Wanted: Full wood Stock for 1918 Lee Enfield

[Lang]

Might Help with SMLE. Looking at your photos you seem to have a US rifle not a British built Enfield. The US built over 1,000,000 of these during WW1 for the British. It was based on the SMLE and was .303. The Americans then made relatively minor alterations to the bolt, chamber etc to take their .30 ammunition and produced these for their own army. The manufacturers marks on the rifle should be easy to trace



Lang

[motto (RIP)]

That aint no SMLE ! Looks like a Pattern 14 to me. These were adopted by the British in 1914 to supplement the standard service rifle (SMLE)when war broke out. They were made by three companies, Enfield in the UK and Winchester and Remington (at Eddystone and Ilion ) in the US. Later in the war the Americans modified the design to 30.06 calibre and produced it as the M17.
Some information is available on Google.

David

[Ed Storey]

For sure, it is not a Lee Enfield.

[Lang]

This is your rifle (the picture is actually the modified .30 American Army P17 rifle but can not be distinguished in a photo from the .303). British Rifle M1914 or P14. You should be able to get front woodwork easily in North America. The manufacturers in order of volume were Eddystone, Remington and Winchester.

[cletrac (RIP)]

If it's a 303 it's a P14.
It it's a 30-06 it's a P17.

[Lang]

David,

It is a P14. The photos of the markings have .303 stamped on the chamber.

Lang

[Lang]

Just noticed a reference in "The Book of Rifles" Smith.

In 1939/40 the Americans shipped an astonishing 1,000,000 of these rifles "on hand" in bulk to UK. Because Smith deals with both rifles in the same section of the book I can't work out if they were 30-06 or .303. Why would the Americans have 1,000,000 .303 on hand, indicating production through the 20's?

I can understand them having the M1917/P17 Enfield on hand as they had standardised on the Springfield for their army and had the WW1 P17 leftovers but if they were 30-06 there is little mention in any history I have seen of the British using that calibre rifle in vast numbers.

Lang

[Lynn Eades]

Yep, P14. They were un popular because of the bolt shape. They were heavy, but made good snipers rifles.
I would query the date. It should be WWII era.

[Lang]

Lynn,

The stated date above is 1918 but the markings on the chamber indicate 1916. ('16)

No .303 of this type were made in the WW2 era but it appears millions of old stock were used.

This will tell you who made it (once again for P17 but P14 the same)

http://m1903.com/m1917markings.htm

Lang

[Ed Storey]

As has been stated, the US manufactured the .303 P14 for the British during the Great War. They were used again during the Second World War and in the case of Canada, mostly for training by the Army. The .3006 P17 was also used by Canada during the Second World War and it is possible to see them being employed by the RCN and RCAF.

Your cut-down P14 is a nice rifle that deserves to be restored back to its original configuration.