Am I missing something!

[CINDERS]

Over the last couple of years I have noticed the spare parts for the Lee's start to spiral upwards at a rather alarming rate.
Point in case a Singer sight which 2 years ago one may have picked up for say $50/Aud comes in at $200/Aud see link.
That and allot of other stuff like furniture has really ballooned in prices, so much so that there are allot more of the repro stocks on the net than there were years ago.
With original sets fetching rather silly prices yes I know they don't make them anymore but the steepness of these increases is quite the mind boggling exercise.

One thing that will be a certainty is the only way is up for the prices why even the good old charger clips you could get 10 for $30 now you pay $34 for 5?

LEE ENFIELD No.4 Mk1 SINGER STYLE MILLED REAR SIGHT AND PARTS | eBay

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[smith3006]

Agree with everything you say. I guess its the fact that these pieces are now so old and the supply of parts is very scarce. I know of one firearms shop in Sydney that now dismantles 303s because they get more for the parts than the rifle itself. How foolish am I that I gave a mate two brand sets of these sights at no charge on the weekend. I guess once us old guys depart this earth not only is the knowledge lost but the spares parts get thrown out by the kids as rubbish - I know that has happened the few times over the years.

[Bindi2]

Agree with everything you say. I guess its the fact that these pieces are now so old and the supply of parts is very scarce. I know of one firearms shop in Sydney that now dismantles 303s because they get more for the parts than the rifle itself. How foolish am I that I gave a mate two brand sets of these sights at no charge on the weekend. I guess once us old guys depart this earth not only is the knowledge lost but the spares parts get thrown out by the kids as rubbish - I know that has happened the few times over the years.

You can throw some junk my way

[smith3006]

Hello Mr P, Wondered when you would join the thread. I have been missing for a long time but you guys now have me to contend with again. Have over the last year or so always read the various threads but didn't make comment as I usually say the wrong thing but now because of my age I don't care .
Must admit that I gave some "junk" away to the guy that actually purchased all my spare parts last year and he did pay a very good price for it all so felt responsible. Still have a couple of bits including brand new No4 sights up my sleeve. (you should know that )

[CINDERS]

Madness there ain't no limit to it how far will this one go......! 8 days & 19 hours to go........?

I also see it has the solid type rear sight protectors does anyone know when they discontinued the milled type in WWI or was that type carried on throughout the WWI conflict.

TIA
Rare Original Complete WW1 SMLE Lee Enfield 303 Walnut Stock Set | eBay

[smith3006]

I guess this madness will continue and goes to add credit as to what I was saying in that the some of the parts is worth more than the rifle.

[Roger Payne]

Both the No4 rear sight & the SMLE stock set seller are forummers on here. I don't know about the SMLE stock set, but the No4 rear sight seller had quite a large quantity off me, so I can assure you they were truly 'spares', at least by the time I acquired them twenty five years ago. No healthy No4 rifles suffered in those particular deals! And, I managed to get some very useful SMLE spares out of it.

But I take the point about silly prices in general. Sadly, whilst some people are prepared to pay ridiculous prices for spare parts there will remain an incentive for others to break up good rifles. It's a minor tragedy.......

& maybe not so minor........

[RobD]

But the unfathomable thing is this:
- we're all getting older and pegging it one by one
- there's very little new blood coming into shooting or collecting
- less and less people shooting on the range
- less and less people at militaria fairs
- very few .303s blow up or wear out, the way we look after them
So where on earth is all the demand that drives prices up coming from?
Surely the millions of .303s which were made should be vastly in excess of the the numbers who want to own them?

[Roger Payne]

I know Rob. I've come to the conclusion that Warren's got all of the spares locked up in his shed.

[TheAlpineWolf]

Hi Guys,
Funnily enough the stock set is my eBay listing!
I'm as shocked as you guys, I put it up expecting to get less than what I payed for it (that being $550) as it's just a spare I had and needed some money to fund buying a Lebel.
Does anyone know why it has skyrocketed soo much? I feel like I did a fair job explaining its condition etc. Worried that the to bidder will pull out and I would have lost all the other interest in it!
Anyway, for a younger collector such as myself that is some serious money that I can spend on some new rifles lol so I can't complain as long as the buyer is happy.
Thanks,
Sam