LSA 1905 with "P" prefix?

[Salt Flat]

Thank you! That looks very nice indeed! Is it a "K" block??

No, it is an Irish contract "ER" prefix as re-marked by the Irish. I think the original prefix was F although I would have to take another look.

[Salt Flat]

Telperion, I pulled my MK I*** out of the safe and took another look at it. And wouldn't you know it. IT IS a K block! I don't really know the significance of that but there you go! Salt Flat
































1

[telperion]

Salt, thank you very much! So what you'd expect if you find an LSA Mk I is basically a "K"-block.

I will post more pix as soon as I will be able to lay hand on mine which will take some time.

Again, to all, thanks a lot!!!

T

[desperatedan]

Hi T

Interesting rifle.

I've also got a 1905 LSA No1 that was upgraded to a Mk1*** during its life. It's also a 2xxxx serial number. It has a 'K' suffix, not a pre-fix. I think your rifle acquired its 'P' prefix at some point in its life but not orginally from the factory.

I also have a 1918 LSA Mk111* which I believe to be one of the early 111*s as it has an 'O' prefix, a 97xxx serial. From my researches trying to get an idea of when LSA changed over to from 111 to 111* production, I never came across any 'P' prefix rifles other than 1918 111* ones.

If I recall correctly, unlike some of the high volume producers, I don't think LSA ever used serial number letters more than once across their types and years of production.

Thanks for posting about your rifle.

[Alan de Enfield]

If I recall correctly, unlike some of the high volume producers, I don't think LSA ever used serial number letters more than once across their types and years of production.

Thanks for posting about your rifle.

They only manufactured a total of 495,000 rifles across all models between 1903 and 1918

[desperatedan]

Yes, not a high volume manufacturer and unlike say Enfield, the alpha part of serials was never reused in later years/marks.

[telperion]

Thanks for all your thoughts! I will post post more pix as soon as I got the Old Lady at home. Let's see if we can solve the mystery then!

Many greetings

T

[telperion]

Hi all,

now I got it at home. The delay was caused by our gun regulations!

The bore is like a mirror. Everything is matchig, force-matched, that is, but if you look on the overhaul dates ....
I have the right nose cap, but I leave it like that for the time being!

Many greetings

T

[desperatedan]

Thanks for posting the pictures. From the look of the cartouche the butt stock is originally from an Enfield made Mark I*.

A nice looking rifle with no doubt an interesting history, especially as it has a 'P' prefix serial for such an early LSA. I wonder if it has been renumbered at some point in its life?

[telperion]

You're welcome! I had promised to post further pix, and here they are! Well, the SN looks authentic to me; there are no traces of polishing or whatever. There was an error in the last digit, though, which seems to be a bit odd. Still have to look at the SN on the barrel, but I have no doubt that it will read "P 21845", too! No sign of a new number on the foreend; it's "P 21845" like on the other parts. I confirm that the maker in the roundel is ENFIELD, but I'm sure the arsenals wouldn't have bothered to use whatever what was fitting well on the socket, so I have no doubt that this is way it was intended by the Army. Spend a lot of time in arsenals, didn't it?
When I was on the lookout for a British rifle, I thought it would be a common maker and a common year of WW I, and an Mk III of course, like, for example, "BSA 1917" or something like that. Now I ended up with an authentic Mk I of an more uncommon maker, a rifle I never thought I would own someday.
I like that!