1898 MLE with "HV" on barrel

[Ridolpho]

Purchased this a few months ago- fair price and good bore. I'm curious about the HV stamp in front of the sight- can't find any mention of regular Long Lee's having sights upgraded for Mk VII. The front sight is also goofy- set up for insert blade and a groove cut on either side as if some kind of protector was once used. The barrel may be a replacement as the font of number "3" differs from that on the receiver ring but it is stamped '98 on the underside. Any thoughts?

Ridolpho

Information

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[hayboy]

Not sure about the rest of it, but the foresight ramp is dovetailed for standard Enfield foresight elements.
I have the same on my 1901 Sparkbrook LE I* which has been rebarreled with a 1926 commercial Lithgow barrel
The E on top of the knoxform of the barrel indicates Enfield (as opposed to Metford) rifling and I agree HV indicates the rear sight ramp and range markings have been reworked to Mk vii ammo which was normally done when they were converted to CLLE (which your one obviously has not...!)

And just perusing the photos further I see there is an N on the left hand side of the butt socket indicating navy issue, maybe the navy did something different with theirs and upgraded long Lees to HV without adding a charger?

[Ridolpho]

Thanks for the comments, hayboy. With no other replies forthcoming it would seem that the HV stamp on a MLE is not often seen. Further comments about the rear sight- the profile of the sight bed doesn't appear dramatically different from those on my other Long Lee's however the sight cap is dramatically shorter.

Ridolpho

[Homer]

Jump on to gunboards and see how you go there.

[hayboy]

I see from picture 5 that the barrel is annotated with the serial number as well as the receiver. There also seems to be an Enfield viewers mark on it too.
Have you got a pic showing the other side of the barrel, this is the one that usually has the date of the barrel on it.

[Ridolpho]

hayboy: Here is the other side and the bottom. The proofs and view marks seem normal but note the vice marks on the bottom where the '98 is stamped. Doubt if it came from the factory like that.

[ChadC]

Just got a 1917 SHTLE from Classic that apparently came from Samco....also has the HV stamped on the barrel just behind the rear sight. It can be seen after lifting the rear sight. One of a bunch of interesting marks.

[Claven2]

It could just mean the sights were regulated after production for the High Velocity round (MkVII ball). It's not Short Cone (SC) marked, so it would have happened just shortly after MkVII ammo was introduced in 1910 and is probably the original long throat barrel made for round nose ball ammo like the MkV or MkVI. That's my best guess.

[Ridolpho]

Thanks, Claven2. I had another look at the sight base and the differences amongst my 5 Long Lees are quite obvious. For ex., at the 400 yard position the ramp on a MLM II* sits 0.050inch above the base; 1896 MLE I is 0.038inch; the rifle in this thread is 0.028 inch. Interestingly, my 1901 MLE I* is also 0.028 inch though not stamped "HV".

Ridolpho