Bought a No.1 MkVI - Fill me with knowledge!

[stencollector]

Here is the No. 1 MK. VI at the RCA Museum, CFB Shilo, Manitoba, Canada. It appears to be one of the early production No. 1 MK. VI made circa 1930. The bolt is not present and the first pattern front sight guard (later called the Mark I and known to collectors as the "wasp waist" is missing. The sling is attached to the stacking swivel on the upper band instead of the sling swivel on the lower band. Note the cross-hatching and the unusual sling.

So I actually was asked to come down to the weapons vault this afternoon to make any observations wrt mis-identified rifles on display. I moved the sling swivel on the mkV from the upper to the middle position, but forgot to check and see if it is a stacking swivel or not. Both swivels well may be as the loops on the sling are sewn shut, so unless the sling was sewn onto the swivels, they must have the gap. I also turned the bands around so the screws went from left to right.

The serial number on both the wrist and on the wood were barred out and replaced with a different number. The info on the wrist are as follows: Barred out was A0553 and replaced with 26A. Year was 1930.

I mentioned to the artifacts manager that the front sight was the wrong one, and that I thought it should be a one piece waisted type. He pointed out the guards on some no4s, which I told him were wrong. I then spotted a waisted front sight guard on a rifle, and when I pulled it from the rack, it was another no1mkVI. On this one, someone replaced the rear sight with a L type battle aperture from a no4. Serial number on both the wrist and the wood were again barred out. Original number appears to be A0292 replaced by 272A. Rifle is also a 1930.

I'll look over both rifles and figure out which will be the donor and which will be the recipient and put on display. I'll either be moving over the rear sight or moving the front sight to whichever rifle is the best.

I identified about 15 or so errors in the WW2 to present weapons. I also caught that there are some issues between two rifles, one of which is a Martini re barrelled to .303. I don't have a lot of time to spend at the weapons vault though, as summer is when I get painting and sandblasting done. As I mentioned earlier, I am the mechanic.