New Member Rifle Markings ID post and general new rifle pics.

[DanStew]

Hello. I got my rifle last week. So far I have found out a few things from the Previous owner and from looking online. The basics, it is a 1918 M.1 Mark III Lee Enfield. It was made by Lithgow in Australia. It was 2nd Military District, Eastern Command, New South Wales. Stamped as Citizen Military Forces. There are other markings I am not sure of on the breach. The previous owner indicated that it was refurbished in WWII, but I am not sure what tells me that. Here are some pictures of what I have.

Pic of when i got it and before Tear down.


I took it apart.








It looks like tomorrow I am going to clean it and linseed oil it. The furniture is in pretty good shape, no big issues. Only problem i had was the end of the stock was broken a touch.

And it was wrapped in electrical tape to i guess stop the stock from moving in the metal plate. Is there a good way to repair this?

And as you can see in this picture.

I have some stretching of the casing. I fired it last weekend and it was real nice, but the bolt would not return to eject the casing without me tapping it with a rubber mallet. It did come back one time without help. Today i cleaned the chamber and hoped maybe it was crud in there that is sticking the round in the chamber. I didnt check to see if this helped since i got into tearing it all apart. I hope it was the problem. I also was going to try and polish the chamber but i think it may go to the gunsmith to check it out.

But after full disassembly it cleaned up real well. The bore is in excellent shape. It should clean up real nice. The previous owner said something abotu the furniture being Coachwood, but not sure what to look for in that statement. The year indicates it should have been Maple If I remember correctly. If you see anything i missed that is interesting about it please let me know.

Thanks!!!

Information

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[Peter Laidler]

If you immerse the butt fully into a tub of warm to the touch boiled linseed oil (I'd do the rest oif the wood too while you're at it.....) overnight you'll probably find that the socket part will swell up and become a nice tight snug fit into the rifle socket.

As for the sticking case during extraction, it says to me that you have little or no primary extraction. This slight rearwards movement of the bolt as you lift it breaks the taper seal and allows the easy extraction and ejection of the spent case. If I was you, I'd be looking at a worn extractor......., mind you, I'd be looking at everything connected with primary extraction because as a rule, if the chamber is badly scored or crazed or pitted etc etc, it will show on the case

[DanStew]

Thanks for the reply.

The chamber is very very clean with no pitting, I was nicely surprised on how clean the chamber and bore of the rifle is. I can check the extractor. It will feed and pull a live round out with zero issues. I did it real slow to check the mechanics and it seems to be grabbing the rim normally. I can chamber one of the used casings easy enough, but getting them out is still requires the mallet or a good whack with the palm of my hand. After i get it together I will probably take it to a gunsmith to get him to do measurements

[muffett.2008]

Just a question, 'What make of ammo are you using?'
That case swell looks a lot like what you get with Winchester cases, I'd suggest using a couple of milsurp rounds and see how they go.

[DanStew]

It was Lellier and Bellot brand of ammunition. It was what the local store had.

On other news i found all furniture have the same numbers. 741.

Thanks!!

[Peter Laidler]

Do you need a mallet to LIFT the bolt (this is primary extraction) or do you need it to withdraw the bolt rearwards.

Put a tight case into the breech, close the bolt fully and look carefully as you lift the bolt. The tight case in the chamber SHOULD be being drawn back very slightly from the moment you raise the bolt. This movement is breaking the gas tight obturating seal of the case in the chamber.

A worn extractor claw and/or an elongated hole in the extractor claw and/or a worn or shpouldered extractor screw will all give pixx poor primary extraction and typical of the symptoms that you describe

[DanStew]

I will check that when i get home from work. The bolt is only hard to move when extracting rearward. Going up is no problem.

[Brian Dick]

Looks like Queensland Maple to me. Correct and original to the rifle. I restored a 1918 Lithgow a year or so ago that was also a Tennessee Guns import. I'm not sure where they came from, possibly India, Pakistan or Turkey but they were all very dry so take Peter's advice and soak the woodwork well with linseed. The last thing you want is for the wood to fall apart while having a great day at the range and it surely will if you don't get some life back into it.

[Homer]

Brians right, the wood is maple and no sign of a refurb to me. Be sure to put the rear sight protector on the right way when you re-assemble. Also might pay to have a good look at the recoil shoulders in the forend if you want to shoot it.

Nice one Dan.

[DanStew]

Thanks guys.

I got it back together today. Cleaned and oiled. I put the guard back the correct way also. Only issue i have now is the wobbly rear butt, since i took off the tape the previous owner used to tighten it up, it wobbles so i am going to pull it and see if soaking in the linseed oil will expand it enough, or maybe try to cut out a sheetmetal band to act as a shim instead of the electric tape. I am going to take it to the gunsmith for a look over, i am still having the issue with the empty cartridges expanding and making it difficult for the bolt to eject them. I looked at the action and did it real slow and i have great contact with the extractor and it doesnt seem broken or an issue, but maybe i am not looking for the right thing. The bolt will go up easy, but the back motion it needs some help with the palm of my hand.