NZ .22 Pattern 1914 No. 2 HELP!!

[Lance]

Hello,

last week my NZ .22 rifle arrived! Any information on this rifle is welcome!

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Very nice rifle you have there. Originally (most likely as it is unreadable) a BSA MLM Mark II it was converted at Enfield in 1905 to a SMLE Converted Mark II, later around 1907 it was then upgraded again to a SMLE Converted Mark II*. Around 1913-14 it returned to Enfield and was converted to a .22 Short Rifle Mark III that at some time (still unknown) it was sent to New Zealand. In 1922 New Zealand rebarreled approximately 500 of these rifles. At the end of 1923 Britain declared the .22 Short Rifle obsolete therefore New Zealand just hand stamped a Roman numeral "IV*" on the rifle "upgrading" it. When this was done is also unknown but as it includes an asterisk it most likely occurred in late 1925.

Your rifle has one of the highest rack numbers for this "type" of NZ trainer!