Lee Enfield "Short" Buttstocks

[BVZ24]

Entirely by coincidence, I discovered that both of my SMLE rifles had been fitted with "short" length butt stocks. From what I understand, the short length is only found on about 3% of all lee Enfields, so for me to have ended up unknowingly picked two rifles with short stocks is a little unusual.

Rifle one, my first smle owned, a 1917 MK3*, was lightly sanded, leaving the "S" nearly invisible. I did not notice this, and nearly anyone who shot it, including myself would eventually comment that it doesn't seem to shoulder as nice as they thought it would, preferring the (one size fits all?) butt length of my Long Lee. It seems the 1/2 makes a difference.

Rifle two is a recently acquired SMLE V, it is in very close to as issued condition and the stamp was noticed, but not considered when I purchased it. As both halves? of the stock are unsanded, with the forestock numbers matching. I believe it was issued with a short butt. This SMLE V is unusual in that the stock disk is marked with what appears to be a farsi character, yet the rifle is not in the kind of condition you would expect to find in an SMLE issued in that part of the world.

I only found out the 1917 has a short stock when I put them on the rack together expecting the V to be shorter, when it turns out they are the same length. Close inspection of the 1917 shows the faint unreadable outline of the "S".

My 1917 is a shooter, has had many parts replaced, a 1920 rebuild,and, while I believe it is original to the rifle, I have had the butt stock removed from the receiver for other reasons. Would swapping butts be a viable option, and are there still enough pre WW2 smle stocks in existence to be able to inexpensivly swap to a correct stock.

Given the relative rarity of short length stocks, and the rarity of SMLE V, is this a configuration that was issued in the trials? I assume it does not raise or lower the value of the rifle, and it will remain unchanged.

I know you like pictures, and I'll get some on here "soon".

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