The Gun Counter

I just picked up a very nice No 1 MkIII*. It's a 1922 Lithgow that was originally made as a No 1 Mk III, but the magazine cutoff was removed at some point and it was restamped as a III*. The S/N is B45xx, which is right for a 1922 Lithgow according to Stratton. S/N matches on receiver, barrel, bolt, nosecap, rear sight, forend and butt.

Picture 1

Yes, I know the sight protector is on backwards. I've already fixed that.

It was apparently restocked at some point, the forend is stamped 'Slaz 42' and the butt is stamped 5/44. Based on those dates, I assume that the wood is Coachwood. The forend has the recoil plates installed.

When I took it apart to wipe it down under the wood & check the stamps, I found the Jovino stamp on the charger bridge.

Import stamp

IIRC the Jovino bitsers had 1944 & 1945 dated receivers w/o the cut for the cutoff, and the wood was normally very dry and didn't have the recoil plates. Based on this, while it was obviously imported by Jovino, I dont think it was built by them. ISTR that they did import complete rifles as well as the parts that they used to build the other rifles.

The thing that jumps out at me the most is that the wood has obviously been renumbered to match the rifle. I know that this was done with barrels, but it seems a bit extraneous to do it to wood what with a war on and all. However that doesn't mean it wasn't done. Another odd thing is that the forend and buttstock dates are two years apart. One would think that when the rifle was refurbished the wood would be from the same year, or just maybe from two consecutive years. Lastly the shield crest on the buttstock and unit disc cutout strike me as out of place on a '44 dated stock. My stock is dated '44 as well and has neither. Your rifle wouldn't happen to have an FTR stamp on it would it?

Now of course one of this makes the rifle unauthentic as Enfields have always been a mess in the stamping department and the installation of the recoil plates almost guarantees that the stock install was done by Lithgow and not an importer. It is certainly a curious find though. Now all you need is an Awesome Hat to go with it.

I haven't found any FTR stamps yet. I may take it apart again & break out the magnifier.

Mmm. That is handsome, lucky you! Well wear.

If the FTR stamp is anything like mine it will be blatantly obvious and on the left side of the receiver wrist.

Keep in mind that LEs get very lonely. You'll have to buy a few more to keep it company.


HTRN

HTRN wrote:Keep in mind that LEs get very lonely. You'll have to buy a few more to keep it company.


HTRN

Oh, I know that. I got this because my No4s needed a playmate. Something older & tougher to keep those rambunctous youngsters in line.

Well, whatever else this rifle may be, it's definitely a shooter. I had fired a few sighter shots at 25 yds to make sure it would be on the paper, then taped it up and ran it out to 50 yds. This is 12 rounds of my standard match handload. It could have been better, bit I had trouble keeping track of the front sight. I think I'm going to paint the back of the sight protector green or orange so I'll quit getting it mixed up with the sight.

Denis wrote:Mmm. That is handsome, lucky you! Well wear.

What he said...

Now you'll have to get the bastard offspring of the devil, the No.5 commonly called the Jungle Carbine.

SeekHer wrote:

Denis wrote:Mmm. That is handsome, lucky you! Well wear.

What he said...

Now you'll have to get the bastard offspring of the devil, the No.5 commonly called the Jungle Carbine.

Yep, I've been looking for a good shooter-grade No5 for some time. I almost built the bubba'd No4 that is now my scout rifle into a No5 repro, but I decided I want a real No5.

Edit to add... Thanks, Denis!