Found in a loft....

[Thunderbox]

One of the very few benefits of living in UK these days is that there still remain a host of undiscovered Lee Enfield treasures concealed in lofts and attics of houses around the country.

Probably thousands of rifles and pistols were secreted away after WW1 and WW2 - weapons "misplaced" by soldiers, souvenir'd off battlefields, or pinched by kids from the depots that used to cover the country.

Sadly, most of these weapons end up being handed to the Police and quickly destroyed. A very few are handed in to registered dealers and "legitimised".

This rifle was found by someone, buried in the mica roof insulation in the loft of their house. The previous two owners of the house knew nothing about the rifle's presence, and so far no link has been discovered to a possible wartime owner.

The rifle is a 1915 No1 MkIII, with typical WW1 re-stock. It is 100% all-matching including its original 1915 barrel and - when hidden - was in near mint military issue condition. The rifle provides a wonderful specimen example of what an actual British military SMLE looked like, before 60+ years of abuse at the hands of subsequent civilian owners:

- the fit of forend and other parts is superb;
- screwheads are untouched and mostly staked;
- the bolthead is tight in line with the bolt rib;
- the barrel is cosmoline'd under the wood;
- the handguards appear to be new.

When rifle had no wrapping or cover when found, and so had suffered extensive surface rusting:



The butt contained a pull-through, complete with the last piece of flannelette used!











1915 barrel date - and no civilian proof marks at all....!





Interestingly, the sling appears to be stamped "N/\Z". Other marks are too faint to make out:




The screw heads are all "un-buggered" (REME technical phrase, apparently, according to Peter Laidler......)




The corrosion had attacked the metalwork to varying degrees - presumably depending upon the surface finishing of the individual component. The receiver body cleaned up surprisingly well, using just wire wool and oil. Other parts - the bolt knob, bands, sling swivels and nosecap - were more deeply rust-pitted and required more aggressive cleaning. These parts now have a faint stipple and "plum" colour of rust staining. The wood was undamaged, and responded immediately to cleaning with turps/RLO mix.












So far, the rifle has cleaned up quite well. The bore had been unprotected by any greasing or thick preservative. A patch only removed a very slight trace of greenish film. Whatever it was - and I assume it was issue Rangoon oil - it did an amazing job: unbelievably, the bore is bright and shiny, and appears to have fired just a couple of hundred rounds since new!

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