I have been offered this SMLE Mk I***, made by LSA in 1905. The serial reads "P 2XXXX".
(Have just the pix from the ad and couldn't do others. Could have a look at the Old Lady, though). The stock disc reads "18 W.Y".
The finish and all seem to be authentic. No traces of renumbering.
According to Charles R. Stratton your rifle made in 1905 would have been originally manufactured as a MkI (no asterisk). Unfortunately data on serial number ranges and prefixes is incomplete. He does state that the 50,000 MkIII* rifles made by LSA were the only ones that "possibly" had a P prefix. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than I will comment. That is an interesting nose cap and protective ears for the rear sight. The W.Y. is the unit stamp for The Prince of Wale's Own West Yorkshire regiment.
all parts seem original and number matching or marked to match the original number in the traditional British way (by lining out the previous number and applying the new one).
The nose cap has a battle damage; the rifle can safely be fired, though. I have the legit spare part on hand.
The rifle was upgraded for the Mk VII ammo for sure; it didn't start as a Mk I***. The wood is very nice, even the roundel on the butt ist visible quite clearly.
That Stratton has heard of the "P"-prefix is encouraging.
It sells for the usual money you pay for a standard Mk III*.
If the price isn't outrageous I'd snap it up. As Peter used to say, 'they ain't making any more'! I use as a rule of thumb that if I could resell an item for at least what I pay for it then it's worth buying! You've lost no money - just converted it into another form of value.
I'm currently rebuilding two Mk1 based rifles, although one of them is in fact a Cond MkII that was subsequently converted to .22 as a trainer, sporterised & converted to .22 Hornet, & then rebarrelled with a 303 Mk3 SMLE barrel, which is how I have it at the moment! As it is still a nice rifle I'm taking my time with it & will get it sleeved back to 22RF again. Luckily I have the other bits such as bolt head, forend, nose cap & so on. But it'll take a while as my barrel sleever is a very busy man!
Will do so! It's even less than the actual market value of a more than common, let's ´say, BSA 1917 or so. The complete woodwork for a non-descript Mk III goes for 200 now, even here on the continent, so I am not concerned about the money at all. I could probably get even just by selling the wood, the mag and the sights (which I won't do, of course). Won't shoot it much; if it comes to shooting competitions, I'd rather opt for an No4 Mk II anyway.
Those resto projects sound interesting! Good luck with them!
I am myself contemplating a restauration project, but I'm not sure what to do. It's a Mk III, made by Enfield in 1907, so one of the first ones ever made. It now a WW2-era Aussie rebuilt and almost nothing of the original rifle is left with exception of the receiver. But somehow ...I got the the proper woodwork already, even it's from BSA. Hm, not sure ...
Here's a similar rifle-- my 1907 LSA MK I ***. It's not all correct but has a great barrel and is mechanically very good. These are not often seen around here (Northwest U.S.)
PM
Originally Posted by telperion
