SMLE find

[Trigger Mike]

a widow I know sells her husbands collection for money.  Among her collection was a SMLE with a part that slides in and out under the bolt over the magazine follower.  I suppose it is to prevent the next round from feeding.  Ive never seen one.  Her husband was a Marine so he took care of his things.  one thing he did do though is he reblued every surplus rifle he had.  he also took an IHC garand and put a monte carlo stock on it and blued it.  all that aside his collection was a good one.  she used to shoot his lugers with hime sometimes so she is squared away as well.

[Pat Riot]

A Monte Carlo stock on a Garland?  Weird.

[Utah Bob #35998]

Re-bluing vintage guns is not taking care of them at all. Totally ruins any collector value.

The Indian Army converted some SMLEs to single shot in 1940. Possibly for training.

Is it still 303? Some were made into 22s.

 

[Trigger Mike]

this one is still 303.  sadly he reblued over some of the markings.  I figure since it has no collector value my son could hunt with it.  the 303 is a mild round regarding recoil in my experience.  he was with me and liked it once i told him i was not buying the winchester model 70 with leopold scope that is valued at 1000.  it was not altered.  i liked the 303 partly because it still had the coin in the stock.  something I hardly find.  the rifle was made in 1943 as best I could read the date.  

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

Some things are just crimes against nature.  

 

 

 

 

[Duffield, SASS #23454]

The SMLE mk III had a magazine cutoff which is what you describe.  It allowed the rifle to be fired as a single shot while holding the ten rounds in the magazine in reserve.

The mk III* was the same rifle without the magazine cutoff.

 

Duffield

[Shotgun Clay]

Hindsight is always 20/20.  I've seen horrible things done to guns that in original condition would fetch high prices NOW.  But when I was in the 4th grade could I have guessed that my Jetson's lunchbox would be worth big bucks?  Although the monte carlo Garand is weird, the prize I've seen was a Soviet SVT40 that was sporterized and re-chambered to .303 British.

[Utah Bob #35998]

if it has a mag cutoff then it was most probably much earlier manufacture than the 40s. Hard to determine without pics.

[Nasty Newt # 7365]

1 hour ago, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said:

Some things are just crimes against nature.  

 

 

 

 

That is pretty weird, but sporterizing was the thing to do in the fifties and sixties.  A lot of people didn't think anything of it.  Most of us can remember when just about everybody that sold hunting rifles sold sporterized Mausers and Springfields.  My uncle had a sporterized 7.7 Jap, and killed a lot of deer with it.  I expect not much thought was given to historical preservation.  It was more important to turn something heavy and unwieldy into something useful. 

[Cleburne, SASS # 39597]

"..... sporterizing was the thing to do in the fifties and sixties.  A lot of people didn't think anything of it.  Most of us can remember when just about everybody that sold hunting rifles sold sporterized Mausers and Springfields.  My uncle had a sporterized 7.7 Jap, and killed a lot of deer with it.  I expect not much thought was given to historical preservation.  It was more important to turn something heavy and unwieldy into something useful."

 

True. There were booklets published describing how to perform these modifications. And if today was the Golden Years of surplus arms, no doubt many of us would be doing the same thing. Haven't we all seen sporterized Mosin/Nagants?

[Captain Long Story, US Cavalry]

Trigger Mike

 

As mentioned, that's the magazine cutoff. Most were removed towards the end of WWI, but some refitted during the 1930s when the British and Indian units were re-learning Basic Rifle Marksmenship on the Kyhber hillfolk. 

The purpose is to limit the rate of fire, ensuring that there's enough rounds on hand in case the locals decided to rush the unit engaged.

Under the bolt handle will be a date and letters. Tell us what they say, we can tell you more.

 

 

[Sedalia Dave]

Part of the value in the originals comes from the fact that so many were sporterized. Making unaltered rifles all the more valuable.

 

Some day unaltered SKB and BSS shotguns will bring a premium simply because so many were modified for CAS. The same will likely be true of original 87s.

[Tom Bullweed]

Many of the mag cutoffs were removed by the Brit army between the wars.

I had a very nice SMLE No. 3 made by Savage in 1917 with an intact cutoff.

Good find.

Even If reblued, they are not making them anymore.

[Trigger Mike]

here are the markings:

 

a crown and GR under it.  under that a very faint date that may be 1922

 

under that S and smaller letters HT with a line under them then LE 

 

V under that 

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

5 hours ago, Nasty Newt # 7365 said:

That is pretty weird, but sporterizing was the thing to do in the fifties and sixties.  A lot of people didn't think anything of it.  Most of us can remember when just about everybody that sold hunting rifles sold sporterized Mausers and Springfields.  My uncle had a sporterized 7.7 Jap, and killed a lot of deer with it.  I expect not much thought was given to historical preservation.  It was more important to turn something heavy and unwieldy into something useful. 

