42 Lithgow MK II* My 2nd Enfield?

Hello,

Looking at a Lithgow that is Marked:

MA
LITHGOW
S.M.L.E.
II* (NOT III*)
1942

It has been FTR'd and does have the A in a STAR stamps on some parts (multiple along the lower right receiver under the wood.MA/50 on left side of butt socket. It is matching except the bolt. Looks great to me with many clear markings I have attached. I can't find much about Mk II* rifles is this uncommon?

They are asking $299. I am contemplating trading a modern pocket auto, extra mag and a box of good ammo and try to get them to throw in a Long Branch that looks good but needs a little TLC as well.

My question is how much safety or value issue is the non-matching bolt. Safety is my primary concern. My Garand, M1917 and M1903 are all mixmasters and shoot fine and I don't mind the mixed parts, kind of comes with the territory.

Thanks again!

Niels

Niels

D Serial number and '42 date all tie in with III*. Perhaps the stamping was poor or has been damaged.

Would like to see a photo of the RHS wrist showing the Lithgow stampings.

You should get and experienced gunsmith to assess the non-matching bolt

The attached link takes you to an article by Peter Laidler on fitting bolts to a No4 Rifle. This oulines some of the items that need to be measured and checked.

http://photos.imageevent.com/badgerd...0boltheads.pdf

Cheers

Paul

Paul

I think you can do better for the price. Had it a matching bolt, then it wouldn't be so bad. The lack of one "I" in the Mk.III isn't hugely uncommon. I've a WWI BSA that's the same way.

Very nice detail photos!

Well, talked him down to $210. I'm good with that. The LB that is with it has a pretty bad (may just be dirt, but could be rust, can't tell...going back with a bore snake) and the butt doesn't have a correct buttplate (just a piece of metal) and there is a chunk of wood missing from by butt socket. He droped it to $200 but I may be able to talk him down more as well. Walked away for now concerned about the bore but everything else on it looks great! No FTR, great markings. Will go take pics as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jmoore

Very nice detail photos!

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I tried to upload more pics including full length but they are too large a file. Same post on GB.

Quick easy way to reduce pic sizes, I open them in MS paint, go to "IMAGE" on the top left of pic and then select stretch/ skew. Reduce both dimensions to the same amount, try 60% and then save as...whatever to where ever and check file size. About 200 to 300kb are good...
You can also crop using the drag and drop arrow from the bottom right to do two edges, then at IMAGE again, rotate image 180deg and crop other two sides, rotate back, resize if needed then save. A few seconds per picture to make them any size you want.

Probably easier ways, but this does all I need