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Advisory Panel
Originally Posted by
mac2017
I'm wondering if it was used by a soldier and never returned back during or after war. Just a guess I could be way off.
Most were just surplus and if you can imagine how many that was, someone hid it there because mother didn't like guns... The story isn't as romantic as we'd like.
Originally Posted by
mac2017
Yes she is full wood I ordered parts from all over
So you put the wood back to full?
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10-25-2020 11:37 AM
# ADS
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Most were just surplus and if you can imagine how many that was, someone hid it there because mother didn't like guns... The story isn't as romantic as we'd like.
A find in a (English) Church tower :
WWI rifle found during work at St James Church belltower in Bushey | Watford Observer
It look like one of those 'specials' modified for the WW1 tunnelers, rather than a Lookout's rifle.
More likely to be a rifle illegally held (no licence) and was hidden there - It'd be interesting to see the headstamps / dates on the ammunition.
Mine are not the best, but they are not too bad. I can think of lots of Enfields I'd rather have but instead of constantly striving for more, sometimes it's good to be satisfied with what one has...
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Advisory Panel
Didn't we have a thread about that one here some time back? Or it came to light during a discussion about tunneling rifles...
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Yes I agree. I doubt it was hidden, I'd say it was just covered to keep dirt and dust off them as there were 3 guns covered under same tarp.
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Advisory Panel
From old photos here in Canada
it seems to have been mostly Winchesters and Savage 99s which were the preferred hunting rifles before WWI, with a sprinkling of other US makes and some Rosses. After the war the surplus Lee Enfields poured in. Were they popular because of price or because hundreds of thousands of men had become familiar with them during the war? Good question. Hard to say which group would be larger: those who who had learned to know and trust the rifle, if not "love" it and those who didn't care to be reminded of all that it represented. The Lee was seen somewhat as "yesterday's rifle" before the war restored its reputation, and not just in Canada either.
Tangential ramblings! 
“There are invisible rulers who control the destinies of millions. It is not generally realized to what extent the words and actions of our most influential public men are dictated by shrewd persons operating behind the scenes.”
Edward Bernays, 1928
Much changes, much remains the same. 
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