Accurizing/bedding the Lee Enfield No4... Success!

Ok, an update for anyone following where this is going...

Here is a pic showing where I repaired the crack on both sides under the draws, and the paper shims glued in place on the front of the draws to add .006 to the face.

0fb4a64d.jpg


And here is the "at home" fix that while not to mil-spec, it made a huge difference in snugging up the socket to the stock fit and straightening the barrel in the stock. I figure what the heck, if it works I'm the only one who will know it's there. The whole stock is now soaking in the 50/50 linseed turpentine mix... In several hours I'll dry it off and see how it fits in the morning. Everything looks promising though.

1664d8fc.jpg


And yes I know I did the shims before the oil... If I were less impatient I would have soaked it first to see what difference it made. But I'm confident the .006 shims won't hurt anything. If they are in the way later I can always scrape them out.

Thanks for all the advice guys!
 
Holy guacamole! I was expecting an improvement but not this much of one.

I was finally able to get good centered upward pressure at the muzzle of about 4-5 lb yesterday, so I epoxy bedded the bearing point at the tip, damming the sides instead of the front and rear, so now there is decent space on both sides of the barrel and a nice bed underneath.
I shortened the king screw bushing adequately, shimmed the draws, shimmed the rear forestock, and shimmed under the handguard bands. The stock is very snug now, all screws are tight... Everything seemed tickety boo, so today with the epoxy hardened and the rifle reassembled and ready to test, I popped over to the range on my lunchbreak.

Due to the cost of the ammunition ($35 for a box of 20 federal:eek:) I decided to shoot 2, 4 shot groups to see if there was any improvement. Strange amount of shots I know, but I figure I can shoot 5, 4 shot strings out of the box. Once I have some better weather and handloads I'll start shooting 5 and 10 shot groups.

First shot at 50m was a little high, went down a click and second shot was an inch lower, down another click and I put two shots almost touching each other dead center... Things are looking good so far :) (target made of duct tape... Its raining something aweful today!)

94a968cd.jpg


Cautiously optimistic I proceeded to put 4 rounds down at 100m with the same sight setting of 200m. Needless to say when I got down to retrieve the target I was stunned. This is some of the best open sight shooting I've done, and it was with federal ammo in the rain, poor light, overall windy crap weather, and a rifle I'm not 100% comfortably familiar with yet. I cannot wait to see what it will do with some practice, handloads, and good conditions!

fa171ecd.jpg


Had to measure it once I got back to the shop... At 100m thats about 1.5 moa, in poor conditions with factory ammo. Phenominal considering my last session was 8" vertical strings at 50m.

cbb91475.jpg


Thanks again to all of you for helping me out. I really feel as though I have gotten to know my rifle much better, ....and well, the results of the tips and tricks you've shared speak for themselves.
:)
 
Last edited:
Wow, this is great news !!

I did my no 4 with a Devcon steel putty bedding, I have to redo the tip, but the rest is a snug fit. Can't wait to try it to the range.
 
Wonderful!

The old girl gets a kiss.

You get a piece of raisin pie for those groups.

Dontcha just LOVE IT when everything comes together like this?
.
 
I sure do Smellie!

It's pretty amazing what some linseed oil, brown paper, crazy glue, and JBweld can do given some thought and a careful hand.

Thanks again! Now I'm going to put it away for a couple weeks to let the JB cure up good and hard.

BTW, I don't know if any of you guys watch Top Shot on the history channel, but tonight they're featuring the Lee Enfield No4 in their competition! I know my wife is going to think I'm nutz, sitting on the couch with the rifle in hand while I'm watching it.

Ahh the little things...
 
Impossibru, everyone on the internet knows that Lee Enfields are not accurate!!!

:D

Good work, the results were well worth the efforts!
 
louthepou said:
Impossibru, everyone on the internet knows that Lee Enfields are not accurate!!!

:D

Good work, the results were well worth the efforts!
Click to expand...

Thanks Lou. I could not be any happier with the results. And i must say, the Linseed oil/turpentine i put on it last night has REALLY changed the look of it. It got darker and cleaner looking. Beautifull gun.

Now... I have the bug BIG TIME. Im looking through the safe thinking about what i might be willing to part with to get another one lol. Enfielditis is setting in hard!
 
bigedp51 said:
Duct tape targets, I wonder where that idea cam from?

A certain TV show must still be in syndicated reruns. :eek:
Click to expand...

Haha, Ed, when you live in the Pacific Northwest it is wise to find effective ways of keeping your targets dry this time of year. Red Green Knows how to do this better than anyone else.
 
When my daughter was married, the bridesmaids were getting dressed at our house in their low cut dresses. They had bought Bras. to go with the dresses, but they were showing. You can see where this is going. They got out the duct tape and made their own Bras. (sticky side in). My wife got the job of using manicure scissors to trim the edges so they woudn't show. She asked how they were going to get them off; the answer was to stand in the hot shower until the tape loosened. At the wedding reception when I made my remarks I held up a piece of paper and said "and we have a telegram from Red Green, congratulating the bridesmaids for a new and innovative use of duct tape."
 
