Impobablity Meter Set on "High". A 1908 BSA SMLE Mk.III in Essentially Original Cond.
ETA: Title SHOULD read "Improbabilty". Sorry...first night back at work after a week off.
Firstly, this is a "teaser" thread as I have not yet taken possession of the rifle. But having recently returned home after a week in Vicksburg helping an old friend get his folks' house ready to sell, we went to see another old friend at his newly relocated store. I was scanning the racks for items of interest and finally decided to pick up and examine what I thought was just another "prettified" No. Mk.III*.
Or not!
Wood looks too good to be true. But so does the metal. Magazine cut-off, nice. Windage adjustable rear sight, not too surprising. Ooh, Volley Sights! Extra special! Matching numbers. Military sales marks. BSA emblem on butt. Great bore. Alrighty, then! No "HV" or "SC" at the base of the rear sight, though and the sight ramp "hump" seems a bit tall....
But surely it's a Post WWI rebuild. Or something. Rear handguard is split, but no wood missing, so it took some cajoling and time to convince the proprietor to let me pull the wood away to look at the rear upper barrel area. Not an easy task to finesse that handguard off with just my fingers, however the effort was rewarded with an "08" barrel date...
Sold!
Or at least put on layaway as we had another friend to help load a trailer so he could move to across country. Gah. Worked so hard last week I couldn't hardly make a fist at the end. Hands beat up and swollen something terrible.
But here's hoping that a new photo thread will be soon in the works.
Anything particular y'all want to focus upon?
