Australian Lithgow No. 1 MKIII* SMLE rifle manufactured in 1943 and fitted with a Pattern 1918 (AUST), low mount, telescopic sight. The rifle and telescopic sight have a blued finish; the bolt is bright. The rifle has a coach wood buttstock, forearm and handguard; the buttstock has a brass buttplate. The telescopic sight has the distinctive claw mount similar to that used on the British Model Pattern 14, No. 3 MKI (T) Sniper Rifles. The three-power, Australian Pattern 1918 Telescopic Sight has a post and cross-wire reticule. Lithgow manufactured 1,612 No. 1 MKIII* H.T. Sniper Rifles between November 1944 and February 1946. Only 481 of these rifle has the 'low mount' fitted originally and untold numbers retro fitted as this example. The No. 1 MKIII* H.T. Sniper Rifles saw extensive service in the Solomon Islands and Borneo during the closing months of WWII and were used by Australian forces in the Korean Conflict. The rifles remained in Australian service until the 1970s. The right side of the butt-socket is roll-stamped: "MA / LITHGOW / S.M.L.E. / III* / 1943" in five lines. The serial number, "E78095" is stamped on the rear face of the bolt handle, on the right side of the breech, on the underside of the rear sight, on the top of the bayonet lug and on the bottom of the forearm. All of the rifle serial numbers match. The right side of the telescopic sight tube is roll-stamped: "SIGHT TELESCOPIC / PATT. 1918 (AUST.) 1 / B.A.A 3650 G.A. / AO.C./V". The left side of the scope tube is roll-stamped with the Australian Army property mark and date of manufacture: "D ^ D 1945". "E65178" is electro-penciled on the bottom of the scope tube. Both of the receiver scope mounts and the front ring are numbered "1958". The rifle and telescopic sight serial number are not on the list of No. 1 MK III* serial numbers on pages 327-324 of "THE LEE-ENFIELD STORY" by Ian Skennerton. Most of the Australian SMLE sniper rifles were built on 1916 or 1917 production Lithgow SMLE receivers. Original production rifles had the rifle serial number expertly engraved on the scope tube. The SMLE snipers were fitted with heavy, target barrels and had "H" stamped on the top of the butt-stock wrist and a wooden plug fitted in the screw hole behind the barrel band; this rifle lacks the plug and "H" mark and appears to have a standard barrel. The forearms and bayonet lugs of sniper configuration Lithgow SMLE rifles were not stamped with the rifle serial number. The rifle is complete with a scarce Australian canvas covered Micarta scope can for the Pattern 1918 (AUST) telescopic sight and a "1941" marked canvas sling.

Very fine as arsenal refurbished at the time of sniper conversion, with nearly all of the blue finish intact. All of the markings are sharp.The buttstock, forearm and handguard have been lightly sanded and re-oiled and are in fine condition with minimal handling wear.The telescopic sight is in excellent condition. It retains approximately 95% of the original blue finish and has excellent optics. The scope markings are crisp. This most likely is a standard Australian Lithgow No. 1 MKIII* H.T. Rifle that was arsenal fitted with the Pattern 1918 (AUST) telescopic sight and scope case. It is a very good representative example of a scarce sniper rifle that is missing from most advanced sniper collections.