MLE rifle

what do you think? im not sure what euroarms means by 'shutter not mono" ?

Thanks!!

Never seen the diamond in a U mark, nor the broad arrow between two Ts :confused:

its south african marked.

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Originally Posted by smle13

what do you think? im not sure what euroarms means by 'shutter not mono" ?

Thanks!!

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Just a wild guess but could 'shutter not mono' be refering to the magazine cut off meaning its a multi-shot without the 'shutter'.

Interesting rifle. The diamond in the U is a fairly common South African mark, but I've never seen the T^T. Anybody have an idea what it stands for?

What was the context of the "shutter not mono" comment?

I don't think that's a broad arrow between two T's, but rather a broad arrow inside a serif-U mark. It's another version of the South African ownership markings, of which there were several types over the years. The bottom of the U is not completely visible, so it looks like a T.

IIRC, the U with broad arrow is the earlier mark. The one with the diamond was applied later, after South Africa left the Commonwealth.

I think you've hit on it...makes much more sense.

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Originally Posted by Jc5

I don't think that's a broad arrow between two T's, but rather a broad arrow inside a serif-U mark. It's another version of the South African ownership markings, of which there were several types over the years. The bottom of the U is not completely visible, so it looks like a T.

IIRC, the U with broad arrow is the earlier mark. The one with the diamond was applied later, after South Africa left the Commonwealth.

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Looking again I see you're quite correct on the "Ts" It is a large "U" Interesting that such a rifle would still be in service after 1961.

In 1961, the UK had only recently switched to the FN -FAL. Lee Enfields continued to be used officially in places like India throughout the 60s and 70s....some even today.

And in these modern times of plastic, short-range rifles with all sorts of flashlights, ipods, and pez dispensers sticking out of them, it is good to remember that well-built bolt action rifles (that have been decently maintained) can probably do their job just as well as they did 100 years ago. A Lee Enfield cannot check your email for you, but it can still reliably feed potent ammo and hit targets hard out to some considerable distance. Milk has an expiration date, but good rifles don't.

As stated the Diamond in the U is a South African marking. It signifies that the rifle was sold out of government service. So far as I have been able to establish, it dates from shortly after the Second World War.