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like to restore 1915 Lithgow - need your help
I need your help to restore a 1915 Lithgow Lee Enfield. I don't know how to post pictures. So please feel free to help me with that. I need help in identifying first if my rifle is a John Jovino Lithgow Lee Engfield or not and then any advice anyone has on restoring the gun to its WWI parts would be much appreciated as well.
Under the bolt it says Lithgow SHT.LEE III 1915.
Cerial # matches on the nose cap and on the metal up near the bolt action where there is a 5MD, an old 7 pointed star with an A in it and a shield below with ACP in it as well as a second cerial number that matches the cerial number in the wood in the butt stock.
Also on the butt stock is 1915, 5MD, CMF, 18, HV, III and a shield with a kangaroo inside it with the letter A on the left of the kangaroo and C on the right.
On the wood on the underside behind the trigger guard is a 7 pointed star and AUSTRAILIA stamped over it.
On the underneath on the other side of the trigger and the magazine stamped in the wood is Z. You can make out a faint old V two inches further up the wood on the underneath side.
The bolt does not have a matching cereal number. It has the seven pointed star with an A in it as well as MA'41.
The rear site does not have a windgauge screw although the wood shows there was one once. The cereal numbers on the rear site don't match the metal near the bolt or the nose cap or in the wood of the butt stock.
Volley sites are mounted on the gun but the way they are mounted does not look right. For example the forward volley site that looks like a sundial is mounted by a screw instead of being "pinned" in.
The rifle does have brass recoil pads.
The front site has N and an arrow next to it.
The barrell is in very good condition. Here is what is marked on it when I removed the wood. SA with an arrow between them maybe, JJ (one J is higher than the first J), a crown marking that looks to be of India, maybe a I L over 76 over C, maybe a D over a 2 over a C, maybe SA over 2 ?, a square with an O in the center and I L over S A over O maybe.
There are no markings on the Lower Band.
There is an old seven pointed star on the metal behind the front site and the nose guard.
The wood all apears to be original and the same.
I suspect this is a gun by John Jovino. I will try and post some photos if I can figure out how to do it. Great looking Lee Enfield but not sure it is what I hope it to be, a true Lithgow. If anyone has any feedback, please let me know. I hope to hear soon.
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05-18-2012 10:00 PM
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Every Jovino import I have ever seen is marked something like "JJCo" on the lower right hand portion of the stripper clip guide. Sounds to be a righteous old SMLE. Most of the Lithgow rifles in the U.S. arrived courtesy of Jovino and some of these are very nice examples. If the gun is nice then whether it is marked by Jovino is irrelevant. Most collectors are concerned only about the new condition Jovino put together SMLE's built up from spare parts with a make believe serial number prefix not in the known Lithgow serial number range. Your rifle likely has just a serial number without prefix, correct?
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I really appreciate your feedback. yes that is correct for the most part the cereal numbers are without a prefix. There is one exception on the rear site. On the rear site when I pull it up, I see a number of cereal numbers crossed out and one that is not. The one that is not begins with a Y 7651. The 7 appears to be marked over a Z. What are your thoughts with that?
The lower right hand portion of the stripper clip guide, where is that located on the gun? I assume it is in the area where you load using a strip clip. No stripper clips came with the gun and I've not had a chance to fire the rifle as of yet. But would like to check the area you are refering to.
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Thread locked .. duplicate question in Enfield forum ...
Lithgow Lee Enfield Rifle I suspect is a John Jovino?
Regards,
Doug
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