New addition BSA identification

[Medalnet]

I recently acquired my first BSA .303 on a local South African auction site. Although enthused to have this delightful addition to my small yet growing collection, establishing the origin and personality of the firearm is proving to be somewhat of a challenge. In an attempt to get some guidance I have posted a few pics in the hope that the forum could assist with their invaluable insight and knowledgeable guidance. Appreciated. Enjoy.

Information

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[303 Gunner]

Congratulations on the new rifle! A helpful first step would be photos of both sides of the buttsocket. The rifle looks likely to have started life as an MLM or MLE before being upgraded to CLLE configuration. The buttsocket photos will likely confirm or disabuse us of that notion. It was also shortened at some point, losing its front sight block, and seems to have had its rear sight removed as well

[NORTHOF60]

I think that the rifle started out as a BSA commercial rifle (it has the BSA trademark on the knox form) that was adopted by the Union of South Africa (broad arrow within a U).

[Daan Kemp]

Looks like one of the cadet drill rifles sold off in 1983, Is the chamber welded?

[Roger Payne]

Yes, it looks as though there is grinding over the chamber which made me wonder about welding. The other odd thing is the apparent total lack of any sights. That made me wonder in turn if it might have been converted into a 410 shotgun, although I can't see any 410 proofs, & the OP hasn't mentioned it.

[Medalnet]

Afternoon gents......thank you for the responses.....yes the mechanism is welded. What I will do is get those suggested additional pics to see if the experts can guide me further....... if the firearm was sold off in the 80's would this still make it an old firearm and worth keeping? Am I correct in assuming that the date stamped on the firearm doesn't reflect the age of the rifle but rather the pattern that it was manufactured on?

[Mk VII]

The more affluent dominions like South Africa could afford to order them directly from the commercial makers and so those don't have dates on. It's got the government viewer's mark and the double serial is probably to do with that.

[Daan Kemp]

If it has a welded bolt, hole in chamber, etc, it is one of the rifles used by the school cadets in South Africa for drill purposes. Sold off in the SADF in 1983 at R5 for a carbine and R15 for a rifle IIRC. I trust you got the SADF issue voucher from the seller as these deactivated items are subject to the FCA.

[RobD]

Medalnet, the original rifle is a British infantry rifle of South African War [Boer war] vintage, starting life as probably around 1900.
- The most interesting markings are those we haven't been shown yet - under the bolt handle - can you get a peep at them for us? May have a date and so on...
- It was converted to take a loading charger [clip] in about 1910 - that's the "bridge" across the action
- it was in the SA military use after 1910 - that's the arrowhead-in-U markings you can see.
- around WW1 it was rebarrelled with a commercial BSA barrel - this was done on a large scale by the SA military. the BSA commercial marking is the little pyramid of stacked rifles on the flat [knox form] at the start of the barrel.
- Then, probably after WW2, it was converted to cadet drill use. It's been shortened (the original barrel was 767 mm long)
- It's been deactivated as well, probably recently.
Thus it is interesting as a conversation piece or wall-hanger, but it'll never shoot again and it no longer looks as it did when it was built, but it does have history and it is one of many similar rifles. As Daan says, with the right paperwork it can be displayed as a non-functioning rifle in your den.

[Medalnet]

Thank you for all the feedback....very interesting. Let me revisit the exercise and try and get those other photos as suggested......appreciated.