No1 Mk3 Cheek Rest.

[Surpmil]

If I remember IDS correctly the cheekrest was originally designed for the offset scopes of the 421 Alex Martin conversions done in 1941-42. From there IIRC it soon migrated to the No.4 and "regular" No.3 snipers.

[Peter Laidler]

According to the old instructions for Armourers, copied directly from the older OB notes, there was only 1 pattern of cheek rest available from Ordnance, that configured for the Patt '14 rifle. This can easily be adapted by rasping, filing and fitting to the No4T rifle. All manufacture of cheekrests are manufactured to the P '14 spec and will need fitting

[Brian Dick]

The P'14/No.4T cheek rests have a few different contours. Even the repros are not all exactly the same. Ask me how I know! There were at least a couple of Canadian patterns too. The Australian pattern is pretty distinct and consistent in its contour. It's all cosmetics of course. They're all interchangeable with tools as Peter states above.

[Promo]

What I still wonder about, you sometimes can find P.14 PPCo sniper rifles with cheek pads, these always seem to have an Australian connection. You cannot find Irish contract P.14 BSA snipers with cheek pads. What is a bit of a mystery to me is the fact that the Alexander Martin P.14 sniper rifles sometimes seem to feature a cheek pad and sometimes not (was the cheek pad introduced right during the conversion of the 421 pieces and therefore some have it and some not?).


Are there any period pictures of P.14 sniper rifles with cheek pad? Speaking of that, did anyone ever see a period picture of an Alexander Martin P.14 sniper rifles?

[Brian Dick]

I have a straight No.3Mk.1T w/P.P. Co. P'18 telescope that was rebuilt at Weedon in 1940. It doesn't have a cheek rest. I can't remember seeing cheek rests on the few I've examined either. I don't think many made it onto British issue rifles. They may have been added at unit level if available at the request of the sniper. They obviously didn't become standard equipment until the adoption of the No.4T.

[Alan de Enfield]

What I still wonder about, you sometimes can find P.14 PPCo sniper rifles with cheek pads, these always seem to have an Australian connection.

And yet it is not listed in the official Australian 'parts list' for the No3 Mk1(T). See post #4 above.

Maybe (as Brian suggests) it was just a 'local modification' at the request of the individual sniper.

[Surpmil]

What I still wonder about, you sometimes can find P.14 PPCo sniper rifles with cheek pads, these always seem to have an Australian connection. You cannot find Irish contract P.14 BSA snipers with cheek pads. What is a bit of a mystery to me is the fact that the Alexander Martin P.14 sniper rifles sometimes seem to feature a cheek pad and sometimes not (was the cheek pad introduced right during the conversion of the 421 pieces and therefore some have it and some not?).

Are there any period pictures of P.14 sniper rifles with cheek pad? Speaking of that, did anyone ever see a period picture of an Alexander Martin P.14 sniper rifles?

The Irish contract rifles were completed and shipped before the war and thus before the cheekrest was introduced. The Irish never bothered to fit them subsequently and AFAWK the rifles saw little use anyway.

[Strangely Brown]

I am familiar with the cheek rest on the No4 Mk1T. Was there ever a cheek rest meant for a No1 Mk3 rifle? In particular a British rifle? If so, are originals or reproductions available today?

I believe a first field dressing is considered historically correct for that purpose.

[Bindi2]

i used a similar sized pad in 1966 as a check rest at my first Queens shoot with a no1 Mk 3*. no ELBOW PADS or shoulder Pads allowed.