1941 Australian SMLE
Article about: I have had this Australian SMLE III in my collection for some years now. It was made in 1941 in Lithgow. On one side of the rifle there is the name "Doris May" carved into the stoc
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Hello Thadeus-Any soldier doing this to a service weapon would be charged with a battery of offences-this was not tolerated-the carving would have been done after the rifle was sold out of service to a civilian farmer or hunter or club shooter-the sort of trench art/craft work someone would do with time on their hands.
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Thank you guys! My knowledge on this rifle has already been expanded thanks to your help! I'm going to look to see if there are any other marking on the stock!
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Paul, I tried to make out a date under the shield but I believe that time has worn it away. It just looks like a straight line. To the right of the bottom marking their appears to be another marking, although i Can not make out what it is
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That's a Roman numeral 3 'III' and an asterisk for 'Rifle No.1 Mk III*', the service designation after 1926 when the naming system was reorganised, the rifle being previously the SMLE Mk III*.
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Thanks for the information lithgow. Sorry for the late reply. I did some further research on my own in regards to the butt stock. I did some reading on the internet and found that in 1941 the Aussies were more worried about a Japanese invasion than they were about making quality weapons. They were cranking these babies out in the quickest way possible often mixing parts from old rifles in to current production to increase their production capability and save parts. Perhaps this was the case with mine having the older butt stock??
Thaddeus
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More likely it's a later replacement after being sold out, possibly because of the carving on the stock having sentimental value-the rifles were widely used after both world wars by the civilian shooting population so much mix and match has occurred over the years as repairs etc have been done-butts were also produced in 3 lengths for different shooter heights (marked as 'S' for short, unmarked as standard and 'L' for long) another replacement option...
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