee-Enfield No. 1 Mk. III, aka "SMLE". It's in excellent shape with all matching numbers. (It's in much better condition than my other SMLE, a 1937 BSA No. 1 Mk. III, which is shown on Page 1.)



It was produced in 1918 at Royal Small Arms Factory Enfield. It may have seen action at the tail end of WW1 (which ended November 1918), and likely was used in WW2 as well.

It was originally built as a wartime-expedient Mk. III* design. The "*" variant slightly simplified the original Mk. III pattern, and reduced manufacturing time by omitting some of the extraneous features. But it was then refurbished after WW1 in 1931 (as shown by the '31 mark on the barrel) and some of the original Mk. III features like a windage-adjustable rear sight and magazine cutoff were added back. The "*" on the model designation was then crossed out, to show that it was back in Mk. III configuration.




It's missing a few parts, like one of the nose cap screws and the stock ID disk, but I have replacement parts and a sling on the way.

The 1917 is great Rogue. On my P14 I shined up the little brass rivets on the hand guards and applied much linseed oil to its stock. I used the moisture and hot iron to remove some of the dings. Some would not come up.

I bet if that old No.1 could talk.. Some poor bastard aint with us any more due to that rifle.

A really nice collection there Rogue.

1917's??

Very nice, lyman. One from each of the three manufacturers?

A well-worn but interesting piece of history here. She's clearly seen a lot of use, but she still has plenty of life left in her, and I was offered her at a price I couldn't refuse. It took me several days to clean all of the grease and sand out of her.


It's a K98 Mauser, chambered in 7.62 NATO, used by the early Israeli Defense Force in the late 1940s and early 1950s, before they adopted the FAL in the mid-1950s. Even after the adoption of the FAL, these Israeli Mausers remained in service with second-line units and reservists well into the 1980s.



Many of the early Israeli Mausers were WW2 surplus Czech or German Mausers. (A bit of irony there...) But this particular rifle was one of the new production pieces made on contract by FN for Israel in the early 1950s, and was marked with the IDF crest at the factory.


My rifle's crest is worn, but it should look like this:


The prominent "7.62" stamped in the receiver and the buttstock were intended to allow Israeli soldiers to immediately identify the rifle's chambering, since the IDF armories still included a number of Mausers in their original 7.92x57mm chambering at the time that the 7.62 NATO round was first adopted by the IDF.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
A well-worn but interesting piece of history here. She's clearly seen a lot of use, but she still has plenty of life left in her, and I was offered her at a price I couldn't refuse.


It's a K98 Mauser, chambered in 7.62 NATO, used by the early Israeli Defense Force in the late 1940s and early 1950s, before they adopted the FAL in the mid-1950s. Even after the adoption of the FAL, these Israeli Mausers remained in second-line service and strategic reserve well into the 1980s.

Many of the early Israeli Mausers were WW2 surplus Czech or German Mausers. (A bit of irony there...) But this particular rifle was one of the new production pieces made on contract by FN for Israel in the early 1950s, and was marked with the IDF crest at the factory.


My rifle's crest is worn, but it should look like this:


The prominent "7.62" stamped in the receiver and the buttstock were intended to allow Israeli soldiers to immediately identify the rifle's chambering, since the IDF armories still included a number of Mausers in their original 7.92x57mm chambering at the time that the 7.62 NATO round was first adopted by the IDF.

I've been looking for an Israeli Mauser in 7.62, but they are few and far between. Beautiful example you have there.

I'm late to the party as usual. I've had a bunch of Milsurps over the years but am down to just three at the moment. A sporterized Swede, a Nagant 44 and this Enfield.

My old Enfield that is. Most people here have seen this old war horse. It was my father's gun, which he bought from Sawyer's Mills department store in the early 60's. His Dad had to go in with him and pay for it. He was just a teenager.

It was a No4, MkI that Golden State Arms had imported and turned in to a Jungle Carbine clone. Somewhere along the line, Dad lost the hand guard and split the fore end. When he gave it to me, about the time I turned 20, I cut the fore end back past the split and basically turned it in to a sporter. I even had a scope mount put on and had an old Weaver on it. Only problem with that is you couldn't remove the bolt as long as the scope was attached.

Here is how it looked a little while ago:



And here it is now that I've returned it to the way it was when Dad bought it:



I purchased a new fore end and hand guard from Numrich. Also the front band, screw and swivel. When these arived, I realised I was missing the ring that keeps the back part of the hand guard from moving around so I ordered that and threw in the sling.

I think it turned out all right, though I did have to stain the buttstock darker than it was in order to try and match the new wood. It's close, but not exact.

I now have a Pattern 1914 rifle made by Eddystone, to go along with my M1917 rifle made by Eddystone.


These P14 rifles were produced by US rifle factories on contract for the British military in WW1, and are chambered in .303. When the US entered the war in 1917, the P14 design was tweaked to accept the .30-06 cartridge, the rifle was redesignated the M1917, and the same factories started producing these rifles for use by US forces.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RogueJSK,

Here's a few of my British & Commonwealth collection. Top to bottom: SMLE Mk I****; SMLE Mk V; .303 Ross M1905R

Outstanding collection, OTD. Those are some rare pieces indeed.

Seen the Forgotten Weapons coverage of the Ross rifle?

http://youtu.be/EaSui_UqDX8

GAC, thank’s for the link.
There’s several type of Ross rifles. The MK III is completely different form a 1905. The only similarities they are sharing is the straight pull action. What’s been discussed in this clip only applying to this military type or it’s commercial counterpart of the 1910 series like the Deer Stalking Rilfe or similar, but not the M1905 or the M1907.

here's a few more.

Lee Enfield No.4 MK I cutaway



2 x Webley&Scott Mk VI
top: in as produced condition
bottom: home guard refurbished


Lee Enfield No.5 Mk I with Sterling .308 factory conversion.


Chinese contract John Inglis Mk I*

You're probably the only member here with a Ross, OTD. Many years ago, at a flea market here in Georgia, I ran across a Ross rifle catalog. I think it was from around 1910 or thereabouts. I wish I would have bought it. It was in perfect condition and had full color illustrations of Ross rifles. I imagine it to be exceedingly rare, especially in that condition.

Alas

It would have made a nice supplement for any collection.
Spare parts, even in poor condition, for a Ross is difficult to find already. Accessories of any kind and in any condition nearly impossible.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
You're probably the only member here with a Ross

There´s a small community of Ross collectors out there, so are the rifles.The problem with these rifles in not really the stigma attached to it. My 1905R is fine and safe shooters, made of excellent quality materials, but not as refined and on the same level as a Mauser or W+F form the same decade. We have to keep in mind that Ross was offering several grades of rifles. The 1905R was the “budget” version of the Ross rilfe line. I don’t know how this rilfe compares with to a 1910 luxury model, because I never held one, so my observation on Ross is therefore rather subjective when I compare mine to the two other manufacturers. The bigger problem is finding any Ross in decent condition, complete with all the correct parts, but I would not hesitate to buy anohter one if one shows up.

I got to handle a nice Ross rifle many years back. Your Jungle Carbine is in great shape OTD.

I am still hoping someone pops in with a nice old Lee Metford. As a younger man I had such a liking to those old long rifles. I never knew they are kind of rare birds.