Sht L.E. 1*** 1905

Hello Everyone, I joined up on this forum a couple of months ago and have been reading up on all the wealth of Lee Enfield information that is contained in the various posts. I have been interested in Lee Enfields for most of my life, mainly due to my Grandfather who was a Full Bore rifle shooter and had 3 No1 Mk111*'s converted to target rifles with heavy barrels and aperture sights. I inherited them when he died in 1996, but just kept them in the safe. A few years ago I took up Full Bore shooting, occasionally giving the 303's a run. In the last 12 months I joined our local Military and Pistol Club and have been thoroughly enjoying using the 303's in a much more military setting - first time I had ever fired a 303 standing!
Last week one of the club members asked my if I wanted an old No 1 barreled action that he wanted to get rid of. When I first looked at it it was a bit of a mystery to me, but in one week I now now a bit about the Sht L.E. 1***.
Hopefully the photos will reveal some of this rifles past, it appears that the barrel may be original? Bolt is not matching and firing pin locking bolt/knob has been damaged. Sight base has been crudely removed, the screws were undone but looks like they didn't realise it was pinned as well!
I intend to put the action in a set of Mk 111 woodwork but would really like to get onto a sight base and a correct nosecap. I can possibly make a sight base and fit a Mk 111 sight, any advice gratefully accepted!

Welcome. I speculate the barrel has been replaced in 1907. It is perfectly acceptable to use Mk III wood, although you'll have a very difficult time in locating a few crucial pieces. A MkIII forearm with the dial plate recess is near impossible to find. Same goes for the front volley sight plate. MkIII upper handguards are getting scarce as well. Surprisingly, MkI*** rear sights and nose caps turn up on Ebay from time to time, so you may have luck there. Magazine cut-off plates are fairly easy to source.

In the past, I have seen CR pre-fixed MkI*** rifles wearing Mk III* wood, so that is an option as well. You'll just have to remove the rear volley arm (or sell it, to offset your costs).

If you search this site for MKI*** threads, you should find several examples in various conditions. Some wearing their correct early wood, others upgraded with Mk III* wood.

Good Luck!

Isn't that a Sparkbrook barrel?

Thats what i initially thought, but im away from my reference books, and i cant double check. SK usually indicates sparkbrook, but i dont recall seeing such a large marking. When i get home, i’ll pull apart my sparkbrook and check.

Thankyou smle addict and waco16 for your interest. The wood set I have organised is from a Lithgow Mk 111*, through one of our local gun dealers who is also a Lee Enfield enthusiast. He is also able to supply a magazine cutoff. I will keep an eye out on ebay and any other outlets for a rear sight and nose cap as well as place a WTB on this forum.
Interesting about the barrel, if you need any more photos for identification let me know.

hi i am helping a mate he has inherited his ggranfathers no1 the front wood was all cut down and i have put mk 111 wood on it it is fitted with a h barrel and doesn’t look out of place

Has the transitional mag they are a good find and still going up in price, you need to get onto that rust pronto I will give you the quick way to get it off without damaging the bluing.

Use a stainless steel wool scourer (Not a steel one) and WD-40 or RP-7 spray some on the scourer and a bit on the part to be cleaned rub in circles lightly occasionally wiping off and re apply the WD-40 or RP-7 and there ya go good as new this was taught to me by a WWII armorer who is now deceased R.I.P Jack

It is indeed a Sparkbrook made barrel. Probably one of their last.

Around 1906 they were transitioning over to private ownership by BSA.

I would be taking a careful look at the chamber. The three asterisk markings on the nock's form flat signify that an armourer found rust in the chamber and polished it out. Not a major concern, but it might mean that you have a super generous chamber which could cause headaches if you were to reload for this rifle.

And, do't go scrubbing anything with a stainless scouring pad. If you don't have 'the touch' you can quickly do something that you might regret.

About 15 years ago I found a sporterized Mark 1*** Enfield 1906 with the second serial number and the CR prefix. I had to replace the fore-end with a Mark 111 but did find a Mark 1 front hand guard. The fore-end has to be inletted for the inner band from the Mark 1 to fit.

I did find a Mark 1*** backsight rear leaf but it was without the backsiight leaf slide so I decided to make one. The second attempt worked out but I had to use stainless steel coil springs for the buttons on each side, also use wood for the studs and checkered them.

photo shows my backsight leaf and slide plus a photo of my small collectionAttachment 105169Attachment 105170Attachment 105171

You can try it yourself CA trust me it works you don't have to be a gorilla at it if you use ordinary steel wool then yes sir you'll strip the bluing off quicker than a leaky bucket loses water. The stainless does not remove the bluing its for surface rust not deep stuff I use electrolysis for that and I would not say this treatment if I had not used it on my own rifles as when I first got some of them as they were a bit neglected especially my Parker Hale 1200 Safari Grade 22/250 we all know how deep the bluing was on those.

That magazine is a good candidate if the owner tries it in a spot which will be hidden by the stock with before and after shots I am sure he will see the difference like I said Stainless scourer (Non soaped) or stainless steel wool nice and easy like Mr Myagi says spray on wipe of easy does it. Sadly I do not have anymore neglected rusty firearms but I'll scrounge and see what I've got out in the shed I may find something there but highly unlikely. Anyway its only a suggestion they can try an oily rag but it wont do the same job.

Nice set of rifles there RCS