Hey guys thanks for the pointer's on the upward pressure on the barrel.

I had a 47 No4, that had been sporterized. I had proceeded to cut the barrel down to 19 inches, and re attach the front post. Was vertically stringing about 2 feet at 50 yrds.

Took it all apart, cleaned everything up, and two thicknesses of business card under the barrel at the tip of the stock (floating everywhere else). TIghtened up all the screws. Now geting 1 1/2 inch groups at 50 yrds, with the cheapest ammo and open sights.

Damn impressed. Will try at 100 yrds next time out. Great bush gun now.
 
Can't wait to try my Lee Enfield. It is a bit adapted for target shooting, but nothing you see here is irreversible. I made the buttstock myself, and the beech stock also.

This winter I did a bedding on it, and on may 5th I am going to the Batoche range to try it out at 600m, should be interesting.

Axis017003.jpg

Axis017004.jpg

Axis019007.jpg
 
So to bed a sporter version of a number 4 or a no 1 mk 3, where would I put the pressure pad? the forends were already shortened on both rifles when I got them. Thanks in adavance for your help
 
I will do a Devcon bedding on my sporter No 4. I think I'll bed the action, and free float the barrel, and give it a try like that. Then I'll add pressure at the end of the stock to see if it helps.

It will be a deer rifle, so the barrel will not overheat.
 
Up pressure at the fore end tip is a way of "tuning" a rifle for better accuracy for the load the rifle is shooting. A No.4 Enfield was to have 2 to 7 pounds of "up pressure" and a standard Remington 700 has 3 to 9 pounds of up pressure at the fore end tip.

The weight of up pressure is how a rifle can be fine tuned and all Enfield rifles sent to Holland and Holland for conversion to a No.4 (T) sniper rifle were rejected outright and sent back to their owning organization if the Enfield rifle did not have the required 2 to 7 pounds of up pressure at the fore end tip.

The only Enfield rifles with a free floating barrel were the No.5 and the L42 sniper rifle and the L42 had a heavy barrel.
 
bobfortier said:
I will do a Devcon bedding on my sporter No 4. I think I'll bed the action, and free float the barrel, and give it a try like that. Then I'll add pressure at the end of the stock to see if it helps.

It will be a deer rifle, so the barrel will not overheat.
Click to expand...

Bob, I tried doing just that with my Churchill conversion and the results were terrible. The original Churchill forestock had a pressure point about 10" infront of the "king" screw and it shot like a dream. I got experimental thinking I could squeeze more accuracy out of it and bedded the action and floated the barrel and the accuracy went down the pooper.
In the end I had to re-establish the pressure at the tip and redo the bedding on the action and Knox form. It now shoots phenomenal. I think even the no 4 sporters require the pressure to create the fulcrum effect with the "king" screw and obtain the proper fit in the draws and socket area.

But don't take my word for it, I'd never want to stop someone from experimenting for themselves, I just thought id pass on what I had learned from a similar experiment.

BTW Bob, I love the work you do! I have seen a few of your threads on homemade stocks and the craftsmanship always impresses me. I would love to have the tooling to get into that work myself someday as I can only imagine how satisfying it must be. Cheers.
 
Not sure if any of this helps anyone, but check the MKL .. :)

The Canadian Marksman (Bedding the 7.62mm No.4 Rifle) - 1965

Also, perhaps download a complete set of manuals for the Lee Enfield, which includes operating and armourer's maintenance instructions.

The manuals may be found in the Technical Articles for Milsurp Collectors and Re-loaders (click here)http://www.milsurps.com/content.php...esearch-for-milsurp-collectors-and-re-loaders


2002 No.4 (All Marks) .303 Rifle Manuals (click here)http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=3314

Complete Set includes:

- 2002 No.4 (All Marks) .303 Rifle Data Summary
- 2002 No.4 (All Marks) .303 Rifle Parts Identification List
- 2002 No.4 (All Marks) .303 Rifle Operating Instructions
- 2002 No.4 (All Marks) .303 Rifle Equipment Description
- 2002 No.4 (All Marks) .303 Rifle Maintenance Instructions


1991 No.4 (All Marks) .303 Rifle Manuals (click here)http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=3322

Complete Set includes:

- 1991 No.4 (All Marks) .303 Rifle Operating Instructions
- 1991 No.4 (All Marks) .303 Rifle Maintenance Instructions

Note: The difference between the 1991 set of No.4 Manuals and 2002 No.4 (All Marks) .303 Rifle Manuals, is that the 1991 manual contains armourer's information on how to properly "bed" the No.4 rifle, whereas the newer 2002 manual does not.

Hope that helps ...

Regards,
Doug
 
I bedded my rifle. It produced an amazing grouping at 100 yards when I tried it. The downside to this is the front post was not nearly high enough to cope with how it set. I had to take more of the bedding compound and actually build the post up because there isnt one out there tall enough.

Ill find out on monday if it worked or not
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom