Another "what does this marking mean" question... (sorry guys)

[louthepou]

Hi folks,

I found my next SMLE refurb candidate, and I can't find the meaning of this marking, a large "U" with a broad arrow in it. I looked on Amatikulu's excellent website with no luck. Thanks for any input!



As an bonus picture just for fun, here's one of the back of the receiver:

Information

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[Badger]

It's the ownership marking for Union of South Africa ...

Regards,
Doug

[louthepou]

Thanks Doug!

Well there you go, I've been out-knowledged once again!

[Alexander A]

And the Broad Arrows facing each other (making it look like a large asterisk) mean that it was sold out of service.

[ssj]

What a beautiful set of stamps....

Does the single broad arrow indicate accepted into UK service and then the U arrow indicate sold/moved onto south africa service?

That the barrel is original to the receiver?

[CINDERS]

U with Broad arrow = Union of South Africa The Broad Arrow Skennerton Page 127
Opposing Arrows and S on Barrel, receiver or furniture = Sale mark, serviceable when sold it looks like that as I gather they did not have enough space to fit the S in between the arrows The Broad Arrow Skennerton Page 82
Single broad arrow = Various components, Accepted for Govt service after inspection The Broad Arrow Skennerton Page 82

Hope this assists you.

[RobD]

When rifles were sold out of service from the Union of South Africa (1910-1961) the "correct" stamp would have been a U with a diamond in it. So I can't say for sure whether this was sold out of service in SA and got the "wrong" stamps - or whether it was in another part of the Commonwealth, like Rhodesia, when it went into civilian ownership.