Lee Enfield SMLE No1 Mk3 Rifle Showcase
- artiozen
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Here we will explore manufacturer variations of the renown and longest continuous service battle rifles of the British Commonwealth Armies in one of its most distinctive marks - the No1 mk3 Lee Enfield SMLE in British 303.
Ill add photo studies of example rifles, bayonets and other accessories and equipment.
To start here is a component parts General Assembly tour video:
Enfield started industrialized / toleranced manufacture with the 1850 design of the P53, standards set the "Enfield inch" - which was actually 1.008" or there abouts (Ill clarify later). This means that all other standards of the "true inch" are shorter. This lasted until the "No1" series re-designation and measuring corrections came around in 1920 (for all machining etc) - however the standard threads and tooling were still to the Enfield Inch - therefore all taps and dies were and still are "custom / antique specification". You can round up one more turn of thread in a fine pitch thread form in the Enfield Inch!
This is no problem to change fasteners or threaded components between different manufacturers of the No1 mk3 - it does pose a challenge to interchange with the BA standardized No4 and No5 rifles. More on their threads in their developing Blog.
As a wholesale purchaser of Lee Enfield parts I am finding that the marked and stores wrapped boxed parts are diminishing and what is currently available are loose parts. Many of the component forms shared between the No1 rifle series and No4 /5 rifle series look the same - but a thread check will indicted one or the other with little interchangeability. for instance the safety segment looks the same, but the thread forms are different and they do not mix. Recently a wholesaler supplied Butt swivels in compent forma nd the screws were No4 thread from and the butt swivel plate was No1 thread form. Easy for me to check and sort the parts into seperate resale channels but frustrating for a collector to receive the and them not fit. This is why I check all my received orders fof fit twice - upon receipt from wholesale and at picking for dispatch.
Warning - if you have a standard No1 / SMLE - the butt bolt cannot be turned while the front wood is assembled on it - if you do it risks damage to the wood via the square end "jacking" the wood apart and splitting at the draws - very painful to the rifle, emotions and wallet. What I will say here is that one of the only thread systems that was carried over from the No1 rifle in Enfield Inch to the No4 and No5 is the Butt Bolt thread. This poses an advantage for the No1 rifle owner, in that the No4 but bolt is the same thread and does not have the square protruding end to lock into the rear of the wooden fore-end. So, on my No1 examples I make this switch and there is no risk of the Butt Bolt being turned while the front wood is assembled.
Examples of the different manufacturers of the Lee Enfield No1 mk3 SMLE:
Enfield Lock
London Small Arms (LSA)
Birmingham Small Arms (BSA)
Lithgow (Australia)
Produced the N1 Mk3 on contract machinery provided by Pratt & Witney of the USA.
Ishapore
Canada
Did not produce the SMLE for themselves but would receive British made examples and mark them for service.
New Zealand
Did not produce the SMLE for themselves but would receive British made examples and mark them for service.
South Africa
Did not produce the SMLE for themselves but would receive British made examples and mark them for service.
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