S.M.L.E Sniper at Birmingham Arms Fair

[Simon]

Was at the Birmingham Arms Fair (that's the one in England for Conec's benefit) on Sunday and one of the vendors was offering for sale a S.M.L.E Sniper setup with Purdey mounts. Although the scope had its original rings and the bases were also 100% genuine it had all been lashed together (Bubba'd for our American friends) onto a 1915 Enfield which was De-activated. And what was he asking for this deact lash up? £5000 yep that's right £5000

Cheers,

Simon.

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[Promo]

What was the S/N of the scope as I had just recently been offered a genunie SMLE sniper scope with mountings?

[bigduke6]

Was at the Birmingham Arms Fair (that's the one in England for Conec's benefit) on Sunday and one of the vendors was offering for sale a S.M.L.E Sniper setup with Purdey mounts. Although the scope had its original rings and the bases were also 100% genuine it had all been lashed together (Bubba'd for our American friends) onto a 1915 Enfield which was De-activated. And what was he asking for this deact lash up? £5000 yep that's right £5000

Cheers,

Simon.

I couldnt get down as it was the Wifes birthday, (feel a bit guilty as I should of least gone to see if I could find her a nice bayonet or two) was there any other bargains?

[stevesmle]

I saw this rifle at the fair, but did not ask him the price. Most of his recent stuff has come out of zimbabwe or S.A., So it's possible this was put together there.

[Simon]

The piece de resistance was the frankenboyser anti tank rifle creation. You've gotta give someone credit for having a vivid imagination but Geez it looked awful, little bits of boys rifle bolted to bits of No4, No5 and drilled sheetmetal that had been painted in Bullsh*t black paint. All yours for a paltry £2500!!!!!!!!

Cheers,

Simon.

I couldnt get down as it was the Wifes birthday, (feel a bit guilty as I should of least gone to see if I could find her a nice bayonet or two) was there any other bargains?

[conec]

(that's the one in England for Conec's benefit)

Hey!

[Beerhunter]

Was at the Birmingham Arms Fair (that's the one in England for Conec's benefit) on Sunday and one of the vendors was offering for sale a S.M.L.E Sniper setup with Purdey mounts. Although the scope had its original rings and the bases were also 100% genuine it had all been lashed together (Bubba'd for our American friends) onto a 1915 Enfield which was De-activated. And what was he asking for this deact lash up? £5000 yep that's right £5000

There are obviously customers feeding these prices.

What I don't understand is who they are. I move in the world of classics that still go bang and have no contact with deact collectors with big bucks to spend. I''l reiterate who are they?

[Simon]

Hey!

Sorry, couldn't resist

Cheers,

Simon.

[bigduke6]

There are obviously customers feeding these prices.

What I don't understand is who they are. I move in the world of classics that still go bang and have no contact with deact collectors with big bucks to spend. I''l reiterate who are they?

I dont know who they are, but I enjoyed my deacts when I had them, but mine were mainly SMG,s, LMG,s and the odd vickers, the prices back then were very reasonable, deact rifles never interested me as these could be purchased with a FAC, and for £5000 (if I had that to spend) I,d be taking a trip to the midlands and haggle over a live L42 with all its bits.

Prices are daft nowdays and it seemed to stem from the old spec semi auto,s and the SMG,s becoming more soughtafter and along with the price,s of these it esculated onto the LMG,s and bolt action rifles also.

I cringe at times when I see some of the rifles that have been deactivated and I regular turn down jobs requiring deactivation and conversion work due to the rifles being a good honest Milsurp and have saved a few from death row in the last few years, but at the end of the day I,d rather see deacts in someones collection rather than at the bottom of the smelting pot.

Going back to the price, there is talk of deactivating all deacts to the 95, spec and If the approval goes ahead, then I feel sorry for the guys who have a lot of money invested in them.

[peregrinvs]

Prices are daft nowdays

It's supply and demand in operation. Outside of Soviet / Eastern Bloc stuff, there's little available in wholesale quantities anymore. As an example, Bren guns were relatively cheap 5-10 years ago as a large quantity had been imported from Greece. They're now all gone and Bren prices are climbing steadily. The 'good old days' of various desirable WWI / WWII British, German and US guns being plentiful and relatively cheap are long gone and probably won't return

As for requiring pre-95's to be redone, it was an idea posited in a Home Office committee report last year, but as far as I'm aware it hasn't gone further. As there's no register of who owns what, the scope for creating a black market is obvious.