lee Enfield 303

[golfer65]

hi guys i have just taken hold of one of the above could someone with more knowledge than me help please
the markings it are
G.R
1918
S ht L,E
III *
and Z34on breach any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[tackb]

GR is for King george
1918 is pretty obvious
S ht LE is short lee enfield
III* means it is a simplified version of the MK 3 without the mag cut off and long range volley sights
Z34 , the Z means it's been refurbed the 34 could be the year of an inspectors number or even part of the serial number , it varied i believe

 

[Pedro]

I suppose it depends on what you want to know. Most of what's there is fairly self-explanatory. It's obviously an SMLE (short magazine Lee Enfield the short referring to the length of the barrel compared to previous models) It's a MkIII and the * indicates it's been back to the factory, as I think the Z34 indicates in 1934 and upgraded (or arguably downgraded with no magazine cut off). During wartime, churning out or refurbing rifles quickly took precedence over having more features.

Assuming you are going to fire it, they perform well with home loads. The best factory ammo (in my experience anyway) that's fairly available at present is PPU. S&B do .303 too although their brass isn't as good if you want to reload. How well it'll shoot is really down to the condition of the barrel. A good one won't be too far off modern rifle accuracy, given the relatively primitive iron sights (No4 sights were a big improvement IMHO). I'm not sure of the availability of replacement barrels these days if you wanted/need to go down that road.

They are fun to shoot, compared to a modern rifle with a great big zoom scope and bipod. More room to improve! And even if it, or you aren't performing well, it makes a big old noise and usually is a talking point at the range. What's not to like?

 

[Twodogs]

Do all the serial numbers match?

 

[Tikkat3rob]

Do all the serial numbers match?

When it comes to Lee Enfields its concerning when all the serials match without prior provence being proven, 100's-1000's of fakes have been made up with serials matching among other indicators

 

[Pedro]

Insofar as serial numbers go, yes, it's ideal if they match (and of course they're genuine). But at the end of WWII (or WWI, or both, memory going) there was a great surplus of rifles and so a great deal of them went through a procedure whereby they were inspected and obviously worn out models were discarded and others were kept, but any worn/faulty parts were replaced either with new parts or from the saved good bits from discarded rifles. So having a rifle with differing numbers doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong, but simply an indication it went through that process, that being part of it's history.

So although rifles without matching serial numbers tend to be cheaper to buy, they aren't any less genuine. Probably...

 

[chriswjx]

I suppose it depends on what you want to know. Most of what's there is fairly self-explanatory. It's obviously an SMLE (short magazine Lee Enfield the short referring to the length of the barrel compared to previous models) It's a MkIII and the * indicates it's been back to the factory, as I think the Z34 indicates in 1934 and upgraded (or arguably downgraded with no magazine cut off). During wartime, churning out or refurbing rifles quickly took precedence over having more features.

Assuming you are going to fire it, they perform well with home loads. The best factory ammo (in my experience anyway) that's fairly available at present is PPU. S&B do .303 too although their brass isn't as good if you want to reload. How well it'll shoot is really down to the condition of the barrel. A good one won't be too far off modern rifle accuracy, given the relatively primitive iron sights (No4 sights were a big improvement IMHO). I'm not sure of the availability of replacement barrels these days if you wanted/need to go down that road.

They are fun to shoot, compared to a modern rifle with a great big zoom scope and bipod. More room to improve! And even if it, or you aren't performing well, it makes a big old noise and usually is a talking point at the range. What's not to like?

I was under the impression that III* were factory standard for the latter part of the Great War and not a post war "upgrade"?

 

[tackb]

I was under the impression that III* were factory standard for the latter part of the Great War and not a post war "upgrade"?

III* was never an upgrade , quite the opposite it was a downgrade - they removed the mag cutoff and the volley sights to simplify production

 

[Twodogs]

Insofar as serial numbers go, yes, it's ideal if they match (and of course they're genuine). But at the end of WWII (or WWI, or both, memory going) there was a great surplus of rifles and so a great deal of them went through a procedure whereby they were inspected and obviously worn out models were discarded and others were kept, but any worn/faulty parts were replaced either with new parts or from the saved good bits from discarded rifles. So having a rifle with differing numbers doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong, but simply an indication it went through that process, that being part of it's history.

So although rifles without matching serial numbers tend to be cheaper to buy, they aren't any less genuine. Probably...

If a rifle went through this process at the hands of a military armourer then procedures would have been followed and parts numbered accordingly, however if through civilian hands, anybody's guess.

When it comes to Lee Enfields its concerning when all the serials match without prior provence being proven, 100's-1000's of fakes have been made up with serials matching among other indicators

There are ways, though not foolproof of course, of detecting changes to serial numbers. Provenance on such grand old rifles is somewhat difficult at best.

 

[Heym SR20]

Back in 2020, Forgotten Weapons did a whole series of videos on the Lee Enfield from its earliest beginnings in the last decades of the 1800’s right up to the last ones still in service even today. In every episode they always look at the markings and stamps. Below I think is the start of the series.

Origins of the Lee Enfield Rifle: Lee Metford Updates - Forgotten Weapons

https://youtu.be/z0hygWTUfMQ The Lee Metford MkI had scarcely been introduced when it was modified into the MkI* pattern, This was quickly followed by the MkII and MkII*, the Lee Enfield MkI, and Lee Enfield MkI*. In essence, the changes were: Lee Metford MkI*: Change of sights to traditional...

www.forgottenweapons.com