[stepmac]

I've got the MkIII, MkIV, MKV (like yours) and the Indian .308. The best shooter is the old MKIII which was made in 1911. My MKV is a very poor grouper and she kicks like a mule. I like it though, just because they are neat looking. I've got the bayonet too.

I used to go the England often. In the museums they had old WWII vets working as docents. They sported chest fulls of metals. In the weapons rooms they would often tell me what a wonderful rifle the old SMLE's were. The guns were on display behind heavy sheets of glass. They had carried them in the War and of course it was illegal for them to own one. I'd tell them that I had one and their eyes would show envy. I felt sorry for them. In those days, the 70's, you get get them for around $45 to $55. I paid $65 for my MKV, at a gun show.

I've never been able to get any of mine to shoot well, but I don't care. The Brits figured out a way to shoot them very rapidly. They worked the bolt with their thumb and forefinger and pulled the trigger with their ring finger. A platoon firing their rifles in this manner sounded like massed machine gun fire.

There is a lot of history in those SMLE's and I enjoy mine.

BTW: they are a bear to reload for. The mouths of the chamber are overlarge and the cases stretch and open way up. I use a neck resizer and then don't full case re-size. The cases stretch like mad. You won't get many reloads per case; like three.