T.E. Lawrence No. 1 Mk III question

[Liam]

Perusing some images of the T.E. Lawrence No. 1 Mk III. My rifle does not have this protruding from the safety. I looked for it in schematics but can't locate. What is it?
49264

[JB White]

Its the rear sight iris for when using the volley sights/long range sights. The plate on the left side of the forend had an indicator with a pointer. The pointer was dialed for the extended range ordered and the rear iris was elevated upward. Using this combination a group of riflemen could lay down a beaten zone.
Harassing supply lines and reinforcments etc at the rear of the enemy lines.

The machine gun appearing on the battlefield made them obsolete. So they were eventually discarded from manufacture. The thick washer which is now pretty standard on the safety is to make up the difference of that rear sight iris. No point in reengineering when a simple spacer would suffice.

That volley sight setup is also the reason behind the offset sling swivels. Offset to the right to keep the sling out of the field of view when volley fire was in use. Again, no need to make unneeded changes to specs

[Liam]

Thank you, JB White. Educational and interesting.

[RCS]

On some rebuilds the front volley sight plate had the stud ground off and left that way. Rebuilt
in 1917, new IP barrel too

Photo is from a Mark 1** IP upgraded to Mark 111492714927249273

[barretcreek]

Where's the rifle, in a museum? Interesting, thanks for posting.

[Liam]

Here's the link to the article I referenced:
https://www.rct.uk/collection/69430/te-lawrences-lee-enfield-rifle

[barretcreek]

Thank you.