Lee Enfield "Short" Buttstocks

Entirely by coincidence, I discovered that both of my SMLE rifles had been fitted with "short" length butt stocks. From what I understand, the short length is only found on about 3% of all lee Enfields, so for me to have ended up unknowingly picked two rifles with short stocks is a little unusual.

Rifle one, my first smle owned, a 1917 MK3*, was lightly sanded, leaving the "S" nearly invisible. I did not notice this, and nearly anyone who shot it, including myself would eventually comment that it doesn't seem to shoulder as nice as they thought it would, preferring the (one size fits all?) butt length of my Long Lee. It seems the 1/2 makes a difference.

Rifle two is a recently acquired SMLE V, it is in very close to as issued condition and the stamp was noticed, but not considered when I purchased it. As both halves? of the stock are unsanded, with the forestock numbers matching. I believe it was issued with a short butt. This SMLE V is unusual in that the stock disk is marked with what appears to be a farsi character, yet the rifle is not in the kind of condition you would expect to find in an SMLE issued in that part of the world.

I only found out the 1917 has a short stock when I put them on the rack together expecting the V to be shorter, when it turns out they are the same length. Close inspection of the 1917 shows the faint unreadable outline of the "S".

My 1917 is a shooter, has had many parts replaced, a 1920 rebuild,and, while I believe it is original to the rifle, I have had the butt stock removed from the receiver for other reasons. Would swapping butts be a viable option, and are there still enough pre WW2 smle stocks in existence to be able to inexpensivly swap to a correct stock.

Given the relative rarity of short length stocks, and the rarity of SMLE V, is this a configuration that was issued in the trials? I assume it does not raise or lower the value of the rifle, and it will remain unchanged.

I know you like pictures, and I'll get some on here "soon".

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Originally Posted by BVZ24

and are there still enough pre WW2 smle stocks in existence to be able to inexpensivly swap to a correct stock.

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There are two words in that sentence that can NEVER appear together - those days are long gone.

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Originally Posted by Alan de Enfield

There are two words in that sentence that can NEVER appear together - those days are long gone.

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You can take that sentence to the bank ... (yes, pun intended :p )

My MkV has a Long butt stock.
If i was to guess, given that the MKV trial production numbers where huge (compared to other trial rifles) i think it would be safe to assume that a number of lengths were provided too... either has spares or already installed on rifles, as needed.

I don't know if there is really only 3% of shorts butts out there but 3% of well over 10 millions Lee Enfields is still quite a bit.
Original pre WW2 butt stocks are not rare... but nice, un-sanded one's are definitively getting harder to find. Not to mention a color and grain matching.
If you do swap it i would suggest saving the old one and keeping it with the rifle... a future next owner might prefer to have it

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Originally Posted by tatou

I don't know if there is really only 3% of shorts butts out there but 3% of well over 10 millions Lee Enfields is still quite a bit.

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I think that stems from the fact that its generally accepted that about 10% of all butt production was non-standard length, so that's Bantam, Short & Long accounted for 10%, so *if* that 10% was split evenly, then about 3% odd would be for each of those types, but whether the split was even between the 3 or not is open to speculation.

My No.5 had a short butt when I bought it, and it was horrible to shoot (I've got long gorilla arms) but luckily, I had owned a de-activated No.5 for a number of years as I had bought it for my late father as a wall hanger, as the No.5 was his favourite from his Army service, and took it back after he passed away. By chance that was fitted with a Long butt, so I swapped the butts over before selling the de-act, and the difference in shooting comfort between the short and long butt (1") was very marked.

Pictures as promised.

I actually have a normal length butt stock of indian manufacture attached to my favorite bottle opener.
IMG-20220427-173942-HDR — ImgBB
But I would prefer original walnut with a stock disc cut out.

If I had to guess, my smle 3 butt stock was only sanded once, and very lightly.
IMG-20220427-173804-HDR — ImgBB
IMG-20220427-173810-HDR — ImgBB

Matching age, condition, grain, wood, etc would be difficult. However, if you want to shoot it, use a loose boot over the butt to lengthen the butt. Easy on and off and doesn't change anything, except for ease of shooting. I use my No 4 with such a boot for competition.