How commonly encountered are RSAF SMLE rifles?

[Colonel Enfield]

Hi everyone - Long time reader, first time poster and all that.

As someone with a big interest in British military firearms, I've seen a lot of SMLEs over the years but I realised the other day that the overwhelming majority of them weren't actually made at Enfield.

The most common type I've seen (unsurprisingly) are Lithgow rifles (typically WWII vintage), with BSAs (all vintages), a few GRIs (interbellum, mainly) and even a handful of LSAs (WWI or earlier vintage, for obvious reasons) floating around - but I very rarely encounter actual Enfield-made SMLE rifles in gunshops or at the range. (We won't get into the fact the last RSAF Enfield I saw was in the hands of someone at the range who'd fixed a monopod foregrip to it for reasons which eluded both me and veryone else who saw it).

All of which has gotten me thinking: How commonly encountered at the RSAF SMLE rifles? Surely they can't be rarer than the LSAs? It just seems odd that I've encountered a few LSA SMLE rifles over the years but hardly any RSAF EDs.

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[Brit plumber]

It may be something to do with you being in Aus as there are plenty over here in the UK. One of my MkIII* is a D^D 1916 Enfield which was FTR'd in '52 so there were some your way, perhaps the majority were shipped to the USA and UK in the 1980/1990s when your government cleared their war reserve.

[muffett.2008]

They are not that uncommon, I have a 1913 and a 1918 that were in use in Oz.
Both refurbed at Lithgow.

[Roger Payne]

Don't have the precise figures in front of me; it's all in the LES., but EFD were the single biggest producer of the No1 rifle. I was lucky enough to be permitted to look over 500 SMLE's recently before they got deactivated (& purchase a few of them) - the one manufacturer that was scarce was Lithgow, but there were plenty of EFD's, BSA's, a reasonable number of LSA's, & a sprinkling of Ishapores. I suppose it depends on a number of factors such as where you are situated geographically, &, of course, on the luck of the draw.

[Colonel Enfield]

Don't have the precise figures in front of me; it's all in the LES., but EFD were the single biggest producer of the No1 rifle. I was lucky enough to be permitted to look over 500 SMLE's recently before they got deactivated (& purchase a few of them) - the one manufacturer that was scarce was Lithgow, but there were plenty of EFD's, BSA's, a reasonable number of LSA's, & a sprinkling of Ishapores. I suppose it depends on a number of factors such as where you are situated geographically, &, of course, on the luck of the draw.

I figured that might have a lot to do with it - obviously, being in Australia, Lithgows are going to be by far and away the most common manufacturer, but I would have thought - given the numbers they produced - that RSAF Enfield would be next, but instead BSA seems to be the next most commonly encountered manufacturer in this part of the world. I'm surprised how many GRIs there are floating around too - I wouldn't call them super common but they pop up often enough that I'm not surprised when I see them.

The only "manufacturer" I've never seen a rifle made by in person is a "Peddled Scheme" rifle - I'm sure they're out there, though.

[Roy]

In NZ the most common type of SMLE would be a 1917/18 BSA or Enfield followed i'd say by WW2 Lithgows all other variations are uncommon.

[5thBatt]

Peddled scheme rifles are not too uncommon in NZ, have 3 in my collection & have seen many more.
As Roy said above 1918 BSA & EFDs are the most common SMLEs but i do see a good mix of LSAs & SSAs with the odd NRF, of all the manufactures in 1918 i have all but a Ishapore & oddly enough an ENFIELD!

[Colonel Enfield]

It's interesting you mention 1918 as the most common year- the other World War I vintages do seem a lot less common. I've seen a 1915 BSA (one of the early Mk III*s) in the past year and a 1917 Lithgow Mk III* at the range, but generally the years seem to be either around 1912 or 1918 onwards. Given that every single rifle they could make during WWI was going to the troops (and they couldn't keep up with demand, hence the contracts for the Pattern 1914s in the US and even the ordering of Arisakas from Japan) I'm not surprised at the comparative uncommonality of 1914-1917 dated rifles.

[Roger Payne]

It saddened me that the vast majority of the batch of SMLE's I looked over were going to be deactivated for the UK collector market, but at least a pal & I managed to cherry pick a couple of dozen nice ones either to keep or sell on as shooters. These rifles were all from the batch supplied to the Italian Navy towards the end of or immediately after WW2, & in fairness they'd been well looked after. They had been selected for all being WW1 dated to start with, but as mentioned above, there were mainly later WW1 dates predominantly (1917 & 1918, with BSA & EFD being about equally represented, & a fair few Peddled Scheme rifles too). There were rather less 1914/1915/1916 dated rifles, but there were a few nice examples, most of which we bought. There was also one little gem that I spotted, a 1905 Mk1 rifle converted to a Cond MkIV. Still had its Mk1 nose cap, although in all other respects it appeared to be a standard Mk3 type rifle.

Yes, it did make its way home with me! Just sad most of the others have now probably been deactivated. But that's life......

ATB

[Beerhunter]

Just sad most of the others have now probably been deactivated. But that's life......

Plus, of course, it's 2014.

I shall be showing a live SMLE at a couple of village events this year. Other than in the military museums, it's probably the only live one in this part of Hampshire.