New Addition: .22 Short Mk IV*

[Lance]

Not a rare girl, but there has not been anything outstanding available to pick up lately in the "reasonable" price range. The big reason I got her to go along with the other .22 Short Mk IV*'s in the toy room is that plain and simple, I am a butt man. I love my cartouches, and with this girl she is one of the last factory applied cartouches, per my observations, as they seem to discontinued stamping the butt's in 1908. (would love to see later factory examples!)

She started life out as a very early Enfield SMLE Mk III in 1908, a "B" series rifle making her the 13, 572 Mk III made at Enfield assuming they started the s/n range in 1907 with "A", if not, tack on another 10K before her. Sent to New Zealand and accepted into service in 1909. She appears to of been a rack queen as it never had it's volley sight's upgraded to Mk VII ammo and upon its conversion to a .22 Short Rifle IV* by NZ in 1928 retained most of her 1908 factory parts. The barrel (1927), sights, and bolt head are all of Enfield manufacture keeping her bloodline pure. Her only down side (besides not having its original 1908 .303 barrel) is that the bolt itself seem to have had the s/n scrubbed and restamped to match the rifle. The font of the bolt s/n is correct so it was done at the time of conversion.

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