Gunboards Forums banner

Provenence.....Provenience.......1904

1K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  jrhead75 
#1 · (Edited)
After reading the responses to the thread I started about rebuilding/sporterising my Sht. L E I*** I looked again and it's really a 1904 BSA Co. Sht.LE I***.

If I have the story straight this rifle was manf. in 1904 as a Sht. L E.
It was modified around 1906 (don't know what mods.) to make it a Sht. L E MkI.
Sometime after that it was modified again (don't know what mods.) to make it a Sht.LE MkI*.
Sometime after that it was modified yet again (you guessed it I still don't know what mods.) to make it a Sht.LE Mk.I***.
You can see from the attached images that the marks seem to have been put on one at a time.

At some time in it's life it had the original serial # stamped out and a new one stamped on.
The latter serial # is also stamped on the bolt.

After that someone sporterised it ( sorry no pics., I can't stand to see a grown man cry.)

Can any one help me with the provenience (how it got to become what it is) of this rifle?
i.e. what changes did they make to it and approximately when that might have happened.

Does the stamped out serial # tell us any thing about the provenence (where it's been what it's done.) I thought that the ER was Edwardius Rex, but why would they put that on a serial#?
Anything else regarding provenence I am sure would be guess work. But there are inspection marks that didn't photo well that are a crown over ER over crossed flags over 2P.

Thanks for any help, speculation welcome.

Wheeler44

ps. I will do nothing but shoot and maintain this rifle until it sees an expert on enfields or I pass it on to my son.
 
See less See more
#3 ·
Started life as a ShtLE MkI, upgraded around 1906 to MkI* (mainly a few stock mods), upgraded again to MkI*** in 1914 to accommodate MkVII ammo (sighting mods).

Acquired the new "ER" serial number after being sold/given to the Irish Free State after WWI.

Likely to have seen service in both WWI and the Irish Civil War.
 
#5 ·
And...the crossed pennants with the 2P is the 2nd proof. First the barrel was proved by itself, then the barreled action.

The ER in the serial number has nothing to do with Edward...all other ERs do.
 
#6 ·
To recap then. This rifle may have seen duty during the first World War. Then was given/sold to the Irish Free State where it may have seen duty during the Irish Civil War and following "insurrection". Possibly it saw duty during the Second World War in a homeland defence capacity as Ireland was officially neutral.

Does that sound about right.
 
#7 ·
The Irish Civil War followed the "insurrection" that ended with Ireland's separation from England, and the founding of the Irish Free State.
Briefly, the civil war was fought between the Irish over acceptance of the treaty with England following the War of Independence/Black and Tan War/Gratuitous Murder Spree...whatever one wants to call it.

But aside from that...I think you've got it pretty well covered.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top