question on target swivel forward of the magazine on a MkIII

[Claven2]

Many of the military issue MkIII rifles I encounter have no swivel installed forward fo the magazine, yet they are all (seemingly) machined to accept a swivel.

Were all the rifles built wit hthe swivel, and it was later removed on some rifles, or did rifles leave the factory with this part omitted?

Sadly, I've not got the Ross Rifle Story on-hand to reference.

Information

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[oldpaul]

It had not noticed whether my MkIII differed from others until you posed this question. As the attached picture shows, mine does not have this swivel, although it does have the hole machined that you mentioned. On page 51 of The Ross Rifle Story it states "Late in 1915 the SSAC ordered Ross to stop fitting the trigger guard sling swivel to Mark III rifles as it "served no useful purpose" and to countersink the top handguard rivets which became uncomfortably hot during sustained rapid fire. The latter was undertaken immediately, while the sling swivel was discontinued with serial series G.W. on February 8, 1916." Regards. Tom

[Claven2]

Awesome, thanks. Mine is a 1916, so I guess it's OK that it does not have the swivel.