.410" Lee Enfield

[muckaroon1960]

Just acquired a Lee Enfield SMLE dated 1917 which has been converted to a .410 shotgun. A friend of mine has given up shooting and came round to see me and gave me this Gratis! How could I refuse and yes I do have a licence and cabinet for it.

He said I would appreciate it as he knew I collected deact's and other Militaria.

So not only do I have a SMLE but I can fire it live albeit with a .410 cartridge.

Does anyone else have one of these or similar that they shoot with?

Edited July 13, 2013 by muckaroon1960

[muckaroon1960]

I also have a 1911 SMLE Deactivated.

Shown underneath the 410.

[Mervyn Mitton]

Hi - that's an interesting conversion and one I haven't seen before - although I expect you will tell me that they are

quite common ? I carried this rifle during my National Service in Australia - I can still remember the weight of the

damned thing - 9 pounds 4 ozs..

410's are not to be underestimated - years ago in Bournemouth I had a problem with squirrels breeding out of control.

Eating all the bird seed and breaking the feeders was one thing - but, they were also destroying nests and eating the

baby birds. The little shotgun took 50 out in two months and restored the status quo. I surrendered it when I came to

live here - it was what was called a ' poacher's ' gun as it folded totally in half for concealment under a coat. Best wishes Mervyn

[Brian Wolfe]

Hello,

A great rifle, or shotgun in this case. I've done my share of hunting and can attest to the .410 as being a servicable squirrel, rabbit and upland bird gun. I owned two, a double side by side coach gun and a pump action.

As to these conversions I will go out on a limb here (i.e. I stand to be corrected) and say that these were used for crowd control; for example in the case of a riot. WHile they can be deadly at closer ranges their killing power greatly deminished quickly after perhaps 50 yards.

The Martini Henry rifle was also bored out for use as a .410 and I understand that crowd was the purpose of these. What maker is it? Would it have been made in the UK or India (I.R.F), Isapor?

Nice weapon and thanks for posting it.

Regards

Brian

[muckaroon1960]

It looks like a Ishapor made rifle looking at the bolt. I cannot decipher the markings too well as the metalwork has been lacquered but can make out the 1917. You are correct in that these rifles were converted for Riot Control so this may have been one of those, trouble is I don't live in an area where we have any Riot's so will have to stick to Squirrel control instead.

Edited July 15, 2013 by muckaroon1960

[Brian Wolfe]

The one thing I miss about leaving the farm for the urban life is the ability to blast away until my heart's content and at the time I owned a functional Lewis Gun!

Regards

Brian