.410 Lee Enfield Enigma

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Here in Oz we saw a bunch of Ishapore shotguns at one stage. Originally chambered for a straight-sided cartridge derived from the .303 case, most were unceremoniously reamed out to take commercial .410 ammo. Fully stocked but with blanked magazine wells.

There was also the Lithgow commercial variant; a "companion piece" to their .22 Hornet rifle.

The Lithgow .410 was chambered for the 2 1/2" cartridge common in the 1930's but had a very short fore-end.. The barrel was actually choked. This was achieved by parallel boring and reaming out the standard-profile barrel and then running the rather thin-walled barrel into a into a "sizing die" to taper it a bit.

The token front-sight was a bead on top of a REVERSED standard No1 front-sight post. Rear-sight was a shallow groove in the top of the breech ring.

Crude but incredibly robust. They still pop up here from time to time. Not as "desirable" as the Hornets. If anyone has one of =f the mythical Lithgow .310 Cadet / Greener chambered REPEATERS, I'd like to get some photos. I have seen some factory drawings for them, but they may never have progressed beyond prototype / concept status.

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[Nagloc68]

I am picking up this thread a little old, but have been searching for a Lithgow/Slazenger .410 shotgun for quite a while, and the competition always beats me. I am chatting with a seller now. I have a question. Most pictures I have seen highlight the stamps on the charger bridge as .410 SHOTGUN (all one word). This example is 410 SHOT GUN (two words). I attached a photo. Has anyone seen it spelt this way before, and should I be concerned? Thanks,
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