London Small Arms MKIII

Welcome back to another Owen Guns Firearm Friday, where we pull something interesting out of the museum collection and have a closer look at the history behind it.

Now, Ron likes an old .303, and this one’s pretty special. He wanted an article on this one, so here we go!

This week's firearm is a Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III in .303 British, manufactured by the London Small Arms Company Ltd (LSA) in 1907. At first glance it might look like another old Lee-Enfield, but once you start looking at the date, manufacturer, markings and surviving original features, this rifle becomes a particularly interesting piece of Queensland firearms history.

The SMLE Mk III was approved in January 1907, making the year stamped on this rifle particularly significant: this example comes from the very first year of Mk III production. The Mk III represented the continuing development of the Lee-Enfield system and incorporated improvements intended to produce an effective general-purpose service rifle for the British Empire. It used the famous Lee bolt action, a ten-round magazine and the .303 British cartridge.

Although "Enfield" is the name everybody associates with these rifles, they weren't all actually manufactured at Enfield. British production was shared between the government-operated Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield and private contractors including Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) and the London Small Arms Company.

LSA was a considerably smaller producer than the major factories. Industrial records indicate that immediately before the First World War, the company's production capacity was only around 500–600 rifles per week without operating a night shift.

That comparatively small production is part of what makes LSA-marked rifles interesting to collectors today. The company had been involved in British military rifle production since the nineteenth century, manufacturing Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield rifles under government contracts before moving into SMLE production. When the First World War arrived, LSA continued manufacturing the SMLE alongside Enfield and BSA, but on a much smaller scale. Published wartime production figures put LSA's 1914–18 SMLE output at about 364,000 rifles, compared with approximately 1.58 million from BSA and just over 2 million from Enfield.

Our rifle, however, predates all of that. It was manufactured in 1907 during the reign of King Edward VII, and importantly it retains many of the features associated with the original Mk III specification. These include the magazine cut-off, long-range volley sights and windage-adjustable rear sight. These features are particularly interesting because they help demonstrate just how much more elaborate an early Mk III was compared with the later wartime rifles.

The magazine cut-off allowed the magazine to be held in reserve while cartridges could be handled individually, reflecting British military doctrine of the period. The volley sights were an entirely separate long-range sighting system intended for massed fire at distances well beyond ordinary individual rifle engagement ranges. By the First World War, the need to manufacture enormous numbers of rifles quickly made some of these complicated features increasingly difficult to justify.

The result was the simplified SMLE Mk III*. Among the principal features omitted from the wartime pattern were the long-range dial and aperture volley sights, magazine cut-off and windage adjustment on the rear sight. This is why finding a very early Mk III that still retains these fittings is so interesting today.

Our 1907 LSA becomes even more interesting when we look at its numbers. The receiver, bolt and rear sight all carry matching serial number 69942. More than a century of military armoury work, repairs, parts replacement and civilian ownership means matching components aren't something that should simply be assumed on an early Lee-Enfield. In this case, the matching components complement the rifle's remarkably complete early configuration.

But arguably the best part of this particular rifle's story is found stamped directly into its timber butt:

Broad Arrow, Q.G, P, 1908.

Those markings identify its early Queensland Government/Police association and the year 1908. This isn't simply a British .303 that found its way to Queensland many decades later  this rifle was here when it was almost new.

So consider the timeline. This rifle was manufactured by London Small Arms in England in 1907, during the first year of Mk III production, and was acquired by the Queensland Government in 1908. Rather than being an anonymous First World War battlefield rifle, its surviving markings give us a direct connection to Queensland's own early twentieth-century history.

That may also have contributed to its survival in such an interesting configuration. While enormous numbers of early SMLEs passed through wartime service, armouries, repairs and subsequent modification, this rifle apparently avoided overseas active service. Today it still wears the complicated early features that were subsequently deleted when the SMLE was simplified for mass wartime production.

When this British-made LSA arrived in Queensland, Australia had not yet begun domestic mass production of the SMLE at Lithgow. Australian manufacture would follow, and the Lithgow-built SMLE would eventually become one of the most recognisable Australian military firearms. Our LSA therefore represents an earlier period when rifles of this type were still being sourced from British manufacturers.

At more than a century old, the scratches, handling marks and wear on this rifle are part of what makes it worth preserving. The timber still carries its extremely clear Queensland Government/Police 1908 marking, while the metalwork and surviving early fittings show the configuration of the Mk III before the pressures of the First World War resulted in simplification.

So Ron was right, this isn't just another old .303!

It's a 1907 London Small Arms SMLE Mk III, manufactured in the first year of Mk III production, acquired by the Queensland Government the following year, retaining its early volley sights, magazine cut-off and windage-adjustable rear sight, with matching numbered major components and more than a century of Queensland history stamped straight into the timber.

That's it for another Owen Guns Firearm Friday. We'll put this old Queensland survivor back in the museum and see what Ron decides we need to drag out next week.

Until then, keep an eye on the Owen Guns Museum,  there's always another piece of history hiding in the racks!