Description

Fully matching numbers!

Obtained from a deceased estate & offered for sale is this honest example of a late WW1 Australian made Short Magazine Lee Enfield (SHT.LE) which is all matching numbers including the bolt, action, barrel & nose cap/bayonet lug & equally unusual, retains the front volley sight & (blank) unit disc on the stock plus it has the original sling.

This rifle has seen service & had many lives by the look of the wood, including being sent to the 3rd military district as indicated by the 3MD on the receiver above the CMF rack number for use in a Victorian CMF unit post 1918. At some stage, most likely in early WW2, this rifle was converted to the No.1 MkIII* configuration which included removing the magazine cutoff & rear volley sight. You can see the addition of the asterisk (star) on the wrist which appears to have been line through it for some reason, see photos.

There are no visible cracks in the wood that we can see & there is a lot of history in the markings including the CMF rack/armoury number of 58022 & the the early Lithgow shield, see photo.

Adding to this rifles desirability is the fact that just 23,251 were known to have been manufactured at the Lithgow factory in FY 1917-1918!

If you are wanting a WW1 Lithgow No. 1 MkIII, you should consider this rifle which would make an excellent centerpiece of your collection or a good start to one.

The dark spots in the pic of the bolt face & the chamber is just old grease stains & the barrel is fine with plenty of visible rifling & no nastiness.

We are not going to try & rate the condition out of 100 as everyone seems to have a different opinion on what the percentages should be so we’ll let the pictures be the description. You will know if this is for you so view the photos carefully & make your decision based on what you see as they form the main description & override all written information. Ask for more if desired.

We think we have described it accurately & correctly but do not claim to be infallible so if we have got anything wrong, it is unintentional.

Whilst we check these out for serviceability, the warranty has expired & this is sold on an ‘as is’ basis. As with all used guns, we recommend you have this checked by a suitably qualified person prior to shooting.

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