Hammerhead6814
Member
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2009
- Messages
- 701
Went to Rkshows KC Expo today and found two deals:
British made SMLE No. 1 Mk. III for $150. These guys have no idea what they have do they?
British Made SMLE No. 4 Mk. I for $225, negotiated to a possible $200. Does no one appreciate these things?!
So since I had to go to work, I got both sellers numbers and promised them each a call after work to see if they still had them (they do) and one today (Monday). Both rifles are in near-excellent condition. Only concern on the No. 1 is that it has had a new front sight (the whole sight) welded to where bubba decided to grind it off. Otherwise it looks about as good as a 85 year old rifle can be!
But which one? At $200, I'm not to terribly worried about price. I'm more concerned with history and performance. I'm a firm follower of that old saying: "Only accurate rifles are interesting". Reading Wikipedia isn't really helping address that issue, and googling for "SMLE No. 1 Mk. iii vs SMLE No. 4 Mk i" produces gibberish.
British made SMLE No. 1 Mk. III for $150. These guys have no idea what they have do they?
British Made SMLE No. 4 Mk. I for $225, negotiated to a possible $200. Does no one appreciate these things?!
So since I had to go to work, I got both sellers numbers and promised them each a call after work to see if they still had them (they do) and one today (Monday). Both rifles are in near-excellent condition. Only concern on the No. 1 is that it has had a new front sight (the whole sight) welded to where bubba decided to grind it off. Otherwise it looks about as good as a 85 year old rifle can be!
But which one? At $200, I'm not to terribly worried about price. I'm more concerned with history and performance. I'm a firm follower of that old saying: "Only accurate rifles are interesting". Reading Wikipedia isn't really helping address that issue, and googling for "SMLE No. 1 Mk. iii vs SMLE No. 4 Mk i" produces gibberish.