Decoding SMLE markings

[Colonel Enfield]

I'd suggest they were churning out action bodies as fast as they possibly could, then basically pouring them into giant parts bins from which they were taken as needed on the assembly line. Quite probable the action was made and stamped in 1917 but didn't actually come out of the parts pile and become assembled into a full rifle until 1918.

I know Webley & Scott certainly did something like that - it's not at all unheard of for Webley revolvers to have serial numbers from a particular production year, but manufacture/proof markings from years (sometimes more than a decade!) later.

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