help identification my 303

[rocket]

Information

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[Thunderbox]

1944 BSA No4 Mk1 sold as surplus in the 1950s/60s and since butchered into a deer gun......

[smellie]

Mmh, yes, Birmingham gun definitely, BSA Shirley, and it's a Mark 1 rather than a Mark 1* as were so very many War Two rifles.

Interesting point is the scrubbed original serial number and its replacement by this number with the AL prefix. Alberta Lands HAS been suggested, but there is another one running about with a serial almost 18000..... and no reason for Alberta to need 18000 rifles unless to defend against those hordes of Ontarians who show up for good-paying jobs and then disappear back to Toronto to complain about the West just as soon as the economy slows down. Arab Legion has also been suggested, which might make a bit more sense. I have seen Italian-used rifles with A prefix serials; might this be one of theirs, post-War Two for a while? Also, an "A" prefix was often used for rifles with parts which were not strictly interchangeable, but that was with the regular serial number. This one has been scrubbed and renumbered.

There are a number of these AL rifles about. Perhaps it is time to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Gentlemen; suggestions?
.

[Beerhunter]

The marks on the left side of the knox form are English Civilian Proof marks. Birmingham Proof House. Some time after 1955.