Lithgow

Hi
I have an Australian Lithgow, one of the JJ Co rifles. As I understand it these are nicely built fakes, though some are truly genuine unissued rifles. After looking I believe mine is as well and was wondering what I needed to look at to verify that mine is indeed likely one of the JJCo builds.

 

Yep.....if that is genuine, it looks absolutely unissued.
I would automatically suspect that it is a rebuild due to it's condition....but I am no expert.

I just know that I have laid eyes on a lot of No. 1s and have never seen an "unissued" one.

 

Nice clean looking rifle. From the slightly buggered mag plate screw, I'd call it a reworked unit.

 

If the serial number ends in a letter, it's a JJCO bitser. Calling them fakes stretches it a bit; they were assembled from Australian parts, just not in Australia.

 

JJJ Lithgow

Nice pictures. I'm not seeing some of the stampings associated with these rifles. in your pictures. There were a load of complete rifles and partially assembled rifles ans then assembled rifles. The numbers are all over the place. The coachwood stocks are dry and prone to cracking without and even with the recoil lugs in the draws. I had planed on looking up Maple wood set but then thought oh what the dickens just leave it be. In your picture #one we normally see JJCo and some numerals and proof ***

Thank you for posting these nice photos. May I keep copies for my Enfield albums?

 

I agree with MJ. He has good info on the Enfield family as well as some of the nicest Enfields you will encounter.

 

Yes, you may.
It has the JJCO mark on the top. I will have to do some more pictures when time allows.

It has a three digit serial with an (A) suffix
xxxA
I has a matching serialized nosecap and bolt that are well done. The JJCo stamp was poorly done and obviously not done in the same fashion as the other stamps.

 

JJCO bitser for sure. Not a knock on it; just another part of the Enfield story. What happened is that Australian SMLE production halted at the end of WWII; they just shut down the line with rifles half-built, lots of parts produced but not serialized, let alone assembled into rifles, etc. In 1953-56 there was a brief run of rifles (ca. 1000) built, then production ended for good. Later on, when the Australian government declared their SMLEs surplus, Jovino bought vast quantities of the stuff - complete rifles, partial rifles, parts, tools, everything. The complete rifles were sold on the US civilian market - many of my Enfields bear the JJCO import mark - and the incomplete rifles and parts were assembled into more rifles for the US market. As evidenced, they can still be found in very good condition. Enjoy it.