I acquired a Lithgow 1942 SMLE III* yesterday from a friend. The wood is excellent and it is a numbers matching rifle. The bore looked like potatoes were growing in it. Two hours, Sweets 7.62, Kroil, bronze brush, polishing compound, and I now have a barrel that gauges 2, sharp lands and grooves, no pitting, frosting, and it is shiney from breech to muzzle.
It'll probably shoot fine with the right bullet size . What I do is get some fishing sinkers made from soft lead . The round slip sinkers with the hole through them work great . Oil the bore and tap a sinker down the barrel with a wood dowel or brass rod and measure it . Then you'll know what size bullet it likes .
Good stuff sir. Would of like to of seen you go more into details on the markings and such as I'm extremely new to the Enfield field (lol) and know very little about the small arms of the UK and its assorted colonies. My knowledge base is more on modern pistol and AR fighting and older American arms. Do understand nobody remembers everything off the top of their head of course, and definitely learned some new info. I picked up a 1941 mostly matching besides the bolt and certainly looks like it has seen some fighting in the pacific. $1070 out the door. Felt like a steal, also picked up an M1 Carbine (manufactured in 1942) about 4 months ago for $980. The M1 needs new springs though, the trigger pull seems fine and I'm relatively sure the firing pin protrudes (haven't shot that yet either) but it doesn't reset when I'm holding the trigger back and run the action. Does reset when I squeeze the trigger, remove my finger and run the bolt back. Sorry for the tangent, very good video. What fantastic pieces of history, the bore on mine looks fantastic I can't wait until I can afford to shoot a couple boxes through it lol. Edit: Oh, and if you haven't found out already the markings you were looking for are on the actual metal of the sling. Mine looks identical to yours and I was expecting the markings to be more reminiscent of my '42 Mosin sling, but they're on the metal. Mine is marked ME Co 1937. Sure you've found that already and I'll check out more of your content sometime. Good upload.
Thanks for watching :). not much detail in the vid more of an overview, don't think i have a sling with stamps on the metal parts but printed on the webbing.
Nice. My No. 4 Mk 1* is a 1942 Savage marked as a Lend Lease rifle. It looks rough and shoots true. I walked into a little gun shop and the old gal started calling my name. 😂
Another nice old rifle, GunGeek. ... The 'peep sight' on the next version of the Enfield would lead to greater accuracy, when shooting. The 'metal ears' do protect the sights on your Enfield. ... The instructor carrying the 'swagger stick' would emphasize the purpose of the rifle sight is to facilitate killing the enemy and NOT make him duck.
I've got the same year Lithgow. Interestingly, the stock is dated 1943, as well as HV. Have you had a look at your rifle's draws? Might explain a lot if they're beat up or oil soaked.
A full wood Lithgow No. 1 Mk. III SMLE: be still my beating heart. What a tragedy that their government dumped so many of them into the Great Barrier Reef. I used to have a parade rifle with a yellow nose and a fuzzy bore but it shot well. The Aussies were very concerned about invasion by the Japanese. I heard that some sheep rancher discovered an abandoned WW II American army camp in the desert in either Queensland or the Northern Territory something like 20 years ago. He found hundreds of assorted brand new small arms and munitions with almost no corrosion due to the dry air, and being a civic minded citizen he promptly reported this to the authorities. Everything ended up being hauled off for destruction and is probably now part of said Great Barrier Reef.
This is one of the saddest things I might of ever read. Kind of like people bringing transferable's to gun buy backs and trading away history for 100 dollar gift cards. It boggles the mind.
Pretty sure all the Aussie smle were made in Lithgow .. awsum calibre would be similar to .308 today rimmed ammo meant one stacked behind another or in front of… 10 shot was high tech in the day even the mighty garand had only 8
I acquired a Lithgow 1942 SMLE III* yesterday from a friend. The wood is excellent and it is a numbers matching rifle. The bore looked like potatoes were growing in it. Two hours, Sweets 7.62, Kroil, bronze brush, polishing compound, and I now have a barrel that gauges 2, sharp lands and grooves, no pitting, frosting, and it is shiney from breech to muzzle.
