First Enfield No1 MKIII* for me

E

easyliven88

New member
I am totally new to the Enfield world, but not to the Surplus world. I acquired this for $90 with 30 rds. I haven't stripped it done yet so maybe there are some more markings that I haven't discovered. I can't find any import markings which means it was a bring back? I will be refurbishing the furniture when the weather warms as my workbench is in the garage. The bore is in great shape, bolt action is nice and smooth and the trigger action is smooth also. The wood is real shinny from shellac? Also there is a split in the wood that needs some serious attention. I noticed the green anti-corrosion paint, they were treated for operating in the North African and Pacific theatres. Any comments or advice would be much appreciated...Enjoy the pics




Austrian Militia police (Gendarmerie)







 
You have stumbled upon an Austrian State Police rifle that was donated by the Brits right after WWII ended. As of late, the few that I have seen on Gunbroker have prices on them about 5 times what you paid for that one.

I bought one waaaaaay back in the 60s, and it also had the green paint on it; Don't remove it

The shellac, however, is not original, so you can remove it with some lacquer thinner if you want then replace with linseed (or Linspeed) oil. Try to keep sanding of the wood at an absolute bare minimum, however. None would be better.

Nice find!

BTW: 30 rounds of .303 is probably about $15.00 worth today, so you can subtract that from the cost of the rifle. LOL!!
 
An interesting history even before that. The "ER" does not stand for Elizabeth II, the current monarch, but Edward VII, who reigned 1901-1910. The rifle was originally a Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield, Mk I (or MkI*) then sometime in the reign of one of the Georges converted to the Mk III. It remained in British service until after WWII, when it was given to the Austrian police. After Austria got back on its feet, the British weapons were declared surplus and sold on the market, many to American importers.

That rifle seems to be almost a book on part of the history of the British Empire as well as of Europe in the post-WWII era.

Edited to add: The information about Edward VII might not be correct. I will leave it for information, but have noted below that I have had second thoughts about this post. The information about Austrian police use is correct.

Jim
 
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Congrats on the rifle & price. I don't know much about them, but looks to be in good shape and all there. I picked up a sporterized version with cracked stock at a yard sale last summer.i would agree yours is worth 5 times what you paid.
 
An interesting history even before that. The "ER" does not stand for Elizabeth II,
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That "ER" actually looks an awful lot more like "FR" to me. The only "ER" guns I have ever seen were No. 1 Mk I*** rifles and, as the old Sam Cummings/Hunter's Lodge/Interarms ad story goes, were so-called "Shamrock Enfields" (complete with "certificate of authenticity), and "ER" supposedly stood for "Erin Republic." The "ER" mark was also in a different place.
 
Could be. After posting the above, I had some second thoughts. I won't change that at this point, but will note that the "ER" part might not be correct. I also read that rifles made in 1936, in the reign of Edward VIII had a different marking from the usual crown over the royal cipher because his reign was so short they didn't have a chance to make up new stamps.

Jim
 
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Thanks for all the info and comments, I've been doing as much research as I can on all the markings. James K, I do believe that instead of ER that it is an FR marking meaning most likely it was a Field Repair some time in its history. The more I dig the more info I find on it, I really enjoy the long history of these older rifles.
 
Thanks for all the info and comments, I've been doing as much research as I can on all the markings. James K, I do believe that instead of ER that it is an FR marking meaning most likely it was a Field Repair some time in its history.
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I don't think the Brits ever used that particular abbreviation.

The only specific "repair" intitials that I know of are "FTR" which means "Factory Thorough Repair."

I think Wogpotter needs to chime in.
 
"FR" for Factory Repair was used by Ishapore. I can find no indication that "ER" was ever used by Ireland or that there was ever an Erin Republic or any entity called that; Irish rifles are often seen marked with the intertwined "FF", for Fianna Fail ("Army of Destiny") which was used at one time; today, the name is used for a political party and the Irish Defence Force is called that, in English and Gaelic, though their badge still shows the "FF" in the center.

Jim
 
I can find no indication that "ER" was ever used by Ireland or that there was ever an Erin Republic or any entity called that;
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Jim, I'm pretty sure the "ER" business was just some flim-flammery from Sam Cummings and Hunter's Lodge. If you dig out some of your American Riflemans ca. 62-63-64, you'll see those guns advertised. The irony is that, being mostly No.1 MkI*** rifles, they were about $2.00 cheaper than No.1 MkIIIs.
 
You know, looking again at your wood, I think if you just took a rag with lacquer thinner, you could reduce the sheen on that shellac and make it look almost original without stripping it completely.

It's an uncommon gun; I'm jealous.:D
 
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