I purchased these two rifle cases from 1942 and 1943 respectively.   I researched the Broad Arrow 2 for the manufacturer identifiers and could only locate D&M Ltd, a british manufacturer identified as a Oil Bottle SMLE WWI.  I could not locate the M&Q or D^126.   I have a lot of questions:

1) Can you identify the manufacturer or the national origin?

2) The webbing/material is quite different between the two - this is probably significant.

2) The external pouch opens in opposite directions (one towards butt, the other towards barrel)

3) My No.1 MkIII* doesn't quite fit - the rifle fits in, but the closing flap wont close - maybe 1-2" short.   This was disappointing.  I thought maybe these were Canadian and/or designed for the No.4 and I checked the overall rifle dimensions - they vary by 0.1" (44.5 for the No.1 and 44.4 for the No.4)  so this is likely not the problem.

I have one other rifle case almost  identical to the D^126 and my No1 MkIII* rifle fits perfectly.   Could the case shrink this much over the years? 

A couple of usage questions:  What goes in the external pouch - I assume ammo?  Where does the solider store his bayonet?  And finally, how were these deployed in the army - would a soldier carry a case into forward deployment, or would they be used on base, or training etc?  Looking forward to the conversation.

NOTE: EDITED TO REMOVE THE FAULTY IMAGES.

I can't get the images to post.  They are jpg files and meet the size requirements.  I'll keep experimenting.  Stand by.

Let's try this - two photo's of the D&M marked case:

Two photo's of the D^126 case - I don't why the originals didn't load, but I changed the file names to remove any special characters (^, -, &) and the images loaded.  Something to keep in mind:

Believe your shorter bag is made for the No5 Mk1 (Jungle Carbine,have a few but are (D^D M.H&Co 43thru45 dated made).

Cheer’s.

The Jungle carbines are all shorter - 39.X inches, so they definitely would fit.  So although the cases predated the Jungle Carbines, it is an interesting train of thought to explore which other rifles may fit.  I flipped through my bible (LES) and I had to go back to the MLE Carbines to get lengths at 39.X inches, but why would the commonwealth make cases for the MLEs in 1942/43?

^^^👍🍻

Running a couple of inquiries on manufacturer marking to maybe narrow things down.

I can’t find that marking anywhere 🤢

Cheer’s.

The stitching appears to be very clean for an 80 year old canvas case.

I have both original and a reproduction webbing of which most repro`s are made in India. The repro`s use a very coarse fabric compared to the originals, the weave threads are 2-3x`s heavier.

The original fabric is not to unlike a fine oil skin canvas.

My Guess would be the DM marked one is a repro.

That's a little disappointing - I don't mind buying a repro if I know its a repro. Let's see if sgonger comes back with any additional insight. 

Otherwise, I continue to learn the hard way :)  Fortunately it was a modest investment.

Howdy;

I’ll ditto what Mr Shiloh stated had the same conclusion.

We had no joy in trying to find anything about the M&Q marking sorry.

Goodo & just for a thought mate,I trimmed a couple of the buckles on the carbine type bags & restiched the buckles higher up so they would inclose a MKIII rifle. 🤭😉👍

Cheer’s.

Great minds think a like.   I laid the "shorty" against the "longy" and realized something similar.  It appears the buckle strap may have been a little lower.   However, look at these close-ups of the buckle.  The buckle on the flap is fixed and rigid. This looks too complex to be a repro - maybe O'm in denial.  not sure it's for a No1, but not a repro?  

Cheer’s today A Square 🍻👍

there is also an unreadable stamping on the outside at the case opening/inside flap when closed , no leather on my fittings - all webb and brass  , pocket is the same as the ones above , mine fits my no1 mkIII - only 303 i have left , and all my trainers , but i use boyt shotgun cases with the extra barrel pocket for mine as the bayonets stow nicely in the barrel pocket ,   i had three more of these in years past but they were sold in the divestment with rifles , wish i had good photos of everything but alas they were lost in the photobucket debacle a decade ago or more along with some other irreplaceable photos of collections long gone now , 

Hi A Square 10 - thanks for checking - another great idea with the Browning case and bayonet pocket! 

I found Sgongers modifications approved below, so I am all good:

List Of Changes issued frequently

    Rifle, SMLE Accessories,

         Ingenuity, Collectors (crazy)

              May do what ever is necessary to make it work

          Sealed: Good Luck with that!