Impobablity Meter Set on "High". A 1908 BSA SMLE Mk.III in Essentially Original Cond.

[jmoore]

ETA: Title SHOULD read "Improbabilty". Sorry...first night back at work after a week off.


Firstly, this is a "teaser" thread as I have not yet taken possession of the rifle. But having recently returned home after a week in Vicksburg helping an old friend get his folks' house ready to sell, we went to see another old friend at his newly relocated store. I was scanning the racks for items of interest and finally decided to pick up and examine what I thought was just another "prettified" No. Mk.III*.


Or not!


Wood looks too good to be true. But so does the metal. Magazine cut-off, nice. Windage adjustable rear sight, not too surprising. Ooh, Volley Sights! Extra special! Matching numbers. Military sales marks. BSA emblem on butt. Great bore. Alrighty, then! No "HV" or "SC" at the base of the rear sight, though and the sight ramp "hump" seems a bit tall....


But surely it's a Post WWI rebuild. Or something. Rear handguard is split, but no wood missing, so it took some cajoling and time to convince the proprietor to let me pull the wood away to look at the rear upper barrel area. Not an easy task to finesse that handguard off with just my fingers, however the effort was rewarded with an "08" barrel date...


Sold!


Or at least put on layaway as we had another friend to help load a trailer so he could move to across country. Gah. Worked so hard last week I couldn't hardly make a fist at the end. Hands beat up and swollen something terrible.


But here's hoping that a new photo thread will be soon in the works.


Anything particular y'all want to focus upon?

Information

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[Roger Payne]

Can't wait for the photo's........reminds me of when I acquired an EFD 1911 sleeper that had purportedly been in a wardrobe in Valenciennes since the BEF's retreat from Mons!

[5thBatt]

The underside of the cocking piece should be numbered to the rifle on a 1908 BSA the windage wheel might be the small pattern of wheel & the forend should have a small steel pin running though the forend just infront of the outerband if original

[jmoore]

The underside of the cocking piece should be numbered to the rifle on a 1908 BSA the windage wheel might be the small pattern of wheel & the forend should have a small steel pin running though the forend just infront of the outerband if original

I forgot to check for the crosspin. Short lived item on Mk.III's!


I seem to remember a change in the fine tune elevation adjusting wheel and corresponding rack from square thread form(?) to "V" type as well.


The inner barrel band location is very close (just behind) to the outer band, anybody have dimensions for the longitudinal shift?


It may be next week before photos get done as I have an IHMSA Big Bore match coming up directly.

[5thBatt]

I seem to remember a change in the fine tune elevation adjusting wheel and corresponding rack from square thread form(?) to "V" type as well.

Early type on the bottom in both photos showing the change in thread (on the slider) & the change in wheel size.

I forgot to check for the crosspin. Short lived item on Mk.III's!

The crosspin, if i remember correctly all these changes were done by 1911 maybe 1910



There is of course the early more square shaped Charger bridge (no deep bevel right front edge) but that was changed in 1908 so yours may or may not have it.