That site again

[CINDERS]

Just goes to show what some are prepared to pay to GET that piece.
Way over priced even for myself, but the old adage if you want an item bad enough.......
WW2 FORESTOCK No1 MkIII .303 SMLE Rifle | eBay

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[Flying10uk]

Perhaps the purchaser thought that the price of the Fore-stock/For-end was the cost of the shipping charge??? It would give you a very nasty surprise if you did make a mistake such as misreading a listing which resulted in paying vastly over the odds.

[ufo8mydog]

---------- Post added at 01:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:05 AM ----------

[CINDERS]

Makes you think about the possibility of time travel to pick a bundle up after the war as surplus and flog them off now..............................!

[ufo8mydog]

Makes you think about the possibility of time travel to pick a bundle up after the war as surplus and flog them off now..............................!

Certainly glad I wasn't bidding on them.

[Flying10uk]

I bet the winning bider's wife, probably, also wishes that her husband hadn't bid on them at that price.

[henry r]

i sort of understand why the fore end went for so much, it's a new old stock mid war fore end... i like the used look but if you want a "perfect" as issued rifle you need it.

what i don't understand is the other set, without too much waiting you could pick up a complete rifle off usedguns (which doesn't seem the cheapest source of lee enfields) for less, even including postage and transfers.

i really hope they were bought at a very favourable exchange rate, though shipping firearms parts might be interesting.

[Flying10uk]

If you look carefully at the pictures in the eBay listing which CINDERS provided in his link in post 1 there appear to be 2 small round shapes on the top of the fore-end. To me these look like the tops of wood pegs used in a repair but what do other members think??? Its the 4th picture along from the left in the box and then if you supersize the picture to full screen you should be able to see the 2 round shapes in the top right of your screen.

[Homer]

I've handled a number of unused coachwood for ends dated 43 that had defects in the machining. Not all that obvious until you try to fit one. Beware if your ever buying one.

---------- Post added at 10:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:08 AM ----------

The complete set for a 1915 Lithgow in the above post, f it is in fact as described and in good condition is worth every cent. Anyone tried to find a decent 1915 Lithgow these days or a decent stock to restore one properly?

[mrclark303]

That's an eye watering amount of Money! 10 years back I bought a few SMLE parts for a project rifle. After getting into conversion with the seller, he told me he was stripping a batch of SMLE's he bought at auction and reducing them to spares, Australia was a key market as I recall. More value and easier to sell worldwide.

It really was a crying shame (I told him so) but he wasn't a collector, just a gunsmith maximising his money.