No1 Mk3 Hard to cycle with casing only.

[Stewienb]

I bought a No 1 Mk 3 made in 1946 at a gunshow. Its in great shape but there is only one problem, it cycles super hard when ejecting the empty casing. I polished the bolt and receiver, even went as far as to mark it with gear tooth compund and really found no significant places where the bolt was rubbing to hard in the reciever. tryed oil, then a thin grease, no different. cleaned the heck out of the chamber with steel wool and wd40, no different. Would a stiff spur spring where it catches the rim of the casing cause this? its super stiff.
It cycles smoooooth with no ammo, and decent while loading, but stiff as a bugger when unloading, either full or empties.
This gun could not have even been issued as i have never seen riflings this crisp at the end of the barrel, and the slight machining marks were still on the bolt before i polished it. Dont worry guys, it was sportered when i got it so not a real big loss of any desireable full wood milsurp here, but its a dandy hunting rifle and i want to use it as such.
The only thing i can compare it to is the stiffness you feel to cycle a mosin nagant when cocking.
Anyideas would be greatly appreiciated.
Should i also post this in the GUNSMITHING thread?

 

[cyclone]

Dumb question, but how's the extractor look?

 

[Stewienb]

Dumb question, but how's the extracot look?

The extractor looks almost brand new. the only thing i can think of is that the spring is to stiff. there is no dirt on it anywheres as i pressured it all out with a can of brake clean. Could the spring be to stiff? thats the only thin i can think of. Should i try a new spring? maybe one that has some miles on it?
The actual extractor is the same measurements as other enfields i have measured, with a vernier caliper.
This one has me beat???

 

[David K]

... The "Hook" that grabs the rim of the Cartridge could well be filled with hardened Cosmoline. One other faint, considering you mention no marks, would be the Magazine catching on the bolt. Simple enough to try extracting fired round without th Magazine being in place. ( It's also worth checking the inside of the bolt/firing pin for hardened Cosmoline ) .... David K

 

[Stewienb]

Found the culprit!!

I examined this rifle till i was blue in the face, then i went and got my "go-to" .303 that i hunt with and works flawlessly. I took apart both bolt heads after extensive comparison of the extractor. With my "good" gun i could move the extractor fairly easily, and the "bad" one i could barely move it at all with my bare fingers, so i decided to swap springs. I was bit hesitant cause i never had these springs out before, never had a reason to i guess. When i put the "good" spring in, it worked smooth as silk, so i compared both springs. they looked SLIGHTLY different but was basically the same. i put the "bad" spring in the good gun and it bound up stiff. AH_HA!! found my problem!!!
So, having not much to loose, i EVER SO SLIGHTLY squeezed the bad spring to loosen off some of the tension. and upon reistalation, it cycles smooth as silk, loading and unloading in and empty casing. Ill try a full cartridge next time im at the range.
So i guess the spring was at fault. I think i will try to pick up a couple extras at the next gun show i attend.
NOTE- Maybe the reason why this spring was so stiff is cause there were basically no rubbing marks on the extractor where it is held in place by the screw. I guess the gun was jsut not used enough to break the spring in. Bonus for me i guess. It did seem to scar up the oposite side of the empty casing a bit more than other .303's ive seen. When i coated the old casing with black marker, it seemed to leave more predominant witness marks as well.

Thanks for all the help guys, hopefully you can learn from my frustrations if ya find the same problem someday. If i have any more issues pertaining to this condition, ill post an update.

 

[louthepou]

Good work!

I'd add: did you check the headspace?

 

[Stewienb]

I did not check the headspace, but that is going to be a little project i am going to do with all my mk3's before hunting season. I have enough of them, (4 to be exact) i may just buy the tools neccesary to be able to do it myself.

 

[cyclone]

All's well that ends well...

 

[John Sukey]

I wonder if that was an Indian .308 extractor spring. They are a lot stiffer than the .303 ones.

 

[Stewienb]

I wonder if that was an Indian .308 extractor spring. They are a lot stiffer than the .303 ones.

Now that is something that i never even thought of, good call!!!

It ahs a number "3" stasmped on it and the metal was ever so slightly thicker thatn the one that worked good. It also had a very slightly different shape, the good one has a bit more of a curl to it on the end. I was thinking jsut different manufactures.

The extractor is no doubt one for the .303 cartridge because it is the same as the others i have. Ive seen pics of the ones for the 308 and its not for that.

Who knows what happened to it when it was sportered. But shes a gem now and is smooth as silk, and that makes me happy. I love these old maltby sportered rifles.