Smelley Irish

[willyj73]

No, this isn't a knock on Irish people--I happen to be one. It's an MK1**** SMLE sent to Ireland.

Here's a decent 1904 dated MK1*** with the ER prefix--denoting it was sent to Ireland. I don't know the full background of these rifles, but I do like the early Enfield rifles and wanted one with some early features. I had bought a CR prefix not long before this rifle popped up on Rock Island Auction's site. So, I put a bid on this one, and ended up getting it for a decent price. The rifle was missing a magazine and extractor spring--both of which I was able to obtain. I added a leather WWII sling to the rifle and may replace it with a canvas sling. I still need the correct butt stock accessories, and may add a magazine cut-off just to have something close to what an original SMLE would have looked like (I would disclose this or get rid of the mag cut off if I ever sold the rifle). The rifle has the correct windage adjustable rear sight, the volley sights, and the correct magazing. The stock markings are faint, and the stock has an older style sling swivel (I'm not an Enfield expert, so I don't know if the original SMLE sling swivels were attached to the stock in this manner). I've owned the rifle for close to two years. Not sure if I'll fire this one--I still need to inspect and clean the chamber prior to shooting the rifle--the chamber area did have some rust. I do like the rough look on this one too. While a rifle with a nice stock is desirable, it seems that most of the Enfields that I've seen have been lightly sanded to "improve" the look. It is really hard to find one that hasn't been lightly sanded (as in sanded in the U.S.) or altered in some form.

[willyj73]

Some more photos

[willyj73]

and the last photos

[desdem12]

Nice.

[entropy]

Thought there was a joke there somewhere- Y'know "Paddy. Paddy, the Prods are revolting!" "Well, Seamus , you're pretty repulsive yourself. "

You do mean the ER above the serial #, right? Bacause the ER below the crown stands for Edward VII. One year earlier and it would have been stamped VR.

[willyj73]

Thought there was a joke there somewhere- Y'know "Paddy. Paddy, the Prods are revolting!" "Well, Seamus , you're pretty repulsive yourself. "

You do mean the ER above the serial #, right? Bacause the ER below the crown stands for Edward VII. One year earlier and it would have been stamped VR.

Yes, the "ER" prefix to the serial number. From what little I've read, the "ER" prefixed rifles retained most of the MK1 features, while the "CR" prefixed rifles were updated with a lot of the MKIII features.

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[steelbuttplate]

Cool as a snocone turd. Are those glass balls on the rear sight adjustment? And yes Bubby would start with some heavy grit sandpaper, and thank God no. Is the purpose of the cutoff for firing grenades?

[mwt]

Cool as a snocone turd. Are those glass balls on the rear sight adjustment? And yes Bubby would start with some heavy grit sandpaper, and thank God no. Is the purpose of the cutoff for firing grenades?

Cutoff was so budget conscious generals reared on black powder single shots could sleep at night not worrying about soldiers wasting all their ammo.


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[willyj73]

Right, the cut off was there due to fear of the soldiers wasting ammo. 1903's and Krags have mag cut offs as well (and 03a3's). The inserts in the rear slider are referred to as bone, but I don't know if they are.

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[Cj556]

Nice

[Longcolt44]

The "decorations" on the sight are/were ivory. You will notice how crazed with age they are. It is very rare to see these.