Ishapore No. III SMLE

I recently purchased a 1938 dated Ishapore No. III SMLE. The rifle is all matching and in very good condition - probably un-issued. I was surprised at what a nice-looking rifle it is - deep blue finish on all parts and really nice (walnut?) wood. The stock, forearm and hand guard have nearly the same quality wood as the WWII Long Branch No. 4 rifles. I always considered Ishapore SMLEs to be sort of second-class rifles until I saw this one. It is one of the nicest No. III rifles I have ever seen; the workmanship and finish are equal to any of the Enfield or Lithgow SMLES I have looked at. Most of the SMLEs I see here in the Midwest have been used hard!

The pre-WWII Ishapores were made to a high standard, but they are scarce and seldom seem. Most of us are accustomed to RFI rifles that have been rebuilt a dozen times or beat up from decades of use. The cleanest and most original Ishapores that I've encountered in my years of collecting were imported before 1968.

I am sorry to be "that guy" but nomenclature is so important. You mean a No 1 Mk III, I assume. The No 3 is the Pattern '14 rifle.

To the topic, very nice Ishapores can be found with the same quality of finish as British or Australian rifles but you have to look a bit. While I feel any of them are worth getting those really pretty ones are a priority to pick up.

I had a #1 Mk 3 Ishapore too some years ago with an SA stamp on the butt...very nice rifle too. Looked like it was hardly used, except the commencement was long and well worn. The barrel was silver and strong in the second half but it had obviously been used for lots of range work through time. The blue was about perfect.

Love to see pics of this one you speak of...

Thanks for clearing that up!