In my travels for work today I ended up in Ft. Pierre. I stopped in to my favorite gun store and found an Enfield that pretty much screamed out "Take me
home! Fix me! Help me!!!!!" 
Here's what I got..... It's a 1906 BSA Sht LE Mk I***. Below the BSA marking on the wrist it says Sparkbrook, and the first * mark is vastly different in the stamping than the other two *'s. This leads me to believe that it started out as a Sparkbrook built Mk I* and then later upgraded. Now, if I'm correct, the Mk I*** means it was upgraded to the No I Mk III standard. Is that correct? Anyway, the bolt matches the receiver and the bore is amazing. The barrel is an obvious replacement, but it is numbered to the receiver so it was done at an FTR at some point. It also retains the rear volley sight.
Now for the bad parts. It's been butchered. Badly butchered. The forestock has been cut down, sanded, had the front volley sight removed. The front handguard is gone and needless to say all forward metal bits are missing. The rear sight protector is gone, as is the magazine and magazine cut off. The rear handguard is unusable. It had been split and very poorly repaired. The buttstock is also trash. It has been horribly sanded and is actually split. The rear sling swivel is also missing.
I walked out of the shop $125 poorer. Yes, I realize that it was priced too high, and I know it's going to cost a lot to fix it up, but I just had to do something to save this old warhorse. It just looked so sad. So, since it is a Mk I*** does that mean that proper configuration for this rifle is a Mk III configuration? I'm wondering about that. Sorry that I don't have pictures at the moment. I will post some up as soon as I get back home in a couple days.
*** Edit *** --- Here's the pics. Click 'em to enlarge.
Here's what I got..... It's a 1906 BSA Sht LE Mk I***. Below the BSA marking on the wrist it says Sparkbrook, and the first * mark is vastly different in the stamping than the other two *'s. This leads me to believe that it started out as a Sparkbrook built Mk I* and then later upgraded. Now, if I'm correct, the Mk I*** means it was upgraded to the No I Mk III standard. Is that correct? Anyway, the bolt matches the receiver and the bore is amazing. The barrel is an obvious replacement, but it is numbered to the receiver so it was done at an FTR at some point. It also retains the rear volley sight.
Now for the bad parts. It's been butchered. Badly butchered. The forestock has been cut down, sanded, had the front volley sight removed. The front handguard is gone and needless to say all forward metal bits are missing. The rear sight protector is gone, as is the magazine and magazine cut off. The rear handguard is unusable. It had been split and very poorly repaired. The buttstock is also trash. It has been horribly sanded and is actually split. The rear sling swivel is also missing.
I walked out of the shop $125 poorer. Yes, I realize that it was priced too high, and I know it's going to cost a lot to fix it up, but I just had to do something to save this old warhorse. It just looked so sad. So, since it is a Mk I*** does that mean that proper configuration for this rifle is a Mk III configuration? I'm wondering about that. Sorry that I don't have pictures at the moment. I will post some up as soon as I get back home in a couple days.
*** Edit *** --- Here's the pics. Click 'em to enlarge.
Good luck on your resto project Bear43. I
restored my dad's Sporter Long Branch #4 Mk1*, and while not perfect, I found it to be a very satisfying and fulfilling endeavour. Makes me sick how these
beautiful rifles were chopped and filed to make them more "appealing" to Bubba.