 

This is true... I've done it myself (Yugoslavian Mauser).  I've seen a number of "sportered" Arisaka's, known people who've shot deer with 'em. My son sporterized one of his Mosin's - and it actually looks quite good. 

 

Some arms lend themselves to the process, and some don't.  The Garand just doesn't.  Of the handful I've seen this one is perhaps the best... but as an M1 fan I find it as appealing as putting a lift kit on a Porsche.  

 

And by the way ~ I was once given an '03 Springfield barreled action that someone had set out to sporterize - stripped and polished.  I made it my mission to restore it.

 

Sporterized Yugoslavian Mauser

 

Sporterized Mosin

 

Restored '03 Springfield

[Duffield, SASS #23454]

I have two 03/A3s that are sporterized, one is still a 30-06 and one is a .308 Norma Magnum.

A friend said that I had made $200 guns out of $700 guns, but at the time it was the thing to do....

 

Duffield

[Dubious Don #56333]

That 'garand' looks more like a Mini-14 to me.....gas system is wrong for a garand.....

[Trigger Mike]

Hardpan that restored 03 looks good.  I know from experience it is not cheap to restore one.  Back when I was younger and poorer I found a National Ordnance 03a3 that was cheaper than the going rate for a real one and in my ignorance bought it.  the barrel was rough so after I shot it a while I got a real one from the CMP for a birthday present from my wife so I decided to sell the National ordnance and discovered my error in buying it.  no one wanted it.  then i found a new original barrel and no gunsmith would touch it so i found a receiver, then the stock had been glass bedded so i bought a surplus stock.  finally i got them all together and tried to sell the receiver and no one wanted it, so I gave it to the CMP.  they looked at me like I was handing them junk but did take it.  Meanwhile the restoration cost me more than the CMP was selling them for at the time.  i refuse to sell it.  I put too much into it.

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

4 hours ago, Dubious Don #56333 said:

That 'garand' looks more like a Mini-14 to me.....gas system is wrong for a garand.....

 

Yeah, Dubious, that was my initial thought.  But here's a similar rifle:

 

Sportererized M1

 

Like putting lipstick on a pig: "To put "lipstick on a pig" is a rhetorical expression, used to convey the message that making superficial or cosmetic changes is a futile attempt to disguise the true nature of a product."

 

The Garand don' need no lipstick.  

[Springfield Slim SASS #24733]

And if I had kept all the "old" cars I used to own, I would have a garage full of classics. Like was said, the more that get altered the more the originals are worth, most of the time.

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

2 hours ago, Trigger Mike said:

Hardpan that restored 03 looks good.  I know from experience it is not cheap to restore one.  Back when I was younger and poorer I found a National Ordnance 03a3 that was cheaper than the going rate for a real one and in my ignorance bought it.  the barrel was rough so after I shot it a while I got a real one from the CMP for a birthday present from my wife so I decided to sell the National ordnance and discovered my error in buying it.  no one wanted it.  then i found a new original barrel and no gunsmith would touch it so i found a receiver, then the stock had been glass bedded so i bought a surplus stock.  finally i got them all together and tried to sell the receiver and no one wanted it, so I gave it to the CMP.  they looked at me like I was handing them junk but did take it.  Meanwhile the restoration cost me more than the CMP was selling them for at the time.  i refuse to sell it.  I put too much into it.

 

Thanks, TM...

 

It was about a five year project.  Hank of the KRR re-parkerized it for me (did the Mauser at the same time). Took a goodly amount of searching to find all the parts ~ last one was the tiny screw that secures the front sight blade.  Found that at a little shop in Fresno, back about '93.  Had a BIG grin when I finally slipped a bayonet on 'er.  

[Painted Mohawk SASS 77785]

Have an unmolested .303  SMLE..1916 full wood BSA, accurate & will definitely not be touched, great old rifle. Doesn't get used much..awesome action & sights.

Lots of sporterized'  versions in Australia.

[Dubious Don #56333]

20 hours ago, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said:

 

Yeah, Dubious, that was my initial thought.  But here's a similar rifle:

 

Sportererized M1

 

Like putting lipstick on a pig: "To put "lipstick on a pig" is a rhetorical expression, used to convey the message that making superficial or cosmetic changes is a futile attempt to disguise the true nature of a product."

 

The Garand don' need no lipstick.  

Geez, some people LOL. I guess the jeweling is a nice touch but...

Well, that is an interesting way to do the barrel/gas piston.

[Utah Bob #35998]

Back when hundreds of thousands of surplus guns were sold in Woolworths for 20 bucks or less, there was really no reason not to sporterize one. Nobody anticipated a plain Jane SMLE of Mosin would someday be collector's items.

Swords into plowshares so to speak.