i have a rifle my uncle gave me about 15yrs ago. I know its a 303 some of the markings are on the band that wraps around the stock by the rear of the bolt.

has a crown stamped with C R under it, then B 1943 , then SHTLE then the roman numeral III and a symbol like an asterik beside it.

at the head of where the bolt closes it has the numbers 66295 and England stamped in it and just where the barrel connects more stamps , 303 and what i believe is 32" and the numbers 66295, and under that 18.5 tons. those are on the right side of the rifle. on the left side are a bunch of symbols looks like chinese to me. i can see 9d and 45 in amongst them. the only thing else i can see is on the front site, ROV and the numbers 28017 under it. Couldnt be worth much since he gave it to me but just wondering about where it came from?

Photos would help a bunch. It's obviously a WWII era (1943) .303. The Brits were keen on putting stamps into the metal everytime the rifles were worked on.

You might want to post your question on this site....

http://www.gunboards.com/forums/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=44

A good site to go into for 303 info is www.303british.com There are all kinds of links on this site as well.

Interesting that it's a Mk lll* and made in 1943. I thought they'd changed over to the #4 by then.
Grizz

i found all the markings on the british.com website suggested above, all the markings i thought were chinese are markings pertaining to pressure testing after retiring and being prepped for civilian sales. So i got that part figured out. But for the life of me, i cant figure out the mk III part, like noted above it should be mk4 by this time.

The #3 rifle was used by the Auzies wright through the secound war. The Brits refurbished a buntch as well. We still use the #4 rifle in Canada, the Artic Rangers still have them. The Australian International Arms Company is making a rifle called the M10 in 7.62x51.It a new forged #4 action I believe, gives the Enfield a new life.

The Lee-Enfield's a hell of a rifle.

I seldom go anywhere without mine in the truck these days.

quote:

Originally posted by wtman:
i found all the markings on the british.com website suggested above, all the markings i thought were chinese are markings pertaining to pressure testing after retiring and being prepped for civilian sales. So i got that part figured out. But for the life of me, i cant figure out the mk III part, like noted above it should be mk4 by this time.

England was building no1/111* rifles well into the 40s, they are known as "peddled scheme " rifles. They were called that because in the early part of the war Germany was targeting the arms factory's so they moved production of parts to multiple contractors.
That England was still building #1s into the 40s is'nt that strange, the US was still building 1903s well into ww2.

quote:

has a crown stamped with C R under it, then B 1943 , then SHTLE then the roman numeral III and a symbol like an asterik beside it.

Betcha that is a "G.R." under the crown rather than a "C.R."!! (Same G.R. on the Brown Bess, but for an earlier George!)