My Lithgow 1918 ShtLe * Lee Enfield.

G'day Guys and galls,

New to this forum and my first post. Just wanted to show you my pride and joy. She is an old girl with battle dings and scratches but still shoots like a dream, hopefully these pictures will go up. Was wondering if anyone could tell me anything about my old girl and whether I should renovate it or keep as is and keep in the state she still is in? oh and the other day I took of the wooden parts to have a look for more identifiers i noticed a 5 on the bottom of the lower handguard and I took off the rear swivel point for the sling and there was some red/black stain, hopefully its not what I think it is :/. But if you have any info please share :))
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I don't think you need to do anything to this one...it looks fine. I'm glad you're showing us the rifle too. There'll be several will come along shortly to read the markings. I know most but they'll know them all. The only one that worries me is the S on the barrel ring, but I'll wait for Peter Laidler or Tankie or those to come forward with an opinion...

The Arrow-S-arrow on the breeching up ring is the Government Sale mark. I just assume that the S at the bottom of the stock fore-end is a Slazenger mark

Thanks for that!!! I think the 5 under the hand guard means the 5th military district which by memory I think it would be Western Australia. But the Barrel has been marked 1950, could it be possible that this rifle could have served WW1, WW2 and Korea?

Ooooops, I thought that you were referring to the S or 5 as in photo 3.

But what would a Slazenger mark be doing on an Australian rifle?

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I think the one on the stock was the sold out of service mark as same on the barrel, I will try and get a picture of the five thats under the hand guard in the morning. Would you be able to value the rifle at all?

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Originally Posted by Peter Laidler

photo 3

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I was...now I know for sure what it means. I thought it was something like that because of the two arrows facing each other. I'd never seen anything between them.

This is also etched into the Rifle but stock

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That is a nice looking rifle!

You asked what a Slazenger mark would mean on a Lithgow rifle made in Australia............? Somebody in Australia better break the news!

Tha latter mark is a repair mark of 9/44

I thought Slazenger was a english company?

I think the S arrow on the stock is a sanded out Sold out of Service mark, but I havent seen those marks on the wood before. Slazenger took over the wood shop of the Lithgow factory early on in WW2 presumably on account of their experience with cricket bats, tennis raquets etc. their mark is a 'Slaz' followed by a date eg. Slaz 44, they also did bayonet grips. The black/red stail may be creosote which originally preserved the woodwork but is often sanded off to reveal the honey like coachwood. Nice rifle i'm on the lookout for a similar rifle, ive got the wood for one.

Slazenger might have started as a pommy company but since you beat us at Tennis and Cricket, we thought that you might as well have the company to make your Cricket clubs and tennis bats.

Anyone else out there confirm the disputed Arrow - S under the fore-end on this Aust No1 rifle/rifles. Sale mark or Slazenger? On the basis that slazenger wasn't always marked as SLAZ

It's the same sale mark as on the receiver, you can see the remains of the other broad arrow... just.

I asked because it just seems a strange place to put a sale mark........ To me, having been at the sharp end of this sort of thing, to put the sale mark onto the woodwork is open to, well...... all sorts of misuse, It's the BODY that is the master component and the BODY that must be marked. That's why it is the serially numbered and accountable part!

I have at least one SMLE with a sale mark on the butt that i can recall, will post pic later when home

Or you can look up my 1904 Mk1 SMLE thread.

Yep very common to see the sale stamp applied to the butt of Australian service rifles. Often you also see the mark on the underside of the forend as well.

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Originally Posted by Peter Laidler

You asked what a Slazenger mark would mean on a Lithgow rifle made in Australia............? Somebody in Australia better break the news!

Tha latter mark is a repair mark of 9/44

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Does that mean it is only suitable for launching tennis balls?

Here are some better photos of the marks on the barrel and funiture. I took a picture of the looks like a 5 on the underside of the handguard, with what looks like a padlock? above it, could just be a ding but it looks a little bit more pronounced. Also the barrel was replace in 1951, could this mean the rifle could have served in WW1, WW2 and the Korean war? could also someone do a Valuation on the rifle?
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Where's the 5? I see a 1 under the sale stamp I think. Looking from my phone so detail is not great.

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Originally Posted by Homer

Where's the 5? I see a 1 under the sale stamp I think. Looking from my phone so detail is not great.

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The five is in the fourth picture the one that has my thumb in it. Looks like a 5 with what looks like a padlock or might be a dent from use I don't know

I don't see it

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Originally Posted by Homer

I don't see it

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Might be better on a PC maybe

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Originally Posted by GhostRider

Looks like a 5 with what looks like a padlock

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Depends on exactly where it is, it may be a length marking...Bantam? Small? I can't tell for sure, where is it located? At the heel?

If you look closely at that S you will see it is faint at the top and the faintest outline of the other broad arrow, which denoted on page 82 of Shennertons "The Broad Arrow " British and Empire Factory Production, Proof Inspection, Armourers, Unit & Issue Markings (Bl**dy hell that was hard with 2 finger typing :rofl:) with the arrows from the top and bottom means Sale mark, sold out of Service Indication Barrel, Reciever and Furniture.
If the arrows come from opposite sides of the S this means Sale mark, Serviceable when sold, Indication Barrel, Reciever and Furniture. word for word out of Skennertons book signed No 211 out of 300 edition.

The reason I took the time cause of late even when I have stated things that I have tried in the field using the softest wood in the world Balsa and using a SLIVER between top woods of my No.4's Beech as a shim I did cop a bit of a pasting. So now I have to resort to looking through my collection of books on the 303's and getting the words exactly right, yes there are those with worlds of natural skill and training but a small remark about something I tried and worked sorta took me by suprise.
Look for the thread of the chap who used his bolt in his rifle as a press to chamber a round to stuff a projie in backwards into a case and shot pigs with those rounds! Reloading something it was called 8mm Mauser. Yes my small bit of advice with balsa was going to bring the whole shebang to a clattering conclusion
I will eventually find the book that mentions having the top wood touching the sight protector can cause accuracy problems with the No.4 there I feel better now I will kick back with an iced JD & coke and await the next burst of ranging fire.......:beerchug:

Just as a postscript ppl we have massive fires in the Eastern states that are in the Lithgow area I hope the factory (just restarted under new ownership) and the Lithgow Museum are safe, if these fires link up then it will be a fire front of 300klm and the worst is yet to come.

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Originally Posted by browningautorifle

Depends on exactly where it is, it may be a length marking...Bantam? Small? I can't tell for sure, where is it located? At the heel?

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It's pretty much exactly on the bottom of foresight except on the bottom hand guard

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Originally Posted by GhostRider

bottom of foresight

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Not what I thought then...

Ghosty, you say '.......It's pretty much exactly on the bottom of foresight except on the bottom hand guard' Come on, play the white man. Just what DO you mean? Is anyone else out there as confused as I am?

I think he means underside of the forend below nosecap, i'm thinking a rack number.

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Originally Posted by Peter Laidler

Ghosty, you say '.......It's pretty much exactly on the bottom of foresight except on the bottom hand guard' Come on, play the white man. Just what DO you mean? Is anyone else out there as confused as I am?

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I've got no, can't even see a thumb he's talking about.

Sorry Guys, not really good with explaining things so I used paint, hopefully this will make it just a little bit clearer.

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Ha I knew it a spoon fed No 1 Mk III there in lies the confusion fellows...........................?