Lee Enfield collecting, or when one is not enough

Hello all. I'm a new member, although I've monitored this site for some time as it is a great source of information.

I started collecting Lee Enfields in 2000, becoming interested in them through a friend. Now I have 23 of them, as well as 27 bayonets. It's an addiction - getting various rifles built by their various makers, then wanting the appropriate bayonets, again from their various makers (preferably with the same date as the rifle, although I know that makes absolutely no difference to most people). My collecting interests primarily are centered in Mk III*'s and earlier models, and in recent years I've gotten into trainers (the most recent acquisition being a .22 Short Rifle Mk II). The bayonets mainly are 1888's, 1903's and, of course, a lot of 1907's. Anyway, I'm glad to be here and hopefully won't make a fool of myself when posting.

Hey I'm not that seasoned here but I'll say welcome, and what a great entrance it would be to have some pictures of this collection :D. I'd love to say that is an extreme collection but we all know you could have hundreds of them and still not be content. Do you shoot any of these old guns by any chance, or are there any you have restored? I for one love seeing old guns that can still shoot, or ones that have been resurrected. Have fun here and enjoy us other's who share the addiction.

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Originally Posted by Pioneer3fingers

Now I have 23 of them, as well as 27 bayonets. It's an addiction

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Yes, this we knew. Now, if you'd kindly display your addiction for us...?

The only way I can get past my small collection of 6 is either A) Become a dealer and thats expensive B) Get a collectors license then they are destined to be just look at mee's as you cannot take them out to shoot them.

I had trouble getting my last one licensed a No.4 "T" as I had 5 others so the police licensing questioned why I needed so many of the same caliber I said club WWII vintage sniper matches we held (Tad of bull-yang).

We love pics & resurrections of stray puppies to their former glory.....Welcome to milsurps

Also have a small collection of four Mark 1*** rifles, one ConD 11* and two early mark 1** IP rifles. Finding a Mark 1*** without the Irish pre-fix is not common in the US, but
I did an example. My ConD 11* is still has sights for the Mark V1 cartridge.

The I.P. rifles are an early BSA 1904 converted in 1917 and a Enfield 1903 converted in 1914 and still in very good condition. I do have one No1 Mark 111 BSA 1909 not shownAttachment 94876Attachment 94877

Posting some pictures of the rifles and bayonets is definitely a goal of mine. Right now, however, all my time is being taken up with caring for a lady friend who has been incapacitated by ongoing foot surgeries. With her place in one town and mine in another and my day job in a third (all about 20+ miles apart from each other), I don't seem to have time to do anything related to my collection except occasionally look at it.

I have fired a few of the rifles in the past, and for future use am lucky enough to have amassed about a thousand rounds of good South African ammo (back when it was readily available, and cheap, at local gun shows). Restorations have been limited to replacing missing parts, although I do have two stock sets I want to use. Given my limited abilities and based on what I have read in this forum, I suspect it would be best to turn over any major wood work to someone with the knowledge to do it correctly. One project is a 1914 Mk III that I picked up at a gun show several years ago. Bubba had virtually destroyed the forend, having cut the wood all the way back to the sight guard and then tapered it so that there was almost nothing left to hold onto. On the plus side, the buttstock was in good shape, the cut off and rear volley aperture sight were there, the receiver, bolt, barrel, and sight all had matching numbers, and there were no import/export markings. Additionally, the unit marking disk, which did not appear to have been messed with, identified the rifle as belonging to the 1st Essex. That regiment fought at Gallipoli subsequent to the "taken into service" date on the disk, so it might have been there.