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Picked up a 1917 BSA today at the local funshow. Nothing particularly unusual about it, numbers match, appears to be the original barrel(1917 dated), but the barrel is only marked HV. No SC. I was under the impression that all smellies by this time were marked HV SC. Any thoughts?
My 1918 BSA is marked/un-marked the same way. I posed a similar question when I got mine as it does seem odd. Was it a BSA thing? My rifle is Canadian-marked. Yours? (Just trying to find a common thread)
This one is not Canadian marked. As I was cleaning it, I realised that it also retained the windage knob on the rear sight. Number matches on this part as well. I was also under the impression this had been omitted around 1915, along with the mag cutoff, volley sights, etc.
As my memory serves me, the Small Cone modification to the barrel was a post WWI upgrade, so maybe your rifle did not receive the alteration or was just not marked after conversion. Two of my personal pre-1918 manufacture SMLE's are not marked 'sc' either.
I have a 1917 peddle scheme (SSA) that is completely original, all matching, 1917 dated barrel, and it is marked HV SC. The thing that really gets my attention about this new LE is that along with the solo HV marking, the letters are serifed. I've never seen that before. All HV SC markings that I've seen were sans serif letters. Interesting variation.
Barbarossa's right...the small cone mod was done right at the end of, or shortly after WWI...1918 or 19 (I don't have access to the LoCs at the moment, so that's strictly by memory). Some are serif'ed, some sans serif. Lack of the 'SC' marking likely means that the rifle was otherwise occupied when it's brothers were getting done.
There's an interesting MKL entry that might help as well ...
1917 ShtLE (Short Lee-Enfield) No.1 MkIII*
Regards,
Doug
To be exact...LoC paragraph 21209. No date listed, but from the number would fall into the Jan. 1918 timeframe.