Calling all Lithgow experts
Hi everyone
New to the site and was hopping to get some knowledgeable opinions on the authenticity of my 1942 No1Mk3*. I acquired this rifle about a year ago. It was rebarreled in 1945 and has nice parkerized finish. The receiver and the barrel have matching numbers but the front sight and nose cap do not. What gives me pause is the bolt “matches” but it is missing the lettered prefix and is shiny metal from being ground down. I also feel like the font of the numbering might be different. Otherwise all parts have Australian markings and the buttstock has been sanded by someone but I can very faintly see 194...and possibly a 3 above the sling swivel. The coachwood forend has the brass recoil blocks installed.No jj&co stamps anywhere on the rifle. My question after this long winded post is what are the chances this rifle was rebarreled, refinished and sanded at lithgow in 1945 as opposed to someone bubba’ing it after the fact? It has no FTR marks and I’m unsure what the process of rifle refurbishment actually looked like at lithgow in the 40’s. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zfN7c8BpBsHk4D8fDqEVKittnoTci_mk/view?usp=drivesdk
https://drive.google.com/file/d/156uvYfYguHmHeVi8PF0LufNK7TX3q1M0/view?usp=drivesdk
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pXWu0VjO9SV7gBrObnCs7we9CtabGbMH/view?usp=drivesdk
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vp6W1sKNcXPae3qgtG19nFfOE0ij73Ba/view?usp=drivesdk
