Quote Originally Posted by Cottage Hill Bill View Post
The picture is mine. I posted that picture of one of my No.1 MkIs and the 20 round mag either here or on the gunboards forum several years ago. The late tony Edwards used it in a lecture he gave, The SMLE (Short Magazine Lee Enfield) .303 Infantry Rifle
I wrote to Tony to ask that he give a photo credit on the slide, but sadly he had entered the final stages of his illness. Since then I have seen the photo circulating on the web a fair bit. My understanding is that about 120,000 were made. Some were used in some of the experimental semi-auto SMLEs, probably in the low double digits, if that many. Some were used in a few other experimental weapons, again I would guess in very low numbers. Most were scrapped. When I got mine I asked Ian Skennertonicon about them. He told me he knew of about 10 in private collections and maybe a few more than that in various museums. I know of one other one in the US.
I am aware of, from auctions at least two,one that sold at witherls(I think) on an smle with a trench stock and Flanders flap, and the one on the howell automatic rifle. In addition there is Paul breaky's which I suppose could have been one of the two but I doubt it. I tend to believe there are at least a few hidden in the woodwork, as recently/ currently there is a previously unknown one made for a no 4 going up for auction. I'm sorry to here about Tony's passing, I think I read something about it on a forum. From what I can tell he has contributed alot to the community, and is sorely missed.