RSAF No.1 MKIII* for your consideration

This is my first Lee Enfield. I recently acquired this 1918 RSAF No.1 MKIII* for $100 U.S. I bought it from a friend whom said an older guy brought itround, whom said he was given it by a neighbor many years ago, he didn't know what it was or want it as he had no use for it etc. It's missing the magazine and the stock swivels/stacking swivel. I have been reading this forum and others looking for information about these. I shot one in the early 1990's and have wanted one since. I ordered a book by Stratton and the yellow cover manual to help me get thru it. Both books are "OKAY" but not really helping me with the detailed or in delth information I had hoped for. The thing that is bothering me is the white/silver colored painted band around the forestock? What is that about? What does it indicate? I have not found a DP or EY stamp on any metal parts, or on the wood or painted on the stock anywhere. When I got it the piece was pretty much covered in cosmoline; even the bore was clogged up with it, I sent a piece of coat hanger thru it before I bought it to be sure there wasn't a slug lodged in the bore. All the parts & stock seem to be the originals and nothing indicates a DP marked piece would be removed. The fore stock has the serial number on it. I plan to buy a headspace gauge to check that also. What I want to know is if I can shoot this one or if you guys, the collective, with your combined knowledge and experience can see something that isn't obvious to me?

There's an interesting MKL entry that might help as well ...

1917 ShtLE (Short Lee-Enfield) No.1 MkIII*

Regards,
Doug

It was Proofed in London by the Gunmakers Company sometime after 1954.

Looks nice. Start by using a lint free cloth and a 50/50 mix of turpentine and boiled linseed oil on the stock. You'll find that 100 years of gunge comes off fairly easily and it will clean up nicely. Don't use abrasives on the wood though.

Very nice first enfield. It looks as though it will clean up nicely using Newcastles recomendations.Word of caution! They can be very addictive.

EMER C-308 Section 13, paragraph 6 (the Briitish Army bible in relation to No1 rifles) states:
All sub standard rifles are painted with a two inch aluminium band around the fore-stock and the front handguard between the outer band and the nose cap.

There.......... you are the proud owner of an ex British Army sub-standard No1 rifle.

If you or anyone else is really interested in the gauge limits for firing the sub standard rifles, ask and I'll repeat them

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Peter Laidler

EMER C-308 Section 13, paragraph 6 (the Briitish Army bible in relation to No1 rifles) If you or anyone else is really interested in the gauge limits for firing the sub standard rifles, ask and I'll repeat them

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Yes Please, I used the google search function tied to this page per Badger's suggestion elsewhere. The EMER C-308 information this forum turned up relates to the No. 4 rifle only. I assume the barrel on mine is "shoot out" or worn to out of specification which is why it swallowed my CMP Muzzle Gauge past the .303 graduation. I will head space it and fire it recreationally with confidence.

For the benefit of bubba the kid and anyone else who has or thinks that he might have a sub standard No1 rifle, here are the gauging limits for it.

PLUG GAUGE .301" must run freely
PLUG GAUGE .307" must not run
PLUG GAUGE .308" must not enter the muzzle more than 1/4"
PLUG GAUGE .310" must not enter the breech (beyond the chamber) more than 1/4"
CHS. .064" Low/must close. .074" high/must not close

The range and accuracy test is relaxed so that with the MPI 1" above the point of aim, 4 out of 5 shots must be inside or cutting a rectangle 1" horizontal x 1.5" vertical.

Any other questions, just ask and I'll see what the bible says............

Bolthead overturn can be UP TO 30 degrees and slight play in the magazine is permissable

This is new information for me, I did not know about the aluminum band and what it indicated. Looking at the EMER gauge limits, what is the exact difference in the substandard rifle and one that would be considered “E.Y.” ? By “E.Y.” I refer to the commonly marked well worn SMLE MK I rifles, not the wire wrapped versions meant for grenade launching.

Pardon my ignorance but it would appear that with the 30 degree over rotation, the bolt and/or bolt head are worn beyond reclaiming. Is that the case? The rest of the inspection criteria seem to be pretty much like a normal rifle, unless I am missing something.

Would this roughly correspond to the yellow banded Australian No 1 MK III cadet rifles one occasionally sees? Having looked a couple of them marked with yellow bands (and supposedly safe to fire but not up to standard as the green banded cadet rifles) I noted they also had DP marks, at least in paint. At the same time the Australian Red band rifles all seem to have DP marked on the action bodies and the bolts. I had always assumed that the yellow banded DP marked rifles were safe to fire but not that accurate or lacking in the two stage trigger or something similar.

This site never fails to bring out details on material that would never show up on other sites. It is without a doubt the very best site for Enfield fans.

The only difference in barrel spec between a No1 sub standard and a No1EY - so far as the UK Military is concerned - is that on an EY rifle:
The bolthead overturn will not under any circumstances exceed 15 degrees and
Slight pitting or cuts may be ignored provided that the .301" gauge runs freely and (added later as an amendment dated July 1958)
It will be marked with a distinct olive green band around the butt embossed with the letters EY to indicated its rifle grenade status. (.....I think this is wrong as in my opinion, it should read 'grenade firing status' but who am I to argue..........

As for the Aust and other nations DP/EY/Sub Standard spec, then you'll have to look elsewhere as while we did service Cadet SMLE's in our big and small unit workshops (when asked) in Australia, I never really took any notice except that the DP stuff of which I was familiar in the UK, such as Brens, were marked with great dollops of yellow paint, usually applied with a shaving brush or a 6" household paint roller!

On the subject Son, do you have the EMEI's that cover this?

Many thanks for the detailed answer. This explains a lot, at least to me.

I got around to test firing the "Out of Spec" rifle. Lovingly cradled in the old saw horse, aimed directly at a 20' high earthwork, remote fired with 200' of bailing twine. It went off perfectly. Of course I saved the cases, but forgot to photgraph them for everyone's review, and so i will post those here soon.

http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/...s/IMG_3923.jpg

Obviously an Ozzie rifle, why else would it appear to be upside down?

(Ha ha Peter, beat you):lol:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BubbaTheKid

I got around to test firing the "Out of Spec" rifle. Lovingly cradled in the old saw horse, aimed directly at a 20' high earthwork, remote fired with 200' of bailing twine. It went off perfectly. Of course I saved the cases, but forgot to photgraph them for everyone's review, and so i will post those here soon.

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Glad she remained in one piece.