.22 Enfield's Part 3

[Lance]

.22 Pattern 1914 Short Rifle No. 1

My favorite .22 just due to the history you can see on the rifle, forgive me if I spend a little longer on this rifle. I have owned four, kept two and hate myself for selling the two I let go!

Converted from SMLE Cond II and II*’s during WWI, its creation was just due to the lack of trainers available during the Great War. The rifle had its barrel tubed to a .22 and sights recalibrated; the rear sight also had a .22 line stamped into the leaf. Official recorded production was in the low 400’s but I feel that these were just one contract as they can be found easier then the .22 Pattern 1914 Short Rifle No. 2! Like the .22 Short Rifle Mk III, these conversions can be found on non-textbook SMLE Mk I/I* receivers; I unfortunately have been unable to obtain an example (damn auctions!!)

The two companies that completed the conversions were AG Parker & Co. and Westley Richards & Co. I feel that Westley Richards did not completely convert the rifle as all the examples I have seen have both Westley and Parker conversion stamps.

Below are two examples of the .22 Pattern 1914 Short Rifle No. 1; both have Australian ownership marks and have a rack number stamped into the top of the butt. These rack numbers are “C464” and “C539”. One of the two rifle’s I let go and now resides with a good friend in Washington State also had Australian ownership marks and the rack number “C1”. This makes me conclude that over 500 of the type were delivered just to Australia. Anymore out there with rack numbers????

First up is a Westley Richards with AG Parker assist conversion of a 1904 Enfield converted SMLE ConD II which was originally a 1894 LSA MLM Mk II. (In photo AG Parker stamp is stamped over Westley Richards stamp) Of interest is the excellent butt cartouches these rifle have (like they were never used) and that in its former life back in April 1909 it was rifle #3 for the 3rd Devonshire Regt. Why the disc is crooked I have no idea, but it is not alone…

Second up is a AG Parker conversion of a 1904 Sparkbrook converted SMLE ConD II which was originally a 1896 LSA MLM Mk II. (for some reason I am an LSA magnate). Of coincidence this rifle also has an excellent cartouche and in its former life was rifle #356, issued in April 1909 to the 3rd Devonshire Regt. Its disc is also crooked!!

I purchased these rifles about 3 years apart because I wanted a Sparkbrook conversion as Sparkies are hard to find even though they numerically make up 25% of the ConD II and II* production. (To this day, this rifle is my only Sparkbrook converted rifle). I was shocked to see that they were originally from the same unit prior to conversion at two different companies.

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