Lithgow and an Aussie sight

Pre 1945 action rifles. Muzzle loading.

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Ovenpaa
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Lithgow and an Aussie sight

#1 Post by Ovenpaa »

I was just heading to bed last night when all of a sudden I realised I had an Australian Central sight for an SMLE and an Australian SMLE so I put the two of them together (ish) this morning. The sight was sent to me many years ago from Australia, marked as an optical instrument and the sender told me these sights were used in very small numbers by Australian soldiers during 'a' war. so it could have been WW2 or Korea. This particular Lithgow was re-barreled in 1952 and looks to have seen service in that conflict.

One unusual feature, certainly one I have not seen on an SMLE before is the series of notches on the underside of the wrist, draw your own conclusions...

Anyway, the side plate is a PH version, it would be nice to fit an original one day, also I am missing the correct over length bottom screw and the thumb screw for the sight to attach to the plate, so if anyone has or knows of such items I would be very interested.
LithgowCentral.jpeg
I
Notches.jpeg
/d

Du lytter aldrig til de ord jeg siger. Du ser mig kun for det tøj jeg har paa ...

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Christel
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Re: Lithgow and an Aussie sight

#2 Post by Christel »

Soldier on look out duty making a mark every time a pretty girl walked past :)
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Ovenpaa
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Re: Lithgow and an Aussie sight

#3 Post by Ovenpaa »

Did you notch your rifle when pretty boys walked past??
/d

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Re: Lithgow and an Aussie sight

#4 Post by Christel »

I was never on look out duty lol
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Re: Lithgow and an Aussie sight

#5 Post by WelshShooter »

Very nice combination! I do love the micrometer aperture sights for the Lee Enfield, it drastically improves accuracy and precision.

In terms of spares, the only websites I can reccomend based on personal experience are "DS Solutions" or "Valmont Firearms". DS Solutions seem to have a wealth of knowledge so if they don't have the spare part advertised I'm sure they can help source what you need.
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bnz41
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Re: Lithgow and an Aussie sight

#6 Post by bnz41 »

The notches maybe an Aussie thing up to December 19, I owned a 1942 Lithgow SMLE which had V I I I carved on the underside of the wrist. Never did find out a reason. Enjoy your rifle.
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