1916 smle

[GeneralPutnam]

Hello All,
Don't really collect firearms ect but I picked this up at a yard sale. Its just a barrel and was a bargain. Explained to my wife that it was going to be my new fireplace poker its covered in great stamps which is why I bought it. is it anything interesting or just a War time rile. inside the barrel is not bad but will never bee a shooter again.
Thanks
General P

[Adrian Stevenson]

WW1 SMLE Mark III*. Dated 1916 and made in England by BSA (Birmingham Small Arms).

[Gunny Hartmann]

Very nice pick up, i'm sure if i owned that here in the UK the barrel would have to be welded closed!...

[Wagriff]

It may not be restorable, but it's certainly a "Been there-Done that!" curio. Excellently marked and solidly dated for the Great War, it's something interesting to muse about and envision what all it has likely experienced and places it's seen in it's lifetime. The water-logged rat infested Trenches? Phosgene Gas attacks? Wooden winged planes piloted by iron men fighting overhead? Zeppelins? Gigantic steel plated behemoth Tanks lumbering across the No Man's Land towards it? Midnight Horror trench attacks with 3 foot sawtooth bayonets and studded steel-headed maces? The possibilities are endless....A Cool find!