doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Lee enfield sporterized by W.W Greener.

Just wondering if anyone has ever see or heard of a lee enfield rifle being sporterized by W.W Greener? I do know that Greener made lee enfields for the world war but have never herd of one being sporterized by Greener. The reason I ask is I have a man says he has one. Im going to see it in the next few days and he also says he has paperwork on it? Any info would be very helpful.

First I've heard of Greener building Lee-Enfields for the Great War. BSA, LSA, Sparbrook, and Enfield Arsenal were the main, if not only, ones (aside from the production taking place out in the colonies). I would expect Greener to have built sporting rifles on the L-E. It seems a lot of the big purveyors of such arms did that. If I'm wrong, I will stand corrected.

There followed 20 years later, some "schemes" to build Enfields by the process of farming out all of the bits and pieces to subcontractors which were then assembled by third parties.

I think what your friend might have is a "Lee speed sporter",
I think the actions were manufactured by BSA and then sent
in the white to various firms. I've got a pretty beat up one
that is marked "CG Bonehill". Here is a decent link. You have
to scroll down the article to see the sporters
SMLE

Greener marked and retailed Lee Sporters with their name as did many other firms.
BSA made most of the commercial sporters,,LSA made a few also.

I don't recall Greener as a mfg'r of Military SMLE's at all. They might have sporterized a few after the war and sold them. Seems like most anything was done to make some money then.

The Lee Sporters were made on Lee Metford and Lee Enfield (Long Lee) actions. Though BSA did offer commercial versions of the Mk1* (SMLE) rifle for civilian sales.

The sporters could be had in several versions, some of a more military flavor with names like Officers Carbine and such.
The sporting rifles commonly thought of as the Lee/Speed rifles were the top of the line. Available in 3 grades IIRC and a number of options and 4 calibers. Probably more if you asked (and paid).
These were all commercial rifles, not redone X-military pieces.

I should have a few pics today to post. It sounds like it has alot of the features of my W.W. Greener double, horn inlay in the for stock and butt plate. decorative engraved receiver, bolt and band.

If the rifle in question was made by Greener they are very good at supplying historical information on everything they made.

Sounds a lot like my Lee/Speed retailed by Army-Navy CSL. They're nice rifles.

Hello gents, I'm new to this forum, but you can find my posts on Lee Speed rifles on the many Lee Enfield and Nitro Express forums. I am not an expert on them, but I am a dedicated student. I have been researching these rifles for several years and have collected data on several hundred so far, in an effort to work out a reliable dating scheme for these undated firearms.

If you own (or know about) a commercial Lee rifle, I would be grateful if you would fill out my Lee Speed survey. (Please send me a private message and I will send it).

As for Greener, they operated a military SMLE factory during WWI, which was eventually taken over by the government. There is some dispute as to whether Greener manufactured complete rifles (including actions) or just components. Skennerton takes one view and Greener another.

As for sporting rifles on the Lee Metford and Lee Enfield action, Greener was one of the earliest private retailers to offer them (a colleague of mine has one by Greener from the mid-1890s). Sometimes Greener simply sold a complete rifle that had been made by BSA, but other times they added engraving, custom barrel, or special sights. Therefore, you will see Greener examples that do not match those in the standard BSA catalogues. As Kutter pointed out above, none of these sporters were ex-military rifles (not what we would call "sporterized"); they were purpose-built for civilian sale. They have no government markings, but will have commercial proof marks.

The original poster said that the Greener in question has "paperwork"...I am very curious to know what this means. A ledger copy? A bill of sale? If you would be kind of enough to let me know about this, it could be extremely helpful to my research project, and I will certainly acknowledge your assistance.

I am always happy to discuss these Lee Speed rifles and will do my best to evaluate or fix a date to them.

Thanks very much!

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So is this a lee speed rifle?

Probably slightly off topic, but the New Zealand government bought up the last of BSA's Commercial long Lee Enfield barreled actions in the twenties.
They were a mix of military proof and commercial proof.The military proved ones carry a 20 date stamp.
They were used to "rejuvenate" our well used long lee rifles.The woodwork and other fittings were simply put over onto the new barreled actions.
So if you see a NZ marked long Lee whether sporterised or in military trim with the plain BSA co receiver they are not commercial rifles or a volunteer pattern,just the NZ military doing things on the cheap!

GDU