No1 MKIII questions and suggestions

Hello,

I recently expanded my collection with a No1 MKIII. Its an Ishapore, dated 1915, and I thought Id share some details in order to get some questions answered and some possible restoration suggestions. It was imported by century and came with the original manual and certificate from them. It was caked in grease instead of cosmoline and while its in a MKIII* stock set, its only marked MKIII and it has the openings for installation of the cutoff. Its all matching except for the bolt body (weirdly, the arm on the adjustable sight SN is marked through and a new one to make it matching was added). With this being said I had some questions:

1. Was the scratching through and re-numbering common, if so has it been thorough more than one refit.

2. On the bolt head extractor arm is written BA45, what does this mean? Also the bolt body has a H and a C after the s/n, what does that mean??

3. Should I have it restored??

(Ill post pics tomorrow)

Bernard Simon

The BA45 mark indicates an Australian made item; Bathurst Factory, 1945

The Indians and British, et al didn't use cosmolene as such but a heavy preservative grease called XG295 or/or another, similar called XG297 so this is very probably what you've got. You should leave this grease smeared between the wood and the steel.

The backsight leaf will be numbered to the rifle, as will be the nose cap, bolt and fore-end as mixing these items up in an Armourers shop will affect the accuracy* so we numbered them. When we did replace an item and put the old one back '.....on the shelf' then we always barred through the number. If it was used again then the new rifle number was put onto it.

Your rifle has probably been more refits than Zaza Gabor has had face lifts. That's just the nature of the beast. Should you restore it........? Mmmmmm there's no right answer. But I say, if it ain't broke then don't fix it! If it's broke, then fix what's broke! There's something warm and feely about a rifle or car or an old lorry that's been there, done that AND got the tee shirt. My brother has got an old 1945 Bedford QL lorry, all restored to British Army - Germany, 1958/9 and like new. Looks nice - VERY nice in fact, but put alongside an old battle weary, hard used old clunker that just looks like it's been unloaded at Antwerp in 1944 driven to Berlin, then......., something is missing........ But you get my nostalgic drift

* the bolt is numbered as it is accurately fitted to that rifle and shouldn't ever be changed around/mixed with another

The decision to restore is yours alone, and if you post pics on the forum you'll very get good information and suggestions. the early Ishapores are beautiful, but later Indian stock sets often look very crude.
However, the current trend is to preserve, not to restore, old rifles.
Have a look at post No. 32 on this thread:
Question Regarding Volley or Long Range Sights on the No 1 Mk III

All those rifles have been superbly preserved, and if kept in that condition, are always going to be greatly admired and highly valued.
However, if any of those rifles had been restored in their 100+ year life, the restoration would stand out like b*lls on a bulldog.

Hello,

Thanks for all the info so far, some additional info. The barrel matches and may be the original since its numbered and has SC and HV on the barrel. While the rifle is in decent shape there are a few issues. The muzzle is worn as the pics show but it still has rifling (its been too cold to test it, plus still getting grease out of the chamber). Also the second stage of the trigger is extremely light (almost 1 stage only). Finally the rear hand guard is cracked almost all the way through and its only got one rivet holding it on. As for restoration, well if i restored it i was either gonna go full on (volley sights, cut off, stock disc, repair the windage on the sight) or partial (cut off and windage repair). Here are some pics for scrutiny (sorry if some are blurry will retake if needed)

There is a comprehensive fix-it guide on this very forum to set up the correct trigger pressures. That's that problem solved!

Handguard. You could just do what Armourers have been doing for over 100 years. Glue and patch. Using aero spec adhesive and oak for the slip patches you use. That'll last you for another 100 years if done properly. Missing rivet(s) not readily available but turned up on a manual lathe in less that 2 minutes. Whiule you're there, remove and peg the unsightly fore-end screw

As for the barrel....... 20 years ago we stopped all of this multiple gauging nonsense with rifles. The .301 gauge should run freely under its own weight and if there is any doubt about its accuracy, range test for accuracy from the Enfield rest - or let a good, well regarded shooter fire it, forearm only rested, over cover

The question often posed in museums is: conserve or restore? The default answer is the former, and even that would not be carried out if to do so would lead to little or no extra life but at the detriment of the artefact as a historic object. Put another way: "Primum non nocere" (first do no harm).

So on that basis I would do the small repairs and give the woodwork a drink of linseed oil.