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I am no expert in value of Lee Enfields so my question is what would make a Short Lee Enfield No1 Mk3 dated 1916 sell for $2000 . Was watching a couple rifles on a auction site today and saw this rifle sell for what I thought was a pretty high price . What am I missing here ? I am not saying it is not worth it but would like to know why . Thanks
I really couldn't say. Perhaps it was a peach anyway, & the bidders had all been to see '1917' & got a bit carried away.......there's a piece of nice footage in the film of the SMLE in use.
Without a photo or two to see it we can not help you. It may have looked normal to you but had rare sights fitted.
I will get my wife to help post a picture of the rifle to help . What got me it looked like the stock had been sanded and restained , no scratches or dings . First thought I had grabbed a old pair of glasses when seen the sold price , I have never saw a L.E. for that much except maybe a real WW1 sniper maybe .
If it was a real WW1 sniping variant of the SMLE I'd be battering the owner's door down with the cash in my hands.:bow:
The rifle you're talking about sold for $2025 and was a 1918 BSA MkIII. Nothing about it looked special to me. The seller has a following and frequently gets top dollar for run-of -the -mill guns.
Just watched a older Forgotten Weapons on youtube episode of prices from a gun auction and it sold a sniper L.E. from WW1 for $17000 . WOW ! Those things must be very rare . My wife is not feeling good and since I am not tech savy enough the pictures will have to wait till she feels better . I need to find a class for cavemen what wife calls me , who still use flip phones and learn to use a computer and smart phones better !!
I hope your wife is feeling better soon.
Yes, original WW1 SMLE sniper rifles are almost unobtainable. Something of the order of 10,000 were produced but just after WW1 it was decided to strip them all down as the 'new' P'14 sniper rifle was to be standardized upon. Consequently, only a very few that escaped dismantling & the attrition of the intervening century have survived. Everybody goes nuts for No4 (T)'s but they are ten-a-penny in comparison to SMLE snipers......
For some it's simply what calls to us... All the milsurp rifles I have there is something about the platforms that pull me. I love the No4. Whether it's the sum of its parts or an intangible factor I find it a beautiful and badass rifle. However, I find the No5 ugly and have no desire to own one. I can say the same about the No1 Mk3, tho to a lesser extent and I have considering picking one up before.Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Payne
I think I would agree with you, I was just commenting on rarity. For the individual it comes down to what floats your boat. I love both the SMLE & the No4, & I think you could argue that the No4 is actually a nicer looking rifle, but the SMLE just oozes character, which tips the balance for me..
"SMLE just oozes character", beautifully put Roger, it's a rifle that's filled with charisma, possibly because it's the rifle many of our fathers and grandfather's carried in the commonwealth, my all original ex NZ issued Enfield 1917 made No1 mk111* is the most precious of all my rifles.
Like we've ll seen sometimes auctions get people in a fervor and before they know it the price gets away from them.
I like both weapons the MKIII and the No.4 the 4 has it for ease of sighting as the MkIII sometimes the front blade can be a titch hard to see with oldish eyes, as for the "T" it is just something I have wanted to own for 20+ years and was never able to until an unplanned event took place a friend had a ratified one for sale so I brought that off him as it turned out it ended up being in Peters book on the "T" double bonus.
To me they are charismatic and I feel that predominantly in WWI it saved many a soldier when other rifles would have choked on the mud in that god awful event there are not many weapons systems that were made prior to 1900 and still doing sterling work as a secondary weapon in places like India and just recently being phased out in the forest rangers in Canada.
My faves are;
My 5MD 1916 Lithgow has 5MD Lithgow 1916 '07 bayo and 5MD 1916 Lithgow Scabb along with a Wrights 1916 sling black not blanco'ed, 1921 Lithgow which is pretty much brand new and had very minimal rounds has serialed to the rifle a Lithgow 1921 '07 bayo and Lithgow dble stitch 1921 scabb and my "T" the others are not far behind them either......:rolleyes:
I love'm to bits and they are feted on at my place the jungle carbine well its a grow on you thing of which I have no real desire to acquire one yet!
OK thanks Husk that explains a lot and I know to that sometimes a person can get that "gotta have it regardless of price" .
2k for a run of the mill SMLE is nuts!
If it was a 1936 Enfield , BSA or Ishaphore a lot would me included.
One word answer: "demand".Quote:
Originally Posted by soonerfan66
Very fine and original examples of even WWII era rifles are getting rarer all the time. Now go back a generation and try to find one that served in two wars and came through relatively unscathed.
Then add 20 - 30 years of large scale "sporterization" by those who didn't know or as often didn't care what they were chopping up.
Just a friendly correction for Cinders. Not the Canadian Forest rangers. The Canadian Rangers are an Inuit (mainly) Military Group that patrols our Northern regions.