1896 LEC Cavalry carbine Barrel Help

Dave.S

Dave.S

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Hi Gents I have an 1896 LEC Enfield cavalry carbine Im trying to bring back to life,Most of the bore is fine,the muzzle end looks like a sewer.Very rusty bore with traces of rifling.Should I have it counterbored like they did on the M38 mosins or use rust dissolver to see whats left?or is there another option?Its marked 4H which is 4th Hussars.Im looking for a proper 6 round mag as it has a 10round long lee mag at the moment.And Im looking for a cleaning rod for it ,was wondering if a long Lee rod could work or repro?Any suggestions would be appreciated.Dave
 
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Have not seen pics but I would suspect the 4H is 4th Hussars of Canada ergo not Churchill's Hussars per se.

Parts for these are hard to find. Clearing rods are largely unobtanium. Long Lee ones are different IIRC. They are definitely longer but there may be other differences.

Re the bore, unless its going to be a shooter I would clean as best as I could and leave it as is.

Couple of pics I found in the internet to help in your search

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swC1gHf.jpg
 
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Thanks for the pics,Found the 4th canadian H thanks,Oh well .Its going to be a shooter eventually I hope.Dave
 
I seem to recall that at some point the military removed the cleaning rods from the LEC Mk I and disposed of them when the LEC Mk II was introduced. The hole left in the Mk I was never filled and, of course, the Mk II never had one.

So you could leave the cleaning rod out and still have a correct Mk I.

I'll be happy if I can find an original nose cap for mine much less the cleaning rod. Best of luck whichever route you go, they are a blast to shoot.
 
In almost 50 years of searching for an original LEC nose cap, I was only able to find one, and I had to purchase an old and very poorly done restoration to get that one. Evanguy's reproductions are very well done. Evan's and those made by a chap in New Zealand are pretty much your only viable option. I have both, and believe Evan's to be the nicer of the two. Mid bands can occasionally be found and I have made reproductions, but they are very labor intensive. I have also made reproduction band retainers - having never been able to find an original.
 
Somebody made a short run of reproduction LE 1 and LEC cleaning rods ~15-20 years ago here in Canada. It may be time for someone with a shop to make a batch more. I'd gladly take one of each.
 
I have made a few runs of reproduction long lee and carbine nose caps. I was working on cleankng rods but the guy never shipped me the one he had. Im not sure what ever happened to him.
 
37patt said:
I seem to recall that at some point the military removed the cleaning rods from the LEC Mk I and disposed of them when the LEC Mk II was introduced. The hole left in the Mk I was never filled and, of course, the Mk II never had one.

So you could leave the cleaning rod out and still have a correct Mk I.

I'll be happy if I can find an original nose cap for mine much less the cleaning rod. Best of luck whichever route you go, they are a blast to shoot.
Click to expand...

LEC Mk1* not MkII
 
Let's see if we can find a clearing rod and get it copied.I realize it's a rare piece and most wont want to risk shipping it.Everyone ask around and see if we can find one.I know its correct not to have it but if I see A hole I gotta fill it.Dave
 
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I compared my original long lee rod to the two repro carbine rods I have.

AZWeaWx.jpg

PXGEWEIl.jpg


The only difference I could see was length.

TerryLee indicated on another site:

Unlike the earlier rods for the Lee Metford Mk I these had to be used on a budy-budy basis with two being joined together before being long enough. Some years ago I made several dozen of these in both the rifle and carbine lengths. It is important to note that the head incorporates a female thread to enable joining. The thread is 3/16 X 26 W. I have both original Britishicon clearing rods and Parker Hale cleaning rods. Also the appropriate LM and LE rifles. While the Parker Hale thread is incompatible, the 3/16 X 26 Whitworth works perfectly on my reproductions.

The easiest solution might be to find an original clearing rod, cut for length, and thread the end.
 
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Hello Gents. I have originals. The threaded nut that is implanted in the stock of the carbine is longer than the one implanted in
the rifle. It is also stamped with a "C". Also the pitch of the thread is different - i.e. carbine rod will not screw into the rifle rod and vice versa. I have seen a few repro rods in my life and most of the time all you can do is force thread it into the nut unless you want to pry the nut out. Or get the correct pitch from a real one. Also let it be known that the "clearing rod" for the Mark I and I* Lee Metford as well as the Martini Metford rifles are left hand thread just in case you get rod making ambitious. Both LMC and LEC are 10.5 in. long and the LM Mk II and LE Mk I rifles are 17.25 in. long. As crud gets into threads one might have to adjust length. JOHN
 
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