Question Regarding Volley or Long Range Sights on the No 1 Mk III

[Colonel Enfield]

I consider them rare as they rarely come up for sale. there are plenty of collectors out there with a dozen MkIII's with volley sights in their collections. however these days the acquisition of a totally correct MkIII with volley sights is difficult, and fairly expensive unless you get a lucky deal, the last MkIII I saw for sale here in NZ on the open market was nearly $1000. I agree with Bindi that if your rifle is as it was issued after a rebuild modifying it will devalue it, also it is quite likely that is left BSA without volley sights anyway.

This has been my experience too - I cannot remember the last time I saw a Mk III (no star) with the cut-off AND the volley sights AND the windage adjustable rear sights for sale. Like yourself, I have no doubt there are plenty of them in private collections, but they don't seem to leave those collections often. I asked around recently looking for one, without any luck at all - a surprising number of people didn't know they even made .303s with volley sights or windage adjustable sights. I'm told the Mk IIIs come up for sale sometimes at the twice-yearly big arms auction in Melbourne, but the prices from that frequently seem waaaaaaay out of my budget.

[Homer]

This has been my experience too - I cannot remember the last time I saw a Mk III (no star) with the cut-off AND the volley sights AND the windage adjustable rear sights for sale. Like yourself, I have no doubt there are plenty of them in private collections, but they don't seem to leave those collections often. I asked around recently looking for one, without any luck at all - a surprising number of people didn't know they even made .303s with volley sights or windage adjustable sights. I'm told the Mk IIIs come up for sale sometimes at the twice-yearly big arms auction in Melbourne, but the prices from that frequently seem waaaaaaay out of my budget.

But isn't that the point. They are priced according to availability.

[Roy]

High price due to low availability = Rare.


Just noticed a nice looking 1910 LSA on 'our site' has not hit reserve, vendor has a few nice pieces, will not allow a viewing.

[5thBatt]

High price due to low availability = Rare.


Just noticed a nice looking 1910 LSA on 'our site' has not hit reserve, vendor has a few nice pieces, will not allow a viewing.

Go Wanganui!

[Colonel Enfield]

But isn't that the point. They are priced according to availability.

Well, theoretically. I don't think the usual economic laws of supply & demand apply to military surplus guns though - a fairly average condition .303 is running to at least $500 in Australia nowadays, despite every gunshop I've been in having several of them in the racks and often several more out the back which they haven't worked out what to do with yet. If it's in pretty good or better shape, you can be looking at $750+

Luger pistols in the US seems to be same - fetching silly money despite in no way being rare. (They're rarer in Australia because their barrels are too short for ownership on a sports handgun licence, but they're still about on the collector's market, also for silly prices).

Now, I'm not saying an original Mk III shouldn't be expensive - they're clearly rare - I'm just backing up Roy's observation they hardly ever seem to come up for sale, and when they do, they're very, very expensive. I think it's important to back up people's anecdoatal experiences in these situations if they match your own, because in my experience if you say something like "Mk IIIs are rare, they hardly ever come up for sale", you're quite likely to get a (well-meaning) poster saying "That's not true, my local gun dealer in Moose Wedgie Creek, Wyoming has a rack full of them, all matching, for $425 each", and then the original poster looks foolish when it's the second poster whose experience is unusual (and likely to receive an inbox full of PMs asking for the dealer's contact details )

[Homer]

I'm not sure why the laws of economics wouldn't apply. It seems that more people want them than there are guns available.

[Colonel Enfield]

I'm not sure why the laws of economics wouldn't apply. It seems that more people want them than there are guns available.

Except that's clearly not true, in the case of run-of-the mill .303s. They made quite literally millions of them (Wikipedia says 17 million and I know a lot of your roll your eyes at Wikipedia as a source, but the article is extensively referenced so I think it's a reasonably ballpark figure) and there are still (admittedly fewer) millions of them about. There's about 770,000 licenced gun owners in Australia and most of them don't want a Lee-Enfield. There's certainly more than enough .303s about here for everyone who wants one to have several - so there's no reason (in my mind) for them to cost what they do.

Bear in mind I'm talking about generic Mk III*s and No 4s here; not Mk IIIs.

[chosenman]

Lsa 1914

[CINDERS]

Well I want more but have run out of excuses and courses of fire to procure anymore the last one the BSA T excuse = "WWII Vintage sniper matches" after which I will have to get rid of one if I want another as they get toey having more that a couple of the same caliber and do not even go there if you have a switch barrel as we are not allowed to have barrels at home.
This is in West Aus as our gun licensing is about the toughest in the land and getting worse they have just hiked the price of additions now to $180.oo then you have to supply a serviceability certificate from the gunsmith at $25 so $205.00 for the addition but it is a supply and demand market I am waiting for a '37 Lithgow and will still be waiting...I was pretty lucky to get my 1916 "H" barreled one (H stamped on the top Butt wrist) 10 years ago for $100.00.
My take on it I would be very happy to have heaps more but......

[Bindi2]

I have not had any problem sourcing No1 Mk111s in Australia to the point I have just sold one (1916) and gave the purchaser the pick from 3 (all 1916 plus bayonet 1916) and that did not include the ones not for sale. I have as issued, as recalled added star, refurbed with cancelled star and cut off. Depending on which one they wanted the price started at $1,ooo and went up in big steps. I threw in a charger with 5 deact rounds plus 1 for the mag, oiler and pull through.