Original Item: Only One Available. These are getting to be like Hen's Teeth! Recently purchased at a military auction, this is one of the few Lee-Metford rifles we have had that was not acquired from the Royal Armory of Nepal. Like many that remained in British service, this rifle was later upgraded at arsenal to Lee-Enfield specification by replacing the Metford rifled barrel with the new Enfield barrel with deeper, square-cut rifling. It was standard practice throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries to take older rifles and update the to the latest standard, however while this rifle received the Enfield rifled barrel, it was never updated beyond a "Long Lee-Enfield", which makes it quite rare and desirable.

The "Magazine Lee-Metford" rifle was the first British Military rifle designed for the new .303 MkI catridge, as well as the first magazine repeating rifle in general issue, starting in 1888. This rifle saw service throughout the Empire in the final years of Queen Victoria's reign. Although superseded in 1895 by the Long Lee Enfield Rifle, they were in use at the famous Battle of Omdurman in 1898, which was Great Britain's revenge against the Mardists outside Khartoum in the Sudan.

The short service life was due mainly to a logistical problem involving the new .303 MkI Cartridge. It was originally to have used smokeless cordite as a propellant, but there was a major problem with supply, so the early .303 Cartridge MkI design used black powder. It was this cartridge that the Lee-Metford and Metford pattern rifling was designed to work with. When the .303 MkII came out with the cordite propellant as originally intended, the Metford barrel and "polygonal" rifling was found to be insufficient to deal with the increased power, so in 1895 a new barrel and deeper square-cut rifling was designed at RSAF Enfield, leading to the introduction of the Long Lee-Enfield rifle.

This example is well marked, as all were, on the cup for the butt stock:

This example was made at the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock, a storied production factory in operation since 1816 as one of the major manufactures of arms for the Great Britain. It also is marked with serial number 471 / D on the front of the receiver, and the top of the barrel nocks form is marked E.I*, indicating that it is a replacement barrel with Enfield square rifling. This example comes complete with dust cover to the bolt, which is often absent, as well as the often removed magazine cutoff, which prevents another cartridge from being loaded when the bolt is moved forward. The long distance volley sights are also still present and functional, and many components are proof marked.

Overall solid condition, though the rifle shows some light peppered oxidation on the top of the barrel from long storage. The stock is still in great shape, with a dark brown color from years of oiling and cleaning. We can still see the original ENFIELD roundel stamp on the butt stock, which also still has the original iron butt plate, not a brass one. This has been painted over in the past to prevent rusting. The cleaning rod is unfortunately missing, which is very common. We did notice that the rifle has the sling swivels on the nose band and by the magazine, which we have seen before on Lee-Metford rifles. It also has the stacking swivel by the nose.

The rifle cycles well, with a crisp dry fire, though we have no way of determining if the magazine is still able to feed. We did check the magazine release, which is fully functional, and the magazine cutoff moves back and forth correctly. The front sight is still intact, and the rear sight is present and fully functional. We checked the bore, and it is still mostly bright with clear lands and grooves. We can see that the lands are a bit worn, so this rifle definitely saw use after the barrel was upgraded, but was well cared for.

This is the very rare Lee-Metford Mk.1* model, upgraded to a "Long Lee-Enfield" specs, possibly the last one that we will ever have!

Specifications (Rifle):

Year of Manufacture: 1890
Caliber: .303 British
Cartridge Type: Centerfire Cartridge
Barrel Length: 30.2 Inches
Overall Length: 49.5 Inches
Action type: Bolt-Action
Feed System: 8 round single stack magazine

IMA considers all of our antique guns as non-firing, inoperable and/or inert. Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 921(a)(16) defines antique firearms as all guns made prior to 1899. This law exempts antique firearms from any form of gun control or special engineering because they are not legally considered firearms. No FFL, C&R or any license is required to possess, transport, sell or trade Antique guns. All rifles and muskets sold by IMA that were manufactured prior to 1899 are considered Antiques by the US BATF (United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms). Therefore, all of IMA's Antique guns may be shipped to all US States.

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Pre-1899 Manufacture, no licenses required.