No worries Marraki, thanks for clarifying your post.

I pretty much agree with all you say, although I think restricting "Lee Speeds" to only those that acknowledge the patent is a bit restrictive, and prefer my definition of a rifle purposely built for civilian sale. But no big deal. Your definition is certainly valid, and easily supported.

One problem though. You wrote "Sporting service-pattern rifles are simply not Lee Speeds." Do you mean Gov't surplus rifles that have been "sporterized" (i.e, made to look like huntin' rifles)? If so, I agree 100%. Those are not Lee Speeds. But if you mean service pattern rifles (like Long Lees, for example), that were purposely made for civilian sale (to target shooters, for example), then many of those should qualify, because they will often be found with the "Lee Speed patents" stamp.

I'm not trying to quibble, and I respect your definition. I agree that when most people think of Lee Speeds, they think of the sporter (as per "The Ghost & The Darkness"), and that's fine. But there were generations of target shooters who used military pattern rifles that bore the "Lee Speed" stamp.

...

BTW, did you ever locate that MkI Lee Speed sporter that you mentioned on another thread? I'm eager to see that! I have long suspected that the first sporter was made on the MkI pattern, because BSA was still tooling up for the MkII, but have never encountered one.

Best regards,
Jc5