This example needs almost nothing - maybe a little help with the finish, the wood re-linseed treating and some screw tightening and remains as it was last left by the Armoury in 1904. This one seems to be converted from a Lee Metford Carbine and so probably saw service in this guise in the Boer War - as indicated by the bore in the left wrist - which was for the prior models saddle loop. In all some 11000 LEC models were produced - of which documents show that 10,000 were returned to Enfield lock for destruction in 1920. This is one of a few survivors that were sold out of service - it has two sets of opposed arrows on the action and barrel. The majority of the 1000 unaccounted for are thought to me lost in service or salvaged for parts and lost in the system.
It still bares its service butt disk from the Royal Irish Constabulary - marked "RIC 3161 and 4 '04". This is its service number and the date of induction, the cartouche next to the disk reads "Birmingham, 1902" and has a brad arrow in its center and a very large outlined Arabic figure "1" below.
Its left wrist bares its designation as an LEC (Lee Enfield Carbine) and the Queens Cypher - a Victorian crown over 'VR" for Victoria Regina and the date "1895" under the manufacturer "Enfield" (Lock). The England is a export stamp required after WW2 to indicate its source of manufacture.
If there was ever a piece that could best be used as the transitional demonstration from the Martini Henry to the Lee Enfield Series - this is it - in features, designs and pure looks!
The Magazine in these carbines is a 6 round version of the MLE2 box - which keeps it a very sleek profile to avoid clothing and rein snags while riding. The front magazine retention link is missing, but the loops are both present on the magazine and on the trigger guard - the latter has a d shaped notch and slot at the end of the magazine to take the link inside the rifle body when in place.
Other details include: The bolt with its flattened knob - also to reduce protrusion and snags, its bolt head markings and bolt mounted safety. All finished off with the bolt cover and a single round delete slide as per the MLE / LLE.
There is a large "E" on the barrel - to indicate an Enfield rifled barrel in place of the outgoing Metford rifling.
The rear sight is a simple vee groove on a ladder that flips forward and is marked from 200 to 1900 yards. The bayonet attachment details are a boss on the barrel end and a T shaped protrusion from the nose cap. Within the nose cap there is a bore for the cleaning rod - on early models this would have passed down the lower section of the wooden front end - a window for the rod would be about 3" back from the nose cap (for thumb and forefinger to grip it to ease it forward and start extraction) - this window is armourer deleted with a patch in this final mk II configuration,
Comments