Lee enfield no4 mk1* bedding issue

Ced1942

Ced1942

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Hey everyone, i just got done cleaning all the cosmoline on my no4 mk1*, before the dissasembly i had okay barrel pressure, now after reassembly, its the upper handguard that apply pressure on the barrel and when shaking the rifle it move and bounce around which it did not do before.

Im not really confortable in removing material from the front stock pieces so is shimming with paper strip okay? Saw somewhere that the trigger guard/magwell need to be flush with the wood but mine is around 1-2mm down inside the wood piece around the action screw is that part of my problem? Another detail i dont know if its part of the issue is i can't overscrew the action screw. It doesn't stop because its too tight but because it run out of thread. So any idea where too look for any problem would be appreciated

Thanks
Ced
 
PinkyPlinker said:
Did you lose the metal stock spacer that goes in the stock where the “action” screw is? They often go missing when it is taken apart.
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Nope spacer is still there, tried without it, absolutely no difference.
The action screw lock washer was originally missing when i took the rifle appart, so i got a replacement one thinking that might be my issue but still made no difference on the barrel pressure.
 
Ced1942: How snug was the forend in the "draws" area when you disassembled it? I hope you didn't pry the barreled action out of the wood from the nose. It sounds (optimistically) like you're getting no clamping of the wood by the front triggerguard screw. You mention that you can't "overscrew" the action screw- with the screw done up tight and with lock washer inplace can you shift the action up and down by lifting up on the front of the barrel? Go slowly and don't make any permanent changes until you've figured this out. It's not unusual, these days, to buy a No. 4 with poorly fit forend (can be as little as front triggerguard screw bushing being too long) but it makes no sense that it changed by disassembling it.

milsurpo
 
ricohman said:
How dry is the wood?
I had this problem with a Long Branch no4 and raw linseed oil brought it back to spec.
Do not use boiled linseed oil though.
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I just put it back together yesterday after a week and a half of soaking in raw linseed oil and drying so that it for sure not a problem anymore

milsurpo: i wiggled the barrel and receiver off whem i took it appart wood does not look damaged in any way. The receivers sit tight and does not wiggle when everything is assembled it kinda feel like the draw is too low so when everything is together the barrel sit higher than supposed cause i tried to put some paper shim right under the triger guard between the action screw and the magwell and i do get a little up pressure that way but the barrel now sits too tight and i cant fit the upper handguard wood piece closest to the receiver in the metal ring to hold it. And action screw bushing cant really be too long since if i simply remove it, there is no difference at all

Edit: just took the rifle appart again and the chamber/receiver end do lift went i lift the end of the barrel up, not by mutch but it wiggle up. And i saw too i can push down the triggerguard at the trigger level and i can push it down for the travel that the screw in the hole allow. Look like the triggerguard does not clamp at all at both end
 
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Ced1942: If the issue is the main screw not going in fully you could verify that by stacking up enough washers to allow it to tighten up. Does the screw look damaged and was it super tight when you first removed it? What you describe in your edit (above) is what you see when the bushing is a wee bit long. With the screw tightened and the bushing holding the triggerguard and body apart, the forend has some free play (up and down). Ideally the bushing will be of a length that just allows the wood to be slightly compressed. But, if you already tried it without the bushing and still don't get solid clamping of the wood then it isn't simply the bushing length.

milsurpo
 
milsurpo said:
Ced1942: If the issue is the main screw not going in fully you could verify that by stacking up enough washers to allow it to tighten up. Does the screw look damaged and was it super tight when you first removed it? What you describe in your edit (above) is what you see when the bushing is a wee bit long. With the screw tightened and the bushing holding the triggerguard and body apart, the forend has some free play (up and down). Ideally the bushing will be of a length that just allows the wood to be slightly compressed. But, if you already tried it without the bushing and still don't get solid clamping of the wood then it isn't simply the bushing length.

milsurpo
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That is not the bushing for sure, it feel more as if the action screw is too long, when i screw it fully i never get the feeling that the triggerguard apply pressure on the wood. It just stop because the screw thread stop and it cant screw more. But if i put paper shim to simulate that the wood piece would be thicker, i can get my foreend to apply the right pressure, but the wood upper handguard wont fit in the metal ring on the chamber anymore.
 
Well with all this info looks like my original bedding is absolute crap, receiver lack contact pretty much everywhere. Looks like this one will be sitting on the wall i hoped it could be a simple fix but it look like something really too complicated for me as i dont want to damage the rifle or anything. I guess ill bring her with me when i make it to the city and find someone who know what they are doing.
Thanks all for your info been really helpfull
Ced
 
Ced1942 said:
Well with all this info looks like my original bedding is absolute crap, receiver lack contact pretty much everywhere. Looks like this one will be sitting on the wall i hoped it could be a simple fix but it look like something really too complicated for me as i dont want to damage the rifle or anything. I guess ill bring her with me when i make it to the city and find someone who know what they are doing.
Thanks all for your info been really helpfull
Ced
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There is a fellow in Regina who could most likely sort this out for you. He goes by skydt on this forum.
I've seen his Enfields at gun shows and they are beautiful. Nice guy also.
 
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Yeah regina is kinda far as i live in the east of the province of quebec. Even Montreal is some 1000km away. Its not that bad anyway as i did not really plan to shoot the rifle mutch, i just lile to have my rifle in the best possible shape even if they are just collector
 
Hopefully you can find someone to give you a hand with it close to home. If not, mailing one to someone for repair is not that expensive- better than leaving it as an annoying unusable rifle. You're not alone with this experience. I bought one online a few years ago that looked good in photos but after disassembly it was physically impossible to get the barreled action back in the forend. Good luck with your rifle.

milsurpo
 
There are many nice looking rifles out there for sale that have been through the hands of enthusiastic amateurs who take a sporter and drop the action back into full wood. De-sporterising is the buzz word. I shun these ones like the plague.

There is a great deal more to stocking up a LE than one would imagine. It aint a drop-in fit.

I wonder if this one is a 'restored' sporter?? Any Dremmel marks in the inletting?
 
englishman_ca said:
There are many nice looking rifles out there for sale that have been through the hands of enthusiastic amateurs who take a sporter and drop the action back into full wood. De-sporterising is the buzz word. I shun these ones like the plague.

There is a great deal more to stocking up a LE than one would imagine. It aint a drop-in fit.

I wonder if this one is a 'restored' sporter?? Any Dremmel marks in the inletting?
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Received it full of cosmoline, pretty unlikely it was de-sporterised. The foreend was changed during FTR since its a savage made engraved with the C broadarrow and a longbranch foreend. might explain the bad bedding done during FTR.

Ced
 
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