Is a Lee Speed No1 Safe to shoot Mk7 Ammo in?

[nattcmars]

I get home from work in a few days and am itching to try my new No1 out. It has Enfield rifling and headspaced great. The bore is very nice and is nitro proofed. I know the sights will be off because the lighter bullet would the Greek Surplus on the market be safe in the old girl? Also from the pictures does anyone know a date that it was made?

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[Bruce_in_Oz]

Before you shoot it, you probably need to take a closer look at the front end of the butt.

The missing chip and the cracking below it indicate that the butt has not been fitted correctly. Maybe someone didn't like the look of the small gap that is supposed to be there between the rear face of the "socket" and the "shoulder" of the wrist of the butt, or some previous owner cheerfully fired more than a few rounds with the stock bolt not quite wound in tight enough. There is a good reason for the adoption of the square-ended stock screw and the steel "keeper" plate in the fore-end of the SMLE series. Shooting the old girl in this condition will simply exacerbate the damage to the nice "tiger-stripe" butt. If it has lived a lot of its life in a relatively dry part of the world and has not seen any linseed oil for a few decades, I would be surprised that the timber is not in worse shape.

By the look of the metalwork, someone has had a go at making the rifle look "pretty" by removing "patina" with some nasty abrasives.

The lack of the classic LE cocking-piece / safety "lump" at the rear and the apparent lack of a safety catch at all would indicate starting life as a Mk ll Lee Metford.

Serial No ?? 1914 but with "Queen Vic" proofs???

NICE FIND!!

[Simon P]

It should be as long as it is in good condition & the head space is correct, if your unsure get a good gunsmith check it over.

Does the bolt match, the serial number on the bolt may be different to the one on the action ring, but should match the assembly number at the rear of the action

I've got one of these LSA Lee Speeds which gets the occasional outing using Privy Partisan.

[Bluenoser]

With the "Lee Speed Patents" on the receiver and no date, I would think this a commercial MLE Mk1 with a MLM Mk II bolt. Really pretty wood!

[5thBatt]

Millions of rounds of MkVII would have been fired though Long Lees of all ages & models in NZ & Australia.

[Peter Laidler]

There should be the width of a 'junior' hacksaw blade between the butt shoulder and the butt socket. I know they close up, but this is what the out-inspector is looking for. What you've got is a result of the poor fit, exactly as BinO says

[nattcmars]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I will be sure to fit the butt a little better. The rifle is one of the ones from SOG and came in the most horrid dried out cosmo I have ever seen. The scratching on the metalwork was done many years ago as it was like that underneath the dried out cosmoline. Whatever it was laughed at mineral spirits, lacquer thinner, and everything else I threw at it. I ended up using a handheld steam cleaner to get it off. Nothing abrasive was used in my cleaning. The bolt does not match the rifle but everything else does, even the rear sight which surprised me. I get home from work on tuesday and will be shooting it on wednesday. I will give a range report then. Once again thanks for everyone's assistance.

[Surpmil]

Might be wise to "take stock of" the contact on the bolt lugs if the bolt is not original. Engineers blue or a permanent marker? Lovely grain in the butt, pity the forend is not the same.

[gsimmons]

May I suggest you look up Peter Laidler's article on fitting a bolt. It explains how a bolt is supposed to fit.