Help Identifying Mk III SMLE

[Babarsac]

So my co-worker bought a Mk III SMLE from his neighbor this weekend and needs some help identifying the manufacturer.

-Date marked 1941
-Rear of receiver is marked "B"...so maybe BSA?
-Bolt is marked "M"
-Top of receiver is marked "P" and "M"
-As per my co-worked all serial numbers match

-The lucky booger bought the rifle for $20 and the seller included 1000 rounds of surplus ammo.

These are cell phone pics provided to me but I'll try to get some better ones on the near future.

 

[ball3006]

I believe the "B" rifles were assembled from parts available from the various manufacturers by other companies to meet the great demand due to rifle losses when the British retreated from France early in the war. If you google Enfield rifle, you may get a better, and possibily a more accurate answer to your question....chris3

 

[Gunner11]

No111 marks

Looks like a good find $20 and all that ammo! here mk7 ammo sells for nearly $1 a round. The B mark is for Birmingham small arms Shirley, the other marks are kings cypher, model 111* and date of mnf. The m on the bolthead is a headspace mark bolt heads were made in various lengths about 1 thou apart to accommodate mnf tolerances and matched to the finished rifles. As the previous poster has said there are several good lee enfield sites that could help identify it further.

 

[bigedp51]

You have a "dispersal rifle made in 1941, the parts were made at plants dispersed or scattered all over the countryside to avoid German bombers and shutting down production at one manufacturing point.

Do you have any green paint on the metal parts below the wood line.

 

[Babarsac]

I asked him and the magazine has some green paint on it. I guess this would confirm it's a dispersal rifle.

 

[bigedp51]

The green or brown paint had nothing to do with the Enfield being a dispersal rifle, after Dunkirk it was decided not to do the yearly tear-down inspection and only repair the rifle as needed. Prior to the war the Enfield rifle was inspected four times per year, three mini visual inspections and one complete tear-down inspection. It was decided to paint everything under the wood line and only tear-down the rifle as needed due to the wartime conditions.
(if it ain't broke don't fix it)

 

[DougW]

Dispersal Rifles are collectable. As BigEd said made from parts in early WWII to replace the hundreds of thousands of rifles lost at Dunkirk. English were out of "stuff", and needed any ifle they could lay their hands on. No matter the condition, it is collectable IMO.

 

[Malamute]

That was a smokin deal. The rifle is interesting, and should be a fun shooter.

Decent surplus ammo is about totaly dried up for 303. The Pakistani stuff was erratic, with many hangfires and was still snapped up at .35-.40/rd or whatever it was a couple years ago. The good Greek stuff is all long gone. About all that's around now is the PRVI stuff. It isn't exactly cheap.

 

[Babarsac]

I'll see if I can get a picture of the headstamp to see what kind of ammo it is.