no1 MkIII* sporter by PH

[CINDERS]

Steve that looks like my 22/250 1200 stock complete with monte carlo, the significance of the DP I gather the action was sound and a shot out tube before P&H got to it and yes my 22/250 has the same deep blue finish except for the S/S Bartlien barrel I had fitted

[ActionYobbo]

there are enough ph markings on there to convince me that it was worked on by parker hale especially with the soldered on front ramp saying parker hale.

these sight ramps and other parker hale parts were available to any one who wanted to purchase them. so just because the sight has parkerhale on it just means they made the sight. I had 2 new PH sight ramps in my parts box along with several other PH marked parts that I acquired from a gunsmith in Sydney NSW in 1991.

I don't believe the supreme or deluxe models nessesarily have PH markings.

I have only had 2 PH built rifles one a No4 and the other a TX1200 and they both had PH stamps on them

[browningautorifle]

The black shiny rebluing job is very Parker-Hale.

The shiny blue job is typical of anyone that does re-bluing. I agree that this first rifle was cobbled up by John Q gunsmith and not a Parker Hale job. The DP markings would exclude it from their work. They used first grade as new rifles for their conversions. Nothing less. Just because a few parts are marked doesn't mean it's parker Hale. The rifle posted by Steve is a typical first grade of their work. They had three, first in the one pictured, second was barrel cut and re-sighted and new wood, third was original military wood that had been sporterized and original sights.

[billy67]

I'm not sure if this helps the discussion any but here's a No.1 "Custom" with a PH scope mount and the wrong magazine which should be a flush-fit unit. Proof date 1963. The stock was made by Sile and the barrel is military. Commercial barrels are identifiable by the lack of a flat on top of the knox form.

yup, I have a no4 ''custom'' and like you, rifle was rebarreled and it has the same PH signatures on
What Id like to know and see if possible is if the supreme no1 or no4 may have been PH rebarreled ? This is not what the Parker Hale catalogue says wrt the supreme no1
''employs original SMLE action and barrel''

[browningautorifle]

I think you'll find they used original barrels. They used as new rifles, there were lots of them.

[Surpmil]

Hi, I add this beautiful supreme no1 MkIII* conversion by Parker Hale to go beside my custom no4 and the no1 has some interesting stamps on the reciever. the NZ probably stand for New Zeland but Im not sure the DP in the right side refer to drill purpose since Parker Hale select the best lee enfields for the conversion job Am I right ?

Ah yes, many were inspected, but few were chosen!

Well, actually no, they tended to fix up whatever they could get on the cheap and call it good!

To be serious, they had the tools, gauges and the skills to make silk purses out of sow's ears, or a least good representations of a silk purse, and so they did.

Looks like a "Supreme" to me, but as Peter mentioned, that is a decidedly odd set of markings on the socket. The crown looks like a Victorian "Queen's crown", not the "King's crown" we're used to seeing on SMLE's.

There is no factory name which is also odd; could this be a National Rifle Factory production?

[5thBatt]

The markings are Peddled Scheme markings.

1918 SSA



1918 NRF

[Thunderbox]

Th OP's rifle looks like a completely standard Parker Hale No1 sporter - in fact there is an identical one on sale at the Bisley arms fair today.

The gun trade did make extensive use of DP-marked No1 receivers. Crates of them have come out of both PH and AJP; many of the receivers even white linished where knox form stamps have been removed, and with other receivers reblued/blacked after cleaning up. Evidently these DP receivers had been gauged and considered suitable for re-use.

The No1 barrel seems to shoot ok in a sportered rifle. Apart from PH/AJP sporters, there are zillions of sportered No1s in Australia and South Africa. Most seem to eliminate even the barrel band, so the barrel is either free-floated or completely flat bedded in the forend.