LEC Mk I Butt Markings

[37patt]

I Recently picked up a LEC Mk I dated 1898. It's in very good shape except that someone cut the front sight ears off with a grinder. I've identified most of the markings on the butt stock with the exception of the 3 I over C broad arrow over C??? over 5.09 . Would anyone here be able to help?

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Information

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[37patt]

Here are better pictures
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[bigduke6]

Nice rifle at least they didn't cut the fore-end down and remove the top cover, Cant help with the markings but I know that some reproduction nose caps will be available soon.

[37patt]

That's good to know BigDuke. I have the name Bill Gregerson in New Zealand as a possible source, do the nose caps you refer to come from the same gentleman?

The 3 I has me stumped - possibly a unit designation
The C Broad Arrow is self explanatory
Not sure what the third mark even is - a "C" or "F" or "L" possibly. Although I could be completely wrong on this
5.09 looks like the date it was taken into service by an unknown unit

Any help would be much appreciated.

[Bluenoser]

Nice looking carbine. Bill is indeed the go-to person if you need a repro nose cap. I have purchased several and couldn't be more pleased with them.

HOWEVER, if I had a carbine with just the ears ground off I wouldn't even consider replacing the nose cap with a repro. I would think it a simple matter to rebuild the ears. I think it is always best to retain the original parts when possible

[Surpmil]

At the risk of stating the obvious, the "M&D" marking is Canadian: Department of "Militia & Defence".

Looks like an old trooper and rebuilding the existing nose cap with weld would be the preferred option IMO also.

[37patt]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I'm still thinking about getting one of the repro nose caps but the original will stay in the box with the rifle. The welding idea is also still high on my list. Not really in a hurry though so I have time to make my decision.

Still looking for help on the markings though. Everything else on the butt I have identified (including the sold out of service mark on the receiver). It's the markings I have listed in post #4 that have me puzzled. An acceptance date of 1909 is only 11 years after it was manufactured and/or sent to Canada. Would that have been secondary use here in Canada or could it possibly be the date that the UK sold it out of service to Canada? I was under the impression that all the rifles we purchased were new manufacture.

Any assistance on those will be most appreciated.

Eric

[RangeRover]

Hmmm....the rifle was in Canadian service before, and after, 1907, as it features both the earlier M&D - Militia and Defence stamp and the C-broad arrow that came into force in 1907.

As the "L" over the "5.09" has not been struck through, we could surmise that they represent Canadian marks as well, including acceptance date.

I've gone through my, admittedly limited, resource materials and can't find much useful information. I can find only a couple of Canadian military entities which used single letter identifiers. If it is an "L", those reference materials would point to it representing either the Canadian Ordnance Depot in London, or the Canadian Officer Training Corps centre at Laval University.

The "3 I" or "3 I I" a cannot decipher.

Don't know if I've added any value, but that's all I've been able to come up with.

[37patt]

Some good ideas there RangeRover, thanks. I will have to do some more research on the two units you mentioned.

You mentioned that there were a couple of Canadian units that used a single letter identifier, would it be to much of an imposition for you to list the other ones for me as well? I can do some research on them also even if they may seem to be long shots.

[RangeRover]

The two units in my previous post are the only ones I've found, sorry.