Mk 3 SMLE

jimmyj · #1 02-28-2015, 09:49 PM

Hi:
Not to hi-jack another post, here is my Mk 3 SMLE.

1. No. III:
Brass Butt Plate
Right side Stock: "CMI - 3MD"
Right side Metal Wrist: "Crown symbol, Gr, ENFIELD, 1917, SMLE, III="
Rear Bolt Housing: "No 1, MK III, U. KING."
Rear Bolt Ring Housing: "CAl 8I AUG VT"
Right side forward chamber wall: "12/5"
Right side rear sight base:" small square symbol, 22 w/arrow, G 1423"
Left side Thumb safety: "III"
Left side forward chamber housing: "small symbols"
Left side metal stock wrist: "symbol w/ "54"
Left side rear sight base: "T"
Bottom trigger guard: "small symbol w/ arrow heard pointing up"
Bottom of muzzle nose cap: "small symbol w/ "V"
Sling: Leather

Bayonet:
Overall Length: 22"
Blade: 16.5"
Left side blade at hilt: "1907 Wilkinson 17"
Right side blade at hilt: "19 17 E and small symbol"
Right side end of hilt: "0545"

Scabbard: Metal w/ "MO ROVITE 142"

Texas Star · #2 02-28-2015, 09:59 PM

GR under the crown means George Regina; King George V was then on the Throne. And the bayonet maker was Wilkinson Sword, a famous firm, not Wilkerson. You have a Pattern 1907 bayonet made in 1917.

I don't know about the other markings.

Cyrano · #3 03-01-2015, 01:36 AM

T-Star: I think you have your genders a bit mixed; old George V would much rather have been called Rex than Regina.

Cyrano · #4 03-01-2015, 01:53 AM

Heer's my Mk III* SMLE, made by BSA in 1915. The * indicates the wartime rifle without the magazine cutoff, volley sights or windage adjustment on the rear sight. That's the corrrect sling. The bayonet is a Model 1907. dated 1916, and made by Wilkinson Sword. I got it because my father, a US Army infantryman, carried one in WW I. He was in the 27th Infantry Division, which, with the 30th Division, made up the US Second Corps, which Pershing gave to the British. They were completely rearmed and equipped with British weapons and kit. Worked out well for him: he didn't think the SMLE was very accurate but he was a corporal, a squad leader of a Lewis Gun squad. If he'd been with the rest of the American troops, he would have had the miserable Chauchat.

My friend in New Zealand got me that Parker-Hale rear sight. I found a Mk III barrel that was new; it even had wax around the threads. I had Brian Dick rebarrel it or me, and accurize it, but it still won't shoot anywhere near as well as any of my US service rifles, from the Krag to the M1A. I don't have good luck with my 303's I also have that MLE Mk1*, and a Ross Mk II, and none of them are anything to boast about for accuracy.

2152hq · #5 03-01-2015, 08:39 PM

Right side Stock: "CMI - 3MD"

CMI,,,might it be CMF (?)

Citizens Military Force - 3rd Military District
This would be an Australian marking for issue/use by their 'Home Guard 'Defense force in WW2.
3rd Military District was pretty much the Victoria State in boundary.

That said,,the stock alone may have come from another rifle that had been there/done that,,and not necessarily this rifle.
Usually,but not always, another Australian property mark may appear on the rifle if it was in use there.
All sorts of things happen when you need to defend yourself.

Looks like the 'legs' of the rear hand guard have been clipped off if I'm seeing the pic right. Not uncommon as the fragile slim lengths of wood are often damaged.

Added.
Should be an 'X' stamped on the bayonet blade up near the hilt on one side ,,might be your 'unknown symbol'. That was a test bend proof for the blade at mfg. Held in a fixture by the end of blade, the bayonet was then bent over to one side at a fairly sharp angle (can't remember the spec but there is one). The blade had to return to it's original form with no damage or permanent bend.

The standard Pattern 1907 bayonet came into service in 1913/14.
Before that they had a short lived version that had a quillion with a large hook on it. That was pulled from service in 1913, the hook cut off and surface rounded and bayonets returned to service.
Finding an original unaltered 'hooked quillion 'P07' SMLE bayonet is quite a prize as few survived. Unfortunetly fakes and repros abound.
The very first SMLE bayonet was a short blade (same length as the MLE bayonet) called the Pattern 1903. Troops complained of the short over all length of the SMLE with the P03 bayonet.
The P1907 was made 5 inches longer to accomodate that complaint.

Original P03 bayonets are rare too and suffer the same flood of repros and fakes in the market place. CAreful buying that rarity.

In the mid 1920's the P1907 Bayonet was re-named the NoI MkI Bayonet. The re-name came along with the renaming of the rifle also which to that point had been the MkIII(*).
It was at this point that the rifle became the
No1 MkIII(*).
The .22cal conversions became the No2 rifle. The Pattern 14 303 Enfield became the No3 rifle. And later on in the late 30s and early 40s would be the Rifle No4 and No5

If the sling on your rifle is an original,,it's probably around a 1915 or before vintage. Look it over carefully especially around the buckle for any marking/date. It may be very faint. Most didn't use a metal buckle at the adj point, just a simple leather loop. But there were variations and contractors plus private purchase.
The Brits used a leather sling till about that time and then found that the leather wasn't holding up at all in the trench warfare situation of WW1. They simply rotted in the wet and mud of the trenches.
The switch over to the web style sling was made at that time.
The sling was meant to be a carry sling only and not a shooting aid like the US rifle sling.