Hey everyone!
I'm putting a Longbranch back to her original glory and figured I'd document it, who knows, maybe SOMEone will find SOMEthing useful here!
It started out as a package deal on a sporterized 1918 No1 Mk3* and a '44 Longbranch No4 Mk1* barreled action. Picked up both for $175, went home and set out to find the pieces to put the Great War relic back together. Found a nice fella in Alberta who supplied me with a complete set of DP marked wood and metal.
All in all it turned out nice, and went to a another nice fella in Quebec! (I didn't even get a chance to fire it
)
Now it was time for the LB! I quickly acquired 2 complete NOS wood sets (one is a Mk2, it's next in line!) and the remaining LB stamped stock metal bits.
So far, this is what I have.
All new/old stock furniture and buttplate
I'm think of dyeing the wood a rich red-brown and finishing it in danish oil and then giving it a good waxing.
Much like this Mauser sporter I recently finished
Hard to see, but LB stamped.
LB stamped trigger guard and fluted trigger.
And the barreled action! Metal is in excellent shape! Original finish is almost 100% intact aside from a few scratches, and numbers are matching.
Internals are in great shape.
Shiny 2 groove barrel
Raceways look almost un-used!
The stock socket is quite large and will require a good rasping to fit and the barrel channel is also very tight! The trigger guard barely squeezes in place but the for end/wrist face is a loose fit so I will build it up with paper shims or straight epoxy and sand to fit.
And as the barreled action is Parkerized, the stock metal bits will be parked to suit.
Stay tuned for more as it unfolds!
Jon
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday Nov.15/13
Got around to doing a little more today.
I started with getting the trigger guard to fit, and it wasn't easy!
As you can see, the right side rail protrudes inside the trigger guard channel, not only did the guard not seat, the stock contacts the mag release and sear.
It doesn't look like much. but it was enough to not allow the trigger guard to have a "drop in" fit like it should.
Trigger guard contact.
A good 20 thou. clearance on the right
Tight on the left
And what's this?? With the rear trigger guard screw installed, the front of the guard doesn't even fit!!
So I outlined what needed to be opened up with a pen, even the shoulders didn't fit.
Nothing a few minutes with a dremel and sanding drum couldn't fix
Perfect 20 thou clearance all the way around and drop in fit.
With the guard in place I tightened the action screw down and couldn't help but notice the wood on the action was "springy", so I did the oil and flour test to check for fit.
What I found was, no contact at any point under the receiver except a small bit at the rear.
The "springiness" was due to the action side rails being extremely tight and also the reinforce sidewalls were extremely tight, to the point where the receiver was not setting down in the stock.
Reinforce side, tight fit, essentially spreading the wood and allowing no bottom contact whatsoever.
Tight siderail contact.
The one good thing I found, what appears to be 100% contact on the draws!!
After in-letting the reinforce and side rails, the reinforce contacts the bottom of the stock fully, as well as the bottom of the mainscrew housing and rear of receiver. I may bed for 100% contact, but we will see.
Getting there!
The socket wouldn't come close to fitting, even with a few taps with a rubber mallet.
After filing some high spots
Almost there!
Perfect!
A good fit, I can't get a 5 thou. feeler between the fore-end and wrist face, so bedding may not be necessary, but we will see after the Danish oil soaks in.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday Nov.22nd
Started to finish the wood today.
As you can see it needed a little sanding to get the scrapes from knocking around the bench out.
It had this ugly chunk missing where the safety sits.
So I smoothed it out.
Here's a good tip, after sanding and getting ready for stain, give the wood a wipe down with a rag dipped in alcohol, it makes blemishes appear that would otherwise have been hidden until the oil finish was applied.
These vertical lines would have ruined my day if found AFTER finishing.
The forward hand guard is used and had some old oil in it still so I had to clean it, it's not in this picture as it will need to dry before a light sanding and finish applied.
First application of stain.
This grain is gonna pop with the oil finish!
