lithgow smle

[mattgunguy]

im loking for a pic of the recoil plates. trying to find out if i got had on a trade or not. i cant find a import mark period on the receiver. ill get some pics up soon

thanks.
matt

[ptrthgr8]

im loking for a pic of the recoil plates. trying to find out if i got had on a trade or not. i cant find a import mark period on the receiver. ill get some pics up soon

thanks.
matt

I have a 1942 Lithgow No1. MkIII* that came without the plates. You can see where they should fit in this photo:

http://images29.fotki.com/v1005/photos/4/47955/5346150/stock_noplates-vi.jpg

I sent got my recoil plates from BDL LTD and sent it off to him for the repairs. Here's a great article on another site that shows the plates being installed on the author's rifle:

http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=137&t=61088

Cheers,

~ Greg ~

[mattgunguy]

some photos

http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx54/jslegspoet/101_1953.jpg
http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx54/jslegspoet/101_1937.jpg
http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx54/jslegspoet/101_1943.jpg
http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx54/jslegspoet/101_1935.jpg
http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx54/jslegspoet/101_1938.jpg
http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx54/jslegspoet/101_1945.jpg
http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx54/jslegspoet/101_1947.jpg
http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx54/jslegspoet/101_1948.jpg
http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx54/jslegspoet/101_1950.jpg
http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx54/jslegspoet/101_1934.jpg
http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx54/jslegspoet/101_1952.jpg
http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/xx54/jslegspoet/101_1933.jpg

opinions please

[Patria Povo]

Nice one! Just a few random observations:
You have no recoil plates because that isn't a coachwood stock. It is marked Slaz, so it is genuine. It also doesn't look like Queensland maple to me, but that would be the only other alternative for a 40s stock.
Slazenger are a famous Australian sporting goods company, most famous for wood tennis racquets and cricket bats.
In 43 only they used brass for the front stock band.

[ptrthgr8]

Mine, a 1942 rifle, also has a 1943 Slaz stock on it.

I don't see anything obvious about yours that would make me think it's not legit. There was an importer back in the 90s (JJCO) that bought a bunch of new/like new surplus parts and stocks from Australia and built/sold complete rifles that almost always did not have the recoil plates in them. These cobbled together JJCO rifles are known in the Enfield cirlces for being bogus rifles in the sense that they have almost no legit collectors value, though they may be fine shooter - though the coachwood stocks that were used sans the recoil plates *will* crack after a short while. The Aussie S/Ns used A through F prefixes, while JJCO cobble togethers almost always seem to have an X prefix or a letter suffix. Yours seems to have an A prefix, which is a good sign. Also, the JJCO put-togethers will not have any arsenal markings on the buttstock - again, yours does, so that's another good sign.

JJCO did import some complete (legit) rifles back in the early 90s and most were in minty condition. Mine is a JJCO import and I've had some folks in the know check it out and they've confirmed that it's a legit rifle and not one of the cobbled together jobs. I didn't see the import stamp on yours in any of the photos you posted, but here's where the JJCO stamp is located on mine:

http://images27.fotki.com/v984/photos/4/47955/5346150/rec_markings-vi.jpg

As for the stock... it looks like coachwood to me. Does the stock have an almost sweet smell to it? Mine sure did. I was told that the oil in the coachwood has a very distinctive aroma to it - far different than any of the stocks on my other rifles.

You can compare all of the photos of my rifle here:

http://public.fotki.com/ptrthgr8/british_weapons/lithgow/

I wouldn't be concerned about your Lithgow being anything other than a legit Aussie issued rifle that just so happens to be missing the recoil plates. :)

I dug up the old thread on another forum where I had some intial concerns about the JJCO stamp on mine - lots of good Lithgow info here:

http://milsurpshooter.net/topic/3076/Lithgow-No1-MkIII-JJCO-NYNY-import

I also managed to dig up a photo of the installed recoil plates on another owner's rifle, just so you can see how they should appear:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL21/71676/1121539/16040120.jpg

Cheers,

~ Greg ~

[ptrthgr8]

And here's a photo of mine - just because I haven't posted it anywhere in quite some time. :)

http://images27.fotki.com/v984/photos/4/47955/5346150/Lithgow_right-vi.jpg

Cheers,

~ Greg ~

[mattgunguy]

my stock smells like cosmoline for the most part. not really what id call a sweet smell.

[k98k792]

my stock smells like cosmoline for the most part. Not really what id call a sweet smell.

lol!