BSA Lee-Enfield .22 Conversion
Printed From: Enfield-Rifles.com
Category: Enfields
Forum Name: .22 Caliber Enfields
Forum Description: Anything that has to do with .22 caliber Enfields.
URL: http://www.enfield-rifles.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=13494
Printed Date: March 26 2026 at 3:39pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.07 - https://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: BSA Lee-Enfield .22 Conversion
Posted By: SteveR
Subject: BSA Lee-Enfield .22 Conversion
Date Posted: August 22 2024 at 3:56pm
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Howdy, I'm new here. Pleased to meet you. I bought my second Lee-Enfield rifle last weekend at a gun show. It appears to be a BSA SMLE converted to .22 rimfire as a trainer, and which has been subjected to "improvements" by later owners, such as installing a Redfield rear aperture sight, modifying the frond end cap and front sight, removing the upper wood, and installing a butt stock with a pistol grip. It came with a spare, original-style butt stock and butt plate. I am not planning a restoration, but if it shoots well, I will probably try to replace the missing wood and metal parts. I can't seem to find a date on it. The wrist just says "B.S.A.Co." on one side, and "Short 22 II" on the other. It has what appears to be a 4-digit serial number stamped into the barrel and the action. The barrel does have" '39" stamped on it, but I understood that the presence of the volley dial sight means that it's a 1916 or earlier rifle. The front barrel band has "EFD" stamped into it. I'd welcome any insights on the model and date of manufacture or conversion.     |
Replies:
Posted By: Canuck
Date Posted: August 22 2024 at 4:09pm
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Welcome SteveR! Nice rifle! Where in Alberta are ya? I'm in Cochrane. In your photos, a couple screw heads looked bunged up. If you want, I should be able to provide new screws for your project. ------------- Castles made of sand slip into the sea.....eventually |
Posted By: SteveR
Date Posted: August 22 2024 at 4:11pm
| Thanks! I'm also in Cochrane! |
Posted By: Shamu
Date Posted: August 22 2024 at 7:09pm
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Your rifle is an original .22 RF civilian rifle, not a military one. So no date or Royal Cypher was stamped. I'm guessing it was a (target) club rifle form the mods to the safety & the rear-sight & then removal (if it was fitted) of the safety mechanism. ------------- Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force) |
Posted By: SteveR
Date Posted: August 23 2024 at 8:36am
| Thanks, that makes sense. But would a civilian original .22 rifle have the volley dial sight? This rifle appears to have had it, originally. |
Posted By: Shamu
Date Posted: August 23 2024 at 9:36am
Yes the civvy rifles were 100% identical to the military ones. They even had bayonet lugs!  ------------- Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force) |
Posted By: Zed
Date Posted: August 23 2024 at 10:00am
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Love the .22 training rifles. It should be accurate; most of them are. Especially with a rear dioptre sight. ------------- It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice! |
Posted By: SteveR
Date Posted: August 23 2024 at 5:10pm
    Thanks for all the helpful information! Here are a few more photos. My other Lee Enfield is a No. 4 Mk 2, 1955 Irish Contract rifle, so far unfired (except perhaps for testing) so as you can imagine, it's in much better shape!
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Posted By: SteveR
Date Posted: August 23 2024 at 5:49pm
More photos:  |
Posted By: SteveR
Date Posted: August 23 2024 at 5:57pm
  
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Posted By: SteveR
Date Posted: August 25 2024 at 1:26pm
 Is the forend cap different on the .22 rifles than the others? It seems that the end cap on my new rifle is not like the earlier versions or the Mark 4 - it's shorter, and one piece.
It also looks like it may once have had a bayonet lug, which was cut off.
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Posted By: Shamu
Date Posted: August 25 2024 at 2:40pm
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I've never noticed that before? I don't think I've ever seen it before! The muzzles also seem to be bedded, instead of the usual spring-tensioned compensation of the .303 versions. Some kind of de-militarizing? ------------- Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force) |
Posted By: SteveR
Date Posted: August 26 2024 at 11:24am
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Yeah, Shamu, I can't find anything like it either. The forend cap looks to be smaller than either the #1, 2, 3, or the #4 style, and as I said, it's one piece. There are some similarities to a one-off Lee-Metford conversion I saw a photo of (last photo), such as the lack of both wooden hand-guards and the way the barrel extends past the end cap. There are also some similarities in the forend cap to this Sht 22 II I found on a "for sale" post. I see that it's a 1912 conversion. Mine also has a full .22 barrel, not a sleeve. Perhaps mine is an early conversion?     Also, both of these appear to have, not a bayonet lug, but a sling swivel, on the end cap. That seems likely to have been what was cut off of mine.  |
Posted By: TheLeftBoot
Date Posted: September 01 2024 at 10:41pm
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For comparison: 1901 Sparkbrook MLE I*/ Sht. .22 II N (Navy) https://www.facebook.com/share/p/hTYsbPd3Zztzsep9/?mibextid=oFDknk" rel="nofollow - https://www.facebook.com/share/p/hTYsbPd3Zztzsep9/?mibextid=oFDknk
------------- David P. Wanko, JD, BS L-E Collector Since 1999 Michigan. USA dwanko23@gmail.com "Brick by Brick My Fellow Citizens, Brick by Brick" - Emperor Hadrian |
Posted By: SteveR
Date Posted: September 02 2024 at 6:53pm
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Thanks! The forend cap on that 1901 .22 rifle looks the same as the one on mine - or at least, what it would have looked like before somebody cut off the sling swivel. Hard to be sure from the photos, but the clearance between the barrel bands and the barrel one mine look like there could be room for forward handguards.  |
Posted By: A square 10
Date Posted: September 02 2024 at 7:39pm
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this started life as a long lee enfield or metford rifle and was cut down to serve as a trainer for the SMLE rifles , the one i have was originaly an MLM built in 1892 and converted for the navy around 1912 , mone retains all of the original volley bits but the cutoff and magazine were deleted , bpolt was altered for rimfire , original markings remain on the right wrist and the WHT 22 Cond II is on the left according to skennerton about 1000 were converted but more may have been done without being documented as official , the removed bit a the muzzle was a sling swivel lug , its the bottom one here - note trhat an empy mag box was added to thins one to collect the empty brass  |