Couple of No.1 Mk3 questions

[newcastle]

I was poking around in the safe last night and noticed a couple of things I thought worth questioning.

One of the 1917 No.1's appears to have been refurbished very nicely and has a very clear Canadian arsenal Broad Arrow inside the C stamped on the receiver - DID CA have a refurb program of No.1s at all? Could have been a club / target rifle up there I thought - no US import marks at all.

I have two rifles with ID discs in the stock that are very similar. Both have a KA stamp and one has 7.38 below it and the other 11.38 below it. any ideas?

Finally I have a 1915 rifle - pics attached. Why do i think this is odd?

[Sunray]

The Broad Arrow inside the C has nothing to do with Canadian Arsenals. It's a Canadian Army acceptance(ownership) stamp.
The 1915's stock looks like is was assembled out of a parts bin. I think it's more than one type of wood.

[Brian Dick]

I'm not sure about organized rebuild programs at SAL/CA but I know that they did produce spare parts and barrels for the SMLE at SAL during WW2 so I'd guess they did rebuild SMLE's at Long Branch. Since Canadian rebuilds seldom bear a distinct FTR stamp like their British counterparts, it's hard to say what the extent of SMLE work was during WWII or post war. Maybe some one else can elaborate.

[newcastle]

Close up pictures of the 1915 don't do it justice. What I found strange was that it was a No.1 Mk3* and had no cut off slot, whereas I thought that this was only introduced in 1916 (though maybe I am wrong). The picture showing the left hand side also appears to indicated that the wood was shaved to remove a volley sight.

[englishman_ca]

I believe that BSA implemented the changes for Mk.III* before any of the other manufacturers. In fact, they jumped on it a little early and initially had rifles rejected by inspectors because they were not to pattern.

So a 1915 BSA Mk.III* without the cut off plate slot or volley sights is legit.

[Roger Payne]

You also encounter some EFD manufactured 1915 dated Mk3*'s.

[Paul S.]

The 1915 is set up as a target rifle. The sight protector is gone. The furniture and the sight have been modified.

[newcastle]

Can you elaborate on that Paul please?

[pisco]

hi i have a 1915 bsa it has the slot for the cut off serial no x40861 does this help

[RobD]

Dear Newcastle,
re: "ID discs in the stock that are very similar.... Both have a KA stamp and one has 7.38 below it and the other 11.38..."
The numbers will be month/year, i.e. July 1938 and November 1938. KA is tricky, as I can't come up with a British unit that would abbreviate to KA - is there any suggestion that these rifles have been in India [Kirkee Arsenal?] - or other stamps like South African acceptance, etc to give a clue?
Rob