Remove an SMLE Lee Enfield No1MkIII barrel without harm

cantom

cantom

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I plan to swap barrels between 2 Lee Enfield No1MkIII SMLE's.

My gunsmith has the proper action wrench and barrel vice blocks etc.

But 2 of them told me that they can be a royal bugger to get apart.

Apparently, when breeched up, they used obscene amounts of force to turn them together. (in some cases)

I have a can of Kroil to pre-penetrating lube the junctions.

I do not want to destroy either barrel by turning it down in a lathe just off the receiver, as I know you can do when the barrel is junk.

The 1 experienced smith said he's actually seen the barrels twist without coming loose.

Any advice appreciated.
 
They pop off with no fuss with the right tools. The vice, action wrench(make absolutely sure he's not BSing you about having the proper action wrench. That's the part that will twist, not the barrel), a big hammer/4"x 2" Al bar and proper headspace guages. If a smithy bends a barrel, it's due to operator failure. Heat if it's stuck.
 
sunray said:
They pop off with no fuss with the right tools. The vice, action wrench(make absolutely sure he's not BSing you about having the proper action wrench. That's the part that will twist, not the barrel), a big hammer/4"x 2" Al bar and proper headspace guages. If a smithy bends a barrel, it's due to operator failure. Heat if it's stuck.
Click to expand...

Another scary time where I agree with Sunray. Use a hammer on the wrench. One or two solid whacks and the barrel should come right off, provided it is not otherwise seized.
 
They do seem to be screwed on by an 800 lb angry gorilla but I've taken them off without damage but as mentioned a correct action wrench is crucial.
 
They didn't breech the things up that tight at the factory; standard was just over hand-tight against the lead crush-washer.

The problem is that they then PROOFED the things.

The Proof round actually EXPANDED the CHAMBER about 2 thou or a little more. That steel had to go somewhere, so it expanded the outside of the Barrel, jamming it into the Threads.

Lead and rosin on the Barrel Chamber, reef it up TIGHT in the Barrel Vise, right up against (but NOT on) the Body. BLOCK the Body properly, as close as you can possibly get to the Ring, tighten the Wrench, slip on a 4-foot Snipe over the handle, and reef on it. I did one at a friend's place one night and we had 200 pounds on the Snipe before it let go.

When the thing lets go, it will go with one absolute helluvva "BANG!". Give it a quarter-turn with the Wrench after that. After that, you remove it with finger-power.

Whenever I have swapped Barrels on a Lee, if the thing does not snug up VERY tight with the Knox-form perfectly upright and the Barrel Shoulder hard against the Crush Washer, I feed it a home-made Proof round. I make this up from a MAX load for a 150 bullet.... but with a 180 instead. Crush the brass afterwards, of course. Works for me, anyway.



BTW, this expansion of the Barrel in the Body was a part of the Ross's problem. Ross got his chambering dimensions directly from Enfield, had his reamers made by Clymer exactly to spec. The problem was that the Ross Barrel was much heavier and didn't expand when the Proof round went through. Result: small chambers in the Ross.
 
smellie said:
They didn't breech the things up that tight at the factory; standard was just over hand-tight against the lead crush-washer.

The problem is that they then PROOFED the things.

The Proof round actually EXPANDED the CHAMBER about 2 thou or a little more. That steel had to go somewhere, so it expanded the outside of the Barrel, jamming it into the Threads.

Lead and rosin on the Barrel Chamber, reef it up TIGHT in the Barrel Vise, right up against (but NOT on) the Body. BLOCK the Body properly, as close as you can possibly get to the Ring, tighten the Wrench, slip on a 4-foot Snipe over the handle, and reef on it. I did one at a friend's place one night and we had 200 pounds on the Snipe before it let go.

When the thing lets go, it will go with one absolute helluvva "BANG!". Give it a quarter-turn with the Wrench after that. After that, you remove it with finger-power.

Whenever I have swapped Barrels on a Lee, if the thing does not snug up VERY tight with the Knox-form perfectly upright and the Barrel Shoulder hard against the Crush Washer, I feed it a home-made Proof round. I make this up from a MAX load for a 150 bullet.... but with a 180 instead. Crush the brass afterwards, of course. Works for me, anyway.



BTW, this expansion of the Barrel in the Body was a part of the Ross's problem. Ross got his chambering dimensions directly from Enfield, had his reamers made by Clymer exactly to spec. The problem was that the Ross Barrel was much heavier and didn't expand when the Proof round went through. Result: small chambers in the Ross.
Click to expand...

Huh. That't neat, and something i never knew before.
 
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