Curious scoped SMLE - comments?

[RobD]

Attached are pictures of an Enfield SMLE 1911mk III with Zeiss Zielvier scope and what looks like a long siderail mount

Attachment 13850Attachment 13851Attachment 13852Attachment 13853[ATTACH=CONFIG]

I'd appreciate any comments on this rig, particularly any suggestions where the mount comes from, who may have built it up, and when.

Information

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[browningautorifle]

I'll bet that shoots like a dream. I might find the scope a bit high for me though.

[Son]

It looks to have had the foreend tightened by adding a wood shim at the rear possibly instead of repairing damage where the sear lugs contact. If this is so, and the wood behind the front trigger guard screw bush hasn't been relieved, then it's on it's way to a serious problem. The foreend will crack along it's length from in front of the trigger guard. It also looks to have had a piece fitted to repair a breakage behind the right side of the charger bridge. The opening here looks a bit too big suggesting the original piece was broken out by recoil contact with the rear of the bridge when the foreend was loose.

The mount base is interesting... It looks to have been made for or at least very nicely modified to suit the SMLE receiver. Without taking it off or finding some identification on it, it would be difficult to tell which. Somebody knowledgeable in Mauser snipers may be able to help...

[Simon P]

Looks like the commercial "Continental" Model scope mount retailed by Parker Hale in the
1960s. In the PH catalogue they came with either 22mm or 27mm rings and retailed in 1962 for £9.

[RJW NZ]

These aee not uncommon with two locking levers, its a post ww2 civilian thingy.

[RobD]

Thanks for all that info.
Son, you are correct, and I have remedied the problem - I cut away the front of the worn-out draws, fitted brass recoil pads and then sanded down the wooden shims shown in the pics - to make a very snug fit.
Browningauto, it is nice and accurate - and you are quite right - with my right eye, my cheek is not resting firmly on the stock - I use my left eye for high scopes like this one.

[browningautorifle]

Perhaps a "T" cheek rest would help, they're available if you look. They really do make a difference!

[Surpmil]

Has the look of NZ or Aus. about it: a Zielvier that was brought back from the war and reused. Notice the ring 'shadows' from the original mounts, which were probably on a drilling or sporting Mauser. Despite their shortage of scopes the Germans don't seem to have made any effort in WWII to collect scope-sighted rifles for military use as they did in WWI. With that unmarked range scale this would not be a military Zielvier; unless the SN says otherwise of course. Hard to say where the rust pitting happened, but as it is not where the rings used to be, perhaps it happened in German use. I remember being told by a WWII vet that there were huge numbers of civilian arms collected up in the British Zone, where he was, and he could buy anything he liked from the lot for five shillings or five pounds - I forget which it was. Don't know if that was 'under the table' or official policy; anyone? The arms were neglected and poorly stored he said, and a few months in a damp warehouse could cause rust like that. The mounts look like a poor copy of the AKAH type that was in fact made to fit SMLE receivers at some point after WWII (perhaps before too?) Quite a few of those mounts have shown up on eBay out of NZ over the years. The front ring caps may be reversed left to right.

[smellie]

Rifle is a nice 1911 and the scope sure wasn't made yesterday, either. I have shot with a ZF-39 and it didn't have any controls on the outside, either. This looks much older, more akin to the Great War 'Dr. Gerhard' bring-back which I am pursuing at this time.

Mounts I know nothing about, but there was a bewildering variety in the Adolf Frank catalogue of 1911.

Whatever, if it turned up at one of our milsurp competitions as a 'WWI sniper', I would certainly let it shoot... see what it would do against a Number 4(T), anyway!

[Surpmil]

Just as a matter of interest, the Zielvier (4x)appeared on the market in 1921, and the Zielsechs (6x), Zielacht (8x) and variable power Zielmulti (1x - 4x) not long after.

This one could be dated to within a few years by its serial number if we knew what it was.