Hi folks,
I have been thinking about this project for a while. I had a No4 Lee Enfield with a shortened barrel and a drilled / tapped receiver. And, I've been wondering about the quality of the Jungle Carbine "kit" sold by Numrich in the States. A fellow CGN member got that kit but decided to sell it, and I was happy to take it (Thanks again!).
The wood parts are made from No4 parts. The butt stock is cut to accept the butt pad, and the sling swivel screw holes are plugged. The recess for the butt pad sling swivel is roughly carved out. Besides this, the wood parts were ok.
The flash hider is on the cheap side. The pin holes weren't aligned (on the same plane). I'm quite lucky that CGN member "Beater", a fine fellow, accepted to play with these old parts for me. Not every gunsmith would go through the trouble... but he's a milsurp lover like us, so thanks Beater!
He did a fine job at shortening the barrel to the Jungle's length and win the fight with the flash hider. Among other troubles, he had to punch the front sight blade in place because the machined slot for it in the base was too large. I'm willing to bet that part is "Made somewhere in Asia in someone's backyard shed".
After a bit of walnut stain, since this project fell outside of the "authentic" category, I decided to finish the wood with a spray-on acrylic. Just this one time I promise.
All in all, a fun project but definitely not financially viable.
I have been thinking about this project for a while. I had a No4 Lee Enfield with a shortened barrel and a drilled / tapped receiver. And, I've been wondering about the quality of the Jungle Carbine "kit" sold by Numrich in the States. A fellow CGN member got that kit but decided to sell it, and I was happy to take it (Thanks again!).
The wood parts are made from No4 parts. The butt stock is cut to accept the butt pad, and the sling swivel screw holes are plugged. The recess for the butt pad sling swivel is roughly carved out. Besides this, the wood parts were ok.
The flash hider is on the cheap side. The pin holes weren't aligned (on the same plane). I'm quite lucky that CGN member "Beater", a fine fellow, accepted to play with these old parts for me. Not every gunsmith would go through the trouble... but he's a milsurp lover like us, so thanks Beater!
He did a fine job at shortening the barrel to the Jungle's length and win the fight with the flash hider. Among other troubles, he had to punch the front sight blade in place because the machined slot for it in the base was too large. I'm willing to bet that part is "Made somewhere in Asia in someone's backyard shed".
After a bit of walnut stain, since this project fell outside of the "authentic" category, I decided to finish the wood with a spray-on acrylic. Just this one time I promise.
All in all, a fun project but definitely not financially viable.
