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Enfield oil bottles
Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 6:42 pm
by redcat
I hope this is the right place for this, if not maybe the moderators can move it?
My recent acquisition of an SMLE yielded a brass oil bottle when I opened the trap in the butt. Checking on ebay I see there are a number of different makers' marks on these bottles and I feel a collecting urge coming on. If anyone has one of these (and I'm sure you do) would you be so kind enough as to post a photograph of the base, or at least describe the marks? I'd like to see if there is enough of them to make it worth while seeking them out. Thanks in advance.
Redcat
Re: Enfield oil bottles
Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 7:44 pm
by 1066
Here you go - one to get you started:
Re: Enfield oil bottles
Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 8:29 pm
by ovenpaa
I have quite a few oilers from Enfields, I will see if I can lay my hands on them and take a picture or two.
Re: Enfield oil bottles
Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 8:49 pm
by River
Re: Enfield oil bottles
Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 9:08 pm
by Strangely Brown
Call me a sad git but at the last count I had over 40 different makes and styles of British oil bottles.
Re: Enfield oil bottles
Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 9:47 pm
by Charlotte the flyer
I have one with the markings ESS, a crows foot, a crown, ZO and 13.
I believe that there are also plastic oilers presumably issued for 'that rifle'
Re: Enfield oil bottles
Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 9:59 pm
by redcat
Thanks, guys. Guess there are enough out there to satisfy my urge! Germen prices look good - thanks for that one, River.
Redcat
Re: Enfield oil bottles
Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 10:36 pm
by Tommygunn
There used to be a very good online resource for precisely this, though it appears to now be sadly defunct, however, once something is online it's pretty much there for good so, using the wayback machine, I've at least grabbed the index page;
http://web.archive.org/web/201309061224 ... _index.htm
(I'm sure with a little digging the other pages could be retrieved from archive), which should give you a start.
As for mine, look at my avatar, it has the L.S.A. "X" mark which, according to the old website above;
http://web.archive.org/web/201009230850 ... ws/LSA.htm
is a particularly rare one - I hunted it down to match with my 1915 L.S.A. SMLE
***EDIT***
Didn't realise it at the time but the makers marks page and various links are still clickable via the wayback machine so there you go, you may research and collect away!
Re: Enfield oil bottles
Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2015 11:31 am
by Strangely Brown
Charlotte the flyer wrote:I have one with the markings ESS, a crows foot, a crown, ZO and 13.
I believe that there are also plastic oilers presumably issued for 'that rifle'
There is also a steel example dating from WW2, plastic (called celluloid at the time) and some Bakelite examples to look out for.
Edited to add: EES = Edwin Showell & Son (Birmingham)
And More!
http://web.archive.org/web/201208020245 ... ngland.htm
Re: Enfield oil bottles
Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2015 9:12 pm
by Tommygunn