Lee enfield No.4 Mk I with Mk3 sight

[MilsurpMM]

Saw an all matching British no4. mk1 enfield today. My question is, were No. 4 Mk1s originally fitted with Mk3 sights or were Mk3 sights put in post war?

Second question is what does an M47 stamp on the back of the rear sight mean?

Information

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[browningautorifle]

M47

M47 and later M47C, Birmingham Small Arms Factory (Shirley)...

[MilsurpMM]

M47 and later M47C, Birmingham Small Arms Factory (Shirley)...

So it Has nothing to do with 1947?

[Flying10uk]

So it Has nothing to do with 1947?

Nope, it's the dispersal code for BSA.

[MilsurpMM]

Nope, it's the dispersal code for BSA.

Oh alright cool. And does a Mk3 sight mean post war or did they produce Mk3 sights for no.4 MkI enfields originally from the factory?

[Flying10uk]

Anything with a UK dispersal code on it normally indicates wartime manufacture but the item in question could have been made just after the war from parts made during the war. I don't suppose that every factory in the UK using the dispersal code system stopped using it the day that the war in Europe ended.

[MilsurpMM]

Anything with a UK dispersal code on it normally indicates wartime manufacture but the item in question could have been made just after the war from parts made during the war. I don't suppose that every factory in the UK using the dispersal code system stopped using it the day that the war in Europe ended.

Very well. With that being said, I did not see any FTR marking on the rifle. Could it have not been refurbed then?

[Flying10uk]

I expect that the original sight was replaced with with whatever was available at the time.

The thing to remember about the UK during WW2 is that almost everything was either not available at all or in short supply if it was available. This was because we had no supplies coming from occupied Europe and numerous supply ships were being sent to the bottom of the Atlantic by U-Boats. It was a case of "making do and mend".

[Bindi2]

The sight on the rifle is correct even if replaced post war. Factory correct is not a correct term for British war time rifles. The next part in the bin was used, the same for a unit field repair by the armourer. There were multiple types of sights being made at different places at different speeds.

[Roger Payne]

I am not absolutely certain, but I am pretty certain that the fabricated rear sights were designed, produced, & fitted during WW2. They were a cheaper & not so nice alternative to the Mk1 'Singer' sight, but a rather better proposition than the crude Mk2 'battle' sight. I daresay that all the information is quoted chapter & verse in the LES.

If the rifle is really unadulterated & not FTR'ed & it bears a rear sight marked up to BSA then there is a good chance that it is a rifle produced by BSA at their Shirley factory near Birmingham, UK. The regional factory codes were applied to parts for some years after the end of the war by some manufacturers, BSA included. I've seen woodwork marked M47/C & dated in the mid-1950's. The secret factory codes were allocated sequentially, & began with either a 'S', a 'M' or a 'N', for Southern area (Southern part of England), the Midlands (which allso included Wales IIRC), or the North of England & Scotland. So, BSA, being based in the Birmingham area of the Midlands of England, was given a 'M' prefix, & just happened to be manufacturer number 47 in the Midlands area. The addition of the 'A', 'B', 'C', or 'D' simply indicated which of the four BSA facilities made the weapon/component. When the codes were adopted by BSA in 1943, at least initially, the last letter was not applied, so seeing rifles & components just marked 'M47' is quite common.

Hope this helps a little.

As ever, if the OP can get us a few photo's of the rifle in question he will no doubt get plenty of helpful advice - unless the rifle body has been linished, the manufacturer's name or code is likely to be on it somewhere, along with the year of manufacture.