No1 Mk3* strike through?

[wh282]

Hey everyone, this is my first post on milsurps.com. I recently got a 1918 No1 Mk3* for graduation and I have a few questions about markings. The * has been crossed through horizontally and there is another line running parallel below it. What does the strike through indicate? My rifle has the magazine cutoff and stacking swivel if that makes any difference. Also, the buttstock disc reads "FR 208". What does that mean about the weapon's history? Thanks!

Information

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[CINDERS]

Welcome to milsurps, some detailed pictures would assist those with the knowledge to help with your query.

[hayboy]

From the information you have currently posted it suggests that your SMLE was originally made as a Mk III*, ie without a cut off and then at some point after was converted back to a standard Mk III, hence the cut off being retrofitted the and striking out of the star.
I believe that this may be something the Navy tended to carry out, however I'm not 100% sure and that's only from memory.

[mrclark303]

Hey everyone, this is my first post on milsurps.com. I recently got a 1918 No1 Mk3* for graduation and I have a few questions about markings. The * has been crossed through horizontally and there is another line running parallel below it. What does the strike through indicate? My rifle has the magazine cutoff and stacking swivel if that makes any difference. Also, the buttstock disc reads "FR 208". What does that mean about the weapon's history? Thanks!

Welcome to the forum, as is often said, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Post a few and we can pitch in with more information

[MasterChief]

Check the barrel date beneath the rear handguard. Mine was replaced 1935. Still wondering when the cut-off modification was performed.

[Roger Payne]

They're quite common & it does indeed mean that a Mk3* rifle has been retro-coverted 'back' to Mk3 configuration - at least in the fitting of the cut-off. Some of these rifles I've also seen fitted with windage adjustable rear sights. It is true the Navy did a lot of this. There are a lot of these rifles in the UK at the moment; they came from the batch released by the Italian Navy a few years ago. I think they were supplied to Italy either by the RN or the RCN after WW2. Many, if not most, bear a 'N' on the left side of the butt socket by the safety.

[Simon P]

I think they came from the RCN as most had Canadian Tags on.

I have had a few hundred of these SMLEs the last batch I brought in last week all had Italian Terni Arsenal (aka Terni, FAT) Markings on the Butts, but no Naval markings

[wh282]

Thanks for the info! Here is a picture of the receiver and the marking in question. Also, does the gap between the forend and the receiver indicate a stretched receiver? II think my barrel was replaced in the 1930s, but I am weary of removing the top cover and checking because it's already been broken and repaired once. The receiver does have " '33 " stamped on the left side, however. Don't know if that means much.

[wh282]

Also, can anyone identify what the "U" on my bolt head means?

[CINDERS]

The receiver has not stretched by any part of the imagination sorry to say the wood has possibly been trimmed, the hardest part of these old girls is the intervening war years and what has happened to them once released from service.
The U on the bolt head is Metal Composition Specification Source ~ Skennertons "The Broad Arrow" Armourers Markings.