Battle Damaged Enfields?

In the process of gathering photo montages and background information of an upcoming Knowledge Library article about Enfield rifles (any genre and period) which have suffered obvious "battle damage" when being carried by their owners. :eek:

Here's what we have so far, scattered amongst various threads and independent articles …

SMLE hit by AP round !! (by Peter Laidler)

Friday 13th SMLE sniper damage (by Kev G)

Exploding P14 Grenade Discharger Cups (by Peter Laidler)

1912 No.1 MkIII Enfield Rifle (Battle Damaged) (by terryinvictoria)

Peter Laidler mentioned he might have some additional information or pics from his archives which would be great !!!

So, if any other members have additional pics or historical data that could be added to these, please let us know, as I think it could make for an excellent stand alone Knowledge Library article.

Thanks .. :cheers:

Regards,
Badger

I'll ask some of my local gunshops for photos - every time they try and sell me a Lee Enfield, they describe every little dent and blemish as "battle damage" - sheesh!!

Joking aside, thanks for putting this information together.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by spinecracker

....... every time they try and sell me a Lee Enfield, they describe every little dent and blemish as "battle damage" - sheesh!!

---

:rofl:

... and they also tell you that the little straight vertical hash marks on any sniper rifle are the number of "kills" ... ;)

Thanks ...

Regards,
Badger

And they seem to think that "battle damage" somehow INCREASES the value of the rifle....

Yep, and this here big dent is from where Fred fell over the stacked rifles out side the USO tent one night. See,,, them is real teeth marks.

We've got about 8 or 10 of these variously battle damaged rifles at Warminster. I'll see if I can't get a series of decent photos of them..........

All I have is a nosecap and part of a fore stock, but it's kind of scary looking. Will try and find it and shoot a photo or two if you want.

Here's an article from Gun Digest 1990 44th Annual Edition, graciously scanned and emailed to us by member Brno8x57 (click here). Thanks George ... :cheers:

It provides additional background to the pics of a battle damaged rifle stored at Warminister, depicted in Peter Laidler's article:

SMLE hit by AP round !! (by Peter Laidler)

To be able to read the text in these scanned images, their file size had to be about 2 megabytes each, so be a little patient when you click on the thumbnails. The best way to view (and save) them for use on your own computer, is to save the PDF file version also provided here, which uses the free Adobe PDF reader.

http://photos.imageevent.com/badgerd...tion%20001.png(Click PIC to Enlarge)http://photos.imageevent.com/badgerd...tion%20002.png

http://photos.imageevent.com/badgerd...tion%20003.png(Click PIC to Enlarge)http://photos.imageevent.com/badgerd...tion%20004.png

Note: After you click on images to ENLARGE them, you may find they automatically size smaller in your browser's window making them harder to view. The auto sizing is your browser's way of keeping images entirely within the screen size you have set. Move your mouse pointer to the bottom centre of the pic and you will see an options panel appear. There will be a small square box next to the large X, which will have a pointer arrow sticking out of it. If it's illuminated, it means the pic you're viewing can be enlarged, so click on this box and the pic will EXPAND and open to its normal size.

Quote:

---

http://photos.imageevent.com/badgerd...%20001.pdf.jpg
(Click PIC to read and save Adobe PDF File)
(Right Click on PIC and choose "Save Target As..." to download PDF file)
PDF file size = 6.68 Mb

---

Regards,
Badger

here's another one for the collection: AND it has Canadian content....handpicked from the mud at Vimy.
I have thought of removing the mud and rust off the bayonet boss to see if I can find the serial number or see if the guys in the forensics lab could lift a number for me but think it might be too far gone.

Not so much battle damaged but they are off the battle field

relic weapons of ww1 and ww2

Here is my only "battle damaged" rifle on a matching SMLE ConD II*.

Here's mine. Not necessarily battle damaged, but it ended up in French soil for ninety years.

Makes you think.

Cheers,
Matt

Does any one know of a company that sells dug relic weapons or know of a Trip to France? I would love to find a Lee Enfield but I dont think I'll ever get the chance.