I'm putting a Longbranch back to her original glory and figured I'd document it, who knows, maybe SOMEone will find SOMEthing useful here!
It started out as a package deal on a sporterized 1918 No1 Mk3* and a '44 Longbranch No4 Mk1* barreled action. Picked up both for $175, went home and set out to find the pieces to put the Great War relic back together. Found a nice fella in Alberta who supplied me with a complete set of DP marked wood and metal.
All in all it turned out nice, and went to a another nice fella in Quebec! (I didn't even get a chance to fire it
)
Now it was time for the LB! I quickly acquired 2 complete NOS wood sets (one is a Mk2, it's next in line!) and the remaining LB stamped stock metal bits.
So far, this is what I have.
All new/old stock furniture and buttplate
I'm think of dyeing the wood a rich red-brown and finishing it in danish oil and then giving it a good waxing.
Much like this Mauser sporter I recently finished
Hard to see, but LB stamped.
LB stamped trigger guard and fluted trigger.
And the barreled action! Metal is in excellent shape! Original finish is almost 100% intact aside from a few scratches, and numbers are matching.
Internals are in great shape.
Shiny 2 groove barrel
Raceways look almost un-used!
The stock socket is quite large and will require a good rasping to fit and the barrel channel is also very tight! The trigger guard barely squeezes in place but the for end/wrist face is a loose fit so I will build it up with paper shims or straight epoxy and sand to fit.
And as the barreled action is Parkerized, the stock metal bits will be parked to suit.
Stay tuned for more as it unfolds!
Jon
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday Nov.15/13
Got around to doing a little more today.
I started with getting the trigger guard to fit, and it wasn't easy!
As you can see, the right side rail protrudes inside the trigger guard channel, not only did the guard not seat, the stock contacts the mag release and sear.
It doesn't look like much. but it was enough to not allow the trigger guard to have a "drop in" fit like it should.
Trigger guard contact.
A good 20 thou. clearance on the right
Tight on the left
And what's this?? With the rear trigger guard screw installed, the front of the guard doesn't even fit!!
So I outlined what needed to be opened up with a pen, even the shoulders didn't fit.
Nothing a few minutes with a dremel and sanding drum couldn't fix
Perfect 20 thou clearance all the way around and drop in fit.
With the guard in place I tightened the action screw down and couldn't help but notice the wood on the action was "springy", so I did the oil and flour test to check for fit.
What I found was, no contact at any point under the receiver except a small bit at the rear.
The "springiness" was due to the action side rails being extremely tight and also the reinforce sidewalls were extremely tight, to the point where the receiver was not setting down in the stock.
Reinforce side, tight fit, essentially spreading the wood and allowing no bottom contact whatsoever.
Tight siderail contact.
The one good thing I found, what appears to be 100% contact on the draws!!
After in-letting the reinforce and side rails, the reinforce contacts the bottom of the stock fully, as well as the bottom of the mainscrew housing and rear of receiver. I may bed for 100% contact, but we will see.
Getting there!
The socket wouldn't come close to fitting, even with a few taps with a rubber mallet.
After filing some high spots
Almost there!
Perfect!
A good fit, I can't get a 5 thou. feeler between the fore-end and wrist face, so bedding may not be necessary, but we will see after the Danish oil soaks in.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday Nov.22nd
Started to finish the wood today.
As you can see it needed a little sanding to get the scrapes from knocking around the bench out.
It had this ugly chunk missing where the safety sits.
So I smoothed it out.
Here's a good tip, after sanding and getting ready for stain, give the wood a wipe down with a rag dipped in alcohol, it makes blemishes appear that would otherwise have been hidden until the oil finish was applied.
These vertical lines would have ruined my day if found AFTER finishing.
The forward hand guard is used and had some old oil in it still so I had to clean it, it's not in this picture as it will need to dry before a light sanding and finish applied.
First application of stain.
This grain is gonna pop with the oil finish!
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