It'll probably shoot fine with the right bullet size . What I do is get some fishing sinkers made from soft lead . The round slip sinkers with the hole through them work great . Oil the bore and tap a sinker down the barrel with a wood dowel or brass rod and measure it . Then you'll know what size bullet it likes .
yeah i need to try over sized cast bullets again
You could slug the bore with lead sinkers, or with a lead ball from your muzzle loader. I use my .490 ball to slug .45 down to .30 barrels.
Mine was made in 1917. It's from Australia built by Lithgow . No 1 Mk III *. It's in the same shape yours is. Shoots great.👍. Good video.😃
Right on
Good stuff sir. Would of like to of seen you go more into details on the markings and such as I'm extremely new to the Enfield field (lol) and know very little about the small arms of the UK and its assorted colonies. My knowledge base is more on modern pistol and AR fighting and older American arms. Do understand nobody remembers everything off the top of their head of course, and definitely learned some new info. I picked up a 1941 mostly matching besides the bolt and certainly looks like it has seen some fighting in the pacific. $1070 out the door. Felt like a steal, also picked up an M1 Carbine (manufactured in 1942) about 4 months ago for $980.
The M1 needs new springs though, the trigger pull seems fine and I'm relatively sure the firing pin protrudes (haven't shot that yet either) but it doesn't reset when I'm holding the trigger back and run the action. Does reset when I squeeze the trigger, remove my finger and run the bolt back. Sorry for the tangent, very good video. What fantastic pieces of history, the bore on mine looks fantastic I can't wait until I can afford to shoot a couple boxes through it lol.
Edit: Oh, and if you haven't found out already the markings you were looking for are on the actual metal of the sling. Mine looks identical to yours and I was expecting the markings to be more reminiscent of my '42 Mosin sling, but they're on the metal. Mine is marked ME Co 1937. Sure you've found that already and I'll check out more of your content sometime. Good upload.
Thanks for watching :). not much detail in the vid more of an overview, don't think i have a sling with stamps on the metal parts but printed on the webbing.
Good information, it's to bad prices have gone through the roof, as I enjoy the ones I own. Great vid
im pretty sure the golden age of surplus has very much passed :)
Nice. My No. 4 Mk 1* is a 1942 Savage marked as a Lend Lease rifle. It looks rough and shoots true. I walked into a little gun shop and the old gal started calling my name. 😂
awesome :)
Another nice old rifle, GunGeek. ... The 'peep sight' on the next version of the Enfield would lead to greater accuracy, when shooting. The 'metal ears' do protect the sights on your Enfield. ... The instructor carrying the 'swagger stick' would emphasize the purpose of the rifle sight is to facilitate killing the enemy and NOT make him duck.
haha very true :)
I've got the same year Lithgow. Interestingly, the stock is dated 1943, as well as HV. Have you had a look at your rifle's draws? Might explain a lot if they're beat up or oil soaked.
A full wood Lithgow No. 1 Mk. III SMLE: be still my beating heart. What a tragedy that their government dumped so many of them into the Great Barrier Reef. I used to have a parade rifle with a yellow nose and a fuzzy bore but it shot well. The Aussies were very concerned about invasion by the Japanese. I heard that some sheep rancher discovered an abandoned WW II American army camp in the desert in either Queensland or the Northern Territory something like 20 years ago. He found hundreds of assorted brand new small arms and munitions with almost no corrosion due to the dry air, and being a civic minded citizen he promptly reported this to the authorities. Everything ended up being hauled off for destruction and is probably now part of said Great Barrier Reef.
yes :(
This is one of the saddest things I might of ever read. Kind of like people bringing transferable's to gun buy backs and trading away history for 100 dollar gift cards. It boggles the mind.
Pretty sure all the Aussie smle were made in Lithgow .. awsum calibre would be similar to .308 today rimmed ammo meant one stacked behind another or in front of… 10 shot was high tech in the day even the mighty garand had only 8
the older ammo with rounded rims have no issue with rim jams, and the Garand is semi so im not sure how 10 in the enfield helps much lol.