1907 Enfield Mk III

Hi guys.
I'm brand new to Lee Enfield rifles (I'm more of a M1 Garand guy), but I was recently given one. The receiver is dated 1907 and was manufactured at the Enfield plant. The serial number on the receiver and bolt match, but the barrel does not. The barrel and both sight bases have Australian markings all over them. The barrel also has "1917" stamped on it. The top of the receiver ring has a rather large "SA" stamped on it. The bottom of the barrel and receiver have green paint on them that appears to have been applied at the same time. It doesn't have any import marks that I can find so I have to assume that is was imported into the U.S. before 1968. I certainly could be wrong about that though.
It is in horrible shape. Bubba worked extra hard on it. He even made a rear handguard for it completely out of wood filler.
The rifling looks solid, and the mechanical parts that are left are functional, so I'm going to fix it. I hate to see rifles in this kind of shape. It will probably cost me more than it's worth, but right now it's mine and I want to shoot it. I shoot a lot of M1 Garand matches a I'd like to have something to shoot in the vintage military category. I like the fact that I can adjust the windage on the rifle.
Anyway, I'm rambling now.(sorry)
I'd love to hear any comments you may have about the markings, or even how stupid I am for spending money on this.
Good to meet you guys, and thanks.

Could you post a few pictures close-up of the receiver (action body) markings ?

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Originally Posted by RCS

Could you post a few pictures close-up of the receiver (action body) markings ?

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I will try, but I have a very hard time talking good close up pictures with my phone.

Here a few that I could do quickly:Attachment 109350Attachment 109351Attachment 109352Attachment 109353

Haha, it's never stupid to spend money on more guns! *checks over shoulder to make sure wife isn't looking* :madsmile:

It's a noble pursuit to restore these old rifles to their former glory. 1907 was the first year of production for the Mk III too.

So, bad news up front: it overall sounds like a bitser with a Lithy barrel & Enfield receiver, HOWEVER, the large SA on the receiver ring would lead me to think it *might* be a South African police-rebuilt rifle, many of which were rebuilt from a wide variety of parts to my understanding. It's difficult to tell from the photos, but are there any arrow-inside-of-U stamps present? The devil is in the detail with these rifles! If we're lucky, Terrylee (THE authority on all things South African Enfield) might be along to opine.

The green paint was a common corrosion preventative measure typically applied beneath the woodline.

You'll be wanting a set of woodwork for it. Properly, it would wear a set with volley sights, but those are few and far between today. It took me a couple of years to find spares and I had to import them from New Zealand! For a brand new non-volley sight stock set, I've heard good things about Prestigious Woodstocks (http://www.prestigiouswoodstocks.com) up in Canada.

Could we see pics of the SA marking?
I'd expect a South Africa rebuild to have a South African barrel.

Thanks for the info gentlemen. I appreciate it. I thought I had included the SA marking photo, but I now see that I did not. I'll post it when I get home. I can't do it from my phone for some reason.

In view of the other Australian markings, I suspect that the SA marking represents South Australia.

Here's the "SA" mark.

Ha! You're probably right! That hadn't even crossed my mind.

Very interesting.
I'll just consider it my Gallipoli rifle until I find out otherwise. It will go nicely with my Garand that just had to be in the D-Day invasion. Haha.
Really, I do find these things fascinating, so I should probably hunt down a good book on these rifles.