If you ever get to Cody Wyoming there is a museum of "Dug Up Guns" I have not seen it but met the owner (he's from the area where I live) and it sounds very interesting. I am not sure of the content but presume (don't assume) it would be alot of non military but still interesting. Also of course is the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody...take a week to see all of it !

Update on my supposed contribution: Still looking! Found 20 or so nose caps in their appointed proper location and some more on forends in THEIR appointed locale, and some other likely spots. I hope this doesn't turn into "found six months later whilst looking for something else"!

Many years ago I saw a No1 rifle in an Anzac Day display at the Newcastle regional museum. It had been donated locally, and was going to be there for a few weeks.
The rifle had taken a bullet strike in the right side of the action which seriously bent the receiver. The attached information stated which battle (cannot recall, but it was WW1 France or Belgium) and the owner was KIA on his first day. I was back at the Museum the following week with my camera to take some pics, but the rifle was gone. I asked the people where it was, they said it had caused some concern so it was removed and inspected. It still had 9 rounds in the magazine and one up the spout. The cocking piece had dropped part way from cocked, but the bend in the bolt from the bullet strike had bound the firing pin.
They said it had been destroyed. The army had blown it up to make it safe.

Wish I'd had a camera with me on the first visit :banghead:

No nosecap yet. However, I did find this:


https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff015-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff019-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff016-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff024-1.jpg


https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff022-1.jpg

No metal inbedded, but it looks to have continued in service a bit longer, or it got handled a lot afterwards, and probably any fragments were removed.

Guessing shell burst.

Indian marked, so probably WWII.

There is a Lee Metford MkII for sale on CGN for $1,200.00 that has slight damage from a bullet strike on the barrel the with a great history if anyone is interested. The gun is in Southern Ontario.

Just be VERY aware with such relics Forumers. Buy the rifle and not the story................ Unless they are from a not only reliable, but WELL DOCUMENTED source

Here's A nosecap, maybe it's the one of which I was thinking, but I seem to remember something else. Anyway, you guess what created the mess.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff030-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff033-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff032-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...stuff036-1.jpg
So!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jmoore

Anyway, you guess what created the mess.

---

Was he poking a crocodile and it bit down ?

I bought this from a fellow who bought it from a French farmer on the Mons battlefield. It is too far gone to restore.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by breakeyp

I bought this from a fellow who bought it from a French farmer on the Mons battlefield. It is too far gone to restore.

---

Wow ... :eek:

I wonder if it was buried with that barrel bent like that, or whether it was run over some time following the war by a tractor or something ...

Thanks for the pics ... :thup:

Regards,
Badger

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jmoore

Anyway, you guess what created the mess.

---

Is this more recent than we'd think? Afghanistan perhaps?

Cheers,
Matt

There are plenty of these old relics scattered around in Afgstan, certainly in the UK part but while they're beaten to death, there is very little corrosion as things dn't rust out there. So you'll get a battered and bent SMLE that's, just, well battered and bent but not corroded

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jollygreenslugg

Is this more recent than we'd think? Afghanistan perhaps?

Cheers,
Matt

---

I've had it for over twenty years, and it looked about the same then, I reckon. Unfortunately, all I know is that it came w/ a bunch of spares and barreled actions, many Indian, but not all. The buttstock pictured earlier on this thread was in the same lot, but I've no idea if they go together!

My original post on a study of battle damaged firearms and edged weapons did not envisage such monumental damage. I had originally thought of the typical scrapes caused by recoil when the rifle was used around the corner of a building or over a rock or parapet, with the occasional bullet hole in a stock. Peter's input with rifles from the Warminster collection certainly raised the bar. Thanks for the input chaps, and keep them coming!
Ian Skennerton

Link to bigduke6's thread:

No4 Battle damaged relic....

Severe damage!

Has anyone got one of these battlefield pick-ups and cleaned it/de rusted it down using electrolysis as per a thread on the restoration forum? We have an SMLE plus a Webley Mk4 found on Salisbury Plain that I just left in the workshop waste oil tank for a year. In fact the grotty Webley was pretty good afterwards and I fired it.

Anyone got pics of a pick-up that's been de-rusted?