it out of the action.
Disassemble the magazine by depressing the rear of the follower until its front end slips out of the magazine box, then gently lift out the follower and follower spring. Reassemble in reverse order.
Remove the bolt from the No. 1 Mark III by raising the bolt handle and pulling the bolt back as far as it will go; then rotate the bolt head by lifting up on the extractor lug, and the bolt can be pulled from the action. To remove the bolt from the early No. 4 rifle, first tip up the rear sight, depress the bolt head release and open the bolt as far as it will go; now rotate the bolt head counterclockwise and pull the bolt from the receiver. On the late No. 4, open the bolt and pull it back about ½”, or until the bolt head can be rotated, then pull the bolt from the receiver.
To disassemble the bolt, unscrew the bolt head, remove the extractor screw, then pull out the extractor spring. Turn out the firing-pin lock screw from the cocking piece. Using the special tool shown, insert it into the front of the bolt and, while pressing the firing pin down with this tool, unscrew the firing pin from cocking piece. Reassemble in reverse order.
Remove the safety mechanism by turning out the safety-spring screw and lifting the safety-spring and safety parts from the receiver. If the bolt lock is removed from the safety, it must be re-aligned on the threads so that it will fit the hole in the receiver with the safety in the forward (FIRE) position.
Remove the buttstock by opening the buttplate trap and removing the felt wad that covers the stock bolt head; use a large, long-bladed screwdriver to unscrew the stock bolt. Remove the trigger guard/magazine plate by removing the rear and front trigger-guard screws, then lift it out of the forend. Remove the muzzle cap and barrel bands, then gently pull the forend away from the barrel and action.
On the No. 1 Mark III, turn out the magazine cutoff screw and remove the cutoff. Drive out the magazine-catch pin and remove the catch and spring. Turn out the bolt-head release-spring screw and remove the release spring and sear. Reassemble in reverse order.
On the No. 4, turn out the magazine-catch screw and remove the bolt-head release stop, bolt-head release, bolt-head release spring, magazine catch and spring. Drive out the sear pin and remove the sear. Drive out the trigger pin and remove the trigger. Reassemble in reverse order.
Markings
The No. 1 Mark III & III*: After assembly, each rifle was proved by firing two proof loads; these developed about 25 percent more breech pressure than the normal load. After inspection, if nothing was wrong with the rifle, British proof marks were stamped on the breech end of the barrel, receiver ring, bolt head and bolt body. The serial number was usually stamped on the barrel breech, receiver and stem of the bolt handle. The rest of the markings, stamped on the right side of the butt socket, include a proof mark, manufacturer, date and model designation as follows: A crown with the letters G.R. was stamped on top. Below this, the name or initials of the manufacturer was stamped; such as ENFIELD (for the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock, Middlesex, England), B.S.A.Co. (Birmingham Small Arms Co., Birmingham, England) or L.S.A.Co. (London Small Arms Co., of London); below this and over the model designation would be the date (year) the rifle was made, as follows:
British Lee-Enfield No. 5 Mark I Jungle Carbine.
SHTL.E.
III (or III*)
The letters “SHTL.E.” mean “Short Lee-Enfield.” The No. 1 rifles made in India were stamped ISHAPORE, those made in Australia were stamped LITHGOW, both cities in those countries. Various rifle parts also are stamped with inspector’s or viewer’s marks, which may be a number, a letter or both, often with a crown.
No. 4 Rifles were all made under more-or-less trying wartime conditions in a number of factories in England, the United States and Canada. The marking systems were so many and varied, and I can’t list them all. To begin with, most No. 4s were proof marked, serial numbered and dated, generally marked with the model designation and the name and/or place of manufacture.
Proof marks were usually stamped on the barrel breech, receiver ring, bolt head and bolt body. Serial number and date (year) of manufacture were usually stamped on the left side of the butt socket.
The model designation, was usually stamped on the left side of the receiver, as follows: N° 4 MK I, N° 4 MK I*, N° 4 MK ½, or N° 4 MK 1/3. If there is a “( T )” after the mark designation, this indicates the sniper rifle. The No. 5 Carbines are marked “No. 5”, followed by the mark designation.
Three firms in England made the No. 4 rifles. These firms were assigned blocks of serial numbers so that no two rifles would have the same number. The number was stamped (or sometimes etched) on the left side of the butt socket. Rifles marked with an FY or ROF(F) were from the Royal Ordnance Factory at Fazakerley, Lancashire, while those with an M, RM or ROF(M) came from the Royal Ordnance Factory at Maltby, Yorkshire. Those marked B, 85B or M 47 are from a BSA-controlled company in Shirley, near Birmingham. The word ENGLAND is often stamped on the receiver ring of these rifles.
The No. 4 Mark I* rifles made in the Long Branch arsenal near Toronto, Canada, were marked LONG BRANCH on the left side of the receiver. Rifles made in the U.S. by the Savage Arms Company (in the former J. Stevens Arms Co. plant in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts) were stamped U.S.PROPERTY on the left side of the receiver. (They were made under the Lend-Lease arrangement between the U.S. and England.) The serial number of these U.S.-made rifles includes the letter C, for Chicopee Falls.
Production
A great many Lee-Enfield rifles were made. Hundreds of thousands of the No.1 rifles were made at Enfield Lock, the factory that did most of the original development work on them. Over 2,000,000 were made at Enfield between August, 1914, and November, 1918. The large Birmingham Small Arms firm began making Lee-Enfields about 1903. During WWI, they made some 7000 to 10,000 a week, and during WWII they made about 1,250,000 of the No. 4 rifles. The factories in Australia made over 640,000 Lee-Enfields. Over 1,000,000 No. 4 rifles, including about 1000 sniper rifles, were made in the Long Branch arsenal in Canada. More than a million of the No. 4s were also made by Savage in the United States. This accounts for around 6,000,000 rifles, but that’s only part of the total production. I have no additional production figures, nor serial number records, so I can’t even guess how many were made in all. Nor do I have any figures on how many were imported into the U.S. as surplus arms after WWII, but it probably runs into hundreds of thousands. At least there are enough of them in the United States and the rest of the world to last a long time.
Headspace and Chamber Tolerances
To cut down manufacturing and assembly time, perhaps, and certainly to reduce maintenance time later on when headspace corrections were needed, a new headspacing system was introduced with the No. 4 rifles. It was a simple system, made possible by the two-piece bolt with separate bolt head. It consisted of making the bolt heads of different lengths to obtain and maintain proper headspace; in the 303 Lee-Enfield rifle, this is the space between the face of the bolt head and the barrel face.
The bolt heads, made
