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I received an e-mail advert from International Military Antiques today. They are listing Long Lees (purchased from Nepal) for the princely sum of USD 2250.00! The picture of a typical rifle is what is enough to make a grown man - me, cry. Shocking condition is an understatement. The included century's worth of the best dust, dirt and grime Nepal has to offer does not make a battered, rusted out rifle worth 2 bl**dy grand!
Paul,
you didn`t see it the right way. What do you think how long it takes to get such a nice crusty rust on a rifle? And than you have to pay for the dust wich makes 2m² of good nepal ground and to put this in a rifle. So think about it again and you will see that is an real price!:madsmile::rofl:
Regards
Gunner:wave:
Many of those Long Lees are 22 cal, unless they have segregated them.
The rifles being advertised are 303.
Here's their site info... :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul S.
Quote:
British .303cal Lee-Metford MK.1* Magazine Rifle Dated 1890/91 with Bayonet & Scabbard [BE1890] $2,250.00
Original Item: A Recent Historical Narrative- A few months ago, IMA confirmed on a prominent internet Gun forum that these .303cal bolt action rifles recovered from the Royal Arsenal of Nepal in 2003 had all been sold and deactivated in England for the British market. To avoid U.S. Customs complications IMA shipped all the Post-1898 weapons to England directly from Nepal and, for whatever reason, that shipment happened to include a very few Lee Metford Rifles which had been discovered with No.1 Mk.3 SMLE Rifles. Unhappily our British Customer for these items, owing to the recent economic crisis, has closed his business and we stepped in to re-acquired what inventory remained, INCLUDING a very few, as yet, non-deactivated and still un-cleaned Lee-Metford MK.1* Rifles.
IMA is proud to offer the very few remaining rifles in un-cleaned, AS IS, condition, just as we found them in the Royal Palace of Nepal where they laid undisturbed for over 100 years. We have cleaned a sample to demonstrate the general condition (without the grime), which is photographed beside an un-cleaned example. It is our sincere belief that all rifles are basically in the same general good/very good condition. IMA has inspected each rifle to make sure all integral parts are included and no major stock or metal damage is present. However, minor pitting and stock imperfections must be expected. Also, we do not inspect or clean the bore, as these are not sold with the intention of firing. Interestingly, we received the bayonets and scabbards with the rifles (not matched to the guns though) and both will be included with your purchase. Scabbard styles vary slightly.
Every rifle is marked on the rear receiver ring onto which the butt attaches with Victorian Royal Crown over V.R. under which is marked ENFIELD over 1890 or 1891, beneath which is I*. There are various British Military Proof Inspection marks on the forward receiver ring into which the barrel screws, in addition to the Serial Number.
These are the very rare Mk.1* model, in fact Nepal was never issued any and what they had were captured from Tibet in the Nepal/Tibetan War of the early 1900s.
So that's the story, we had them, we sold them and luckily were able to buy a few back. Very few, as described, complete with original bayonet and scabbard. This is an excellent reason to get your hands dirty. We have very, very few of these and once they are sold an opportunity like this will never be repeated.
Note: This gun was manufactured before 1898 and is therefore legally considered an "antique". It is totally legal to own WITHOUT a U.S. Federal Firearms License and can be shipped to most countries around the world.
$ 2250 with bayonet. Buy as many as you can, clean store and watch your investment grow.
They are expensive, but the cleaned photo shows the rifle up better than I expected! And for an early Metford, maybe not too far off the value mark? Hard to say - they aren't exactly selling cheap these days.
In Ian Skennerton book " The Lee Enfield " , page 24 Quotes - " manufacture eventually occurred in seven countries, Great Britian, Australia,India, Canada, US, Pakistan and Nepal , my Q is ,did Nepal have a factory making Enfield rifles?
19th century Nepalese rifles are all hand made, even the screws. Parts, as a general rule, are NOT interchangeable.
$2250 with a bayonet is very cheap.:D:thup: buy as many as you can.Quote:
Originally Posted by jona
What does an early Lee Metford sell for these days down under?
Matt "Jollygreenslugg"produced an excellent video series about the Lee Enfield rifles. If you haven't viewed them as yet, you'll find them in our on-line Screening Room (click here) and his own personal collection appears in our Members Showcase Forum (click here).
The oldest one in his collection is an 1889 Lee-Metford I* which he produced a video about and I thought it might hold some interest for those new collectors in this thread who wanted to learn more about these old Metfords.
Regards,Quote:
Badger