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SMLE MK III Grenade Launching Rifle


Gildwiller1918

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This is the Short Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE) Mark III. This is not an uncommon rifle by any means, however this version with the copper wire wrapping is the cup grenade launching version. Now details on the rifle, all matching parts, serial number X3684. I am by no means an expert on these rifles, and it has a great many markings. Marked under bolt handle "GR", BSA CO. 1915, Sht. LE III. It has "GF" marked in several spots, have not yet found the meaning of that stamp. 

The wire wrapping was used to help reenforce the rifles from the recoil of launching grenades. Originally the British used rod grenades, which tended to mess up the rifles pretty bad, then switched to cup launchers which were easy to install and remove. Using a blank cartridge the the propellent would force the grenade from the cup, releasing the spoon, arming the grenade and sending it to its target. Last picture shows the rifle with the launcher attached.

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B.S.A. is th manufacturer, Birmingham Small Arms Company. The GF is perhaps a special stamp for  "Grenade Firing" ? In order to show that this is not normal firing standard or marksman standard.

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I have identified pretty much all other markings other than the "GF", you might be correct as it might mean grenade firing. This may have been added before the wire wrap as a identifying mark. It is interesting that the copper wire was soldered while on the rifle, leaving the wood burned at the end of the wrapping. 

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  • 2 months later...

Here is the cup launcher attachment I got for the rifle, it attaches and is removed quite easily and fast. It has the gas port cover to control the pressure during the launch. This particular launcher is made by H.W. Ward & Co. ltd. Birmingham. 

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  • 3 years later...
Quote
GF rifles were first produced by UK during WW1. In those cases, they converted worn-out or obsolete pattern rifles, and stamped them with "GF". Many of these rifles are pre-war No1 Mk1s or MkIIIs, and later in the war they seem to have used servicable rifles that were just of these old patterns.

Ishapore made a lot of GF rifles during WW2. At first they used up old or worn rifles, but towards the end of the war they started making GF rifles from new production. This continued right into the 1960s, as these rifles were in great demand as police tear-gas projectors for India's frequent riots and disturbances. For this reason, Ishapore wire-wraps are often a bargain buy, as they are often a brand-new production SMLE under the rough exterior.

The "GF" mark itself tends to be most common on British and early Indian conversions of normal rifles. The "factory wrapped" Ishapore production usually does not have a mark.

 

Source https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/curioandrelicfirearmsforum/gf-marked-wire-wrap-enfield-t3309.html

 

 More reference info on these neat old rifles... please see:

https://www.rifleman.org.uk/Enfield_Rifle_Grenades_and_Dischargers.html

 GF = grenade firing

 Another: Indian made  GRI  SMLE  grenade firing rifle:

https://www.gunboards.com/threads/1942-gri-grenade-wrap.1245053/#post-11293871

 

 

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Thanks USMC, I was lucky to have found a WW1 era rifle, not the later Indian made versions. 

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