Hello Gentlemen,


Wanted your thoughts on this Irish Free State SMLE. A friend of mine picked it up today for me, for $250. It has mostly matching serial numbers. It is dated 1916; the barrel, receiver, and bolt match. The original manufacture is BSA. It has the FF marking. The stock is sporterized, causing the sides of the rear sight, the front nose cap, and the barrel band to be separated. I have all of them, but the nose cap is non-matching. The original receiver serial number was scratched out, as is typical for Irish Free State rifles sent by the Britishicon during the Irish Civil War. I have read up on Fritz's research over at Gunboards. (Not sure if he is on this forum too.) It was very valuable information and helped me learn quite a bit about this rifle. I've been looking for a WW1, matching, BSA Mk. III* for sometime now. However, my dream rifle has been any rifle used during the Irish Civil War/War for Independence. This rifle fits both of the criteria. Although I know the Irish history of this rifle, I am still confused about certain markings on it. I wanted to see if any of you can try to read the markings and tell me a timeline of what this rifle may have gone through. Also, I want to know what everyone's thoughts are on this rifle and other Irish rifles.


Pictures:

http://prntscr.com/iaphb3
http://prntscr.com/iaphf3
http://prntscr.com/iaphj3 (What confuses me is that it has the '33, which I believe denotes the year it was brought into service. Could this mean that it was sent back to the British after Civil War? Based on Fritz's research, approx 8,000 rifles were sent back to BSA to be refurbished, could that be the case for this one? )
http://prntscr.com/iaphlf
http://prntscr.com/iaphn9
http://prntscr.com/iaphp3 (Fritz's research indicates the the serial numbers were changed when the rifles were sent to Ireland so that the British government could trace any rifles sent to the IRA from the Free State. They were lettered and numbered A-M and approx. 0-27,000 respectfully.)
http://prntscr.com/iaphqp
http://prntscr.com/iaphs7




I am aware that Irish rifles are sought after by many people simply because of an over-all demand, and I feel that many people buy these and under-appreciate their history. However, I simply wanted it because I love the history of Ireland and I can truly appreciate the historical significance of the rifle. I do not care about its monetary value. It is for that reason that I do not care if anyone thinks I over-paid, I would have paid much more just to be able to hold that kind of history.



I only have so many pictures right now, I will upload more when I get the rifle from my friend.


Thank you.
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