Building a Classic Sporting rifle

[Evanguy]

Finding my self with a stripped LEC action i got in a trade, it had all the stamps crudely scrubbed off. I wasnt sure what to do with it, i do love the cleanliness of the no charge bridge or cutout for it and no safety. i decided to make a lee speed type rifle with a tang safety.

i used a diamond hone to flatten out the action. i wanted to chamber it in a Mid bore, i went with 6.5x53R as i have a barrel here chambered in that as well as 50 cases made with reformed 303 brass. made a barrel nut to attach the barrel to the receiver. (nut screws in tight to the outer receiver ring then the barrel threads up against the inner receiver ring, so both bottom out and tighten into place)

the bolt is a MLE that i converted to an old lee metford style, dust cover but no safety on it. i still plan to sweep the bolt handle ahead and flatten it out like the LEC bolt seen in the pic. i even went as far as to find a old style lee metford cocking piece that doesn't have the cutout for the safety latch. i also have a nice BSA commercial dust cover to use on the rifle (rifle is clearly is Enfield made being a LEC but that dust cover will look good high polished blued)

the tang safety will be made out of an old shotgun safety. it should be pretty straight forward doing it the same was as the lee speed tang safety works.

ive been trading some machining work back and forth with a local guy who does color case hardening so i had the LEC receiver one day i was meeting and i decided to get it CCH. i think it turned out really well. im pretty excited about it.


i still need the other parts of the rifle done with a high gloss blue. not sure what im doing with the bolt. i may just polish it, it will be mostly covered by the dust cover anyway. i also need to have a stock made for it still.

i have an idea of what i want it to look like. im not sure how to get there though, it will be a work in progress
open to opinions and thoughs

 

[skeeter317]

Looks great! Did Oskar do the case colouring?

 

[Evanguy]

yes he did, I'm pretty impressed with it

 

[hollowedpoint]

Subscribed ! I love these threads

 

[SuperCub]

Subscribed ! I love these threads

Me too. I'm in.

 

[SHELL SHUCKER]

That's gonna be a nice rifle to see coming together. Hope the end results net you good accuracy, which I reckon they should.

 

[tiriaq]

That is looking really good!
There is a thread elsewhere on this forum detailing the creation of a fish belly magazine.
I have seen one of those tang safety assemblies disassembled, and making one is certainly a practical option. A little rectangular window needs to be cut through the butt socket for the finger that blocks the sear when the safety is pushed forward.
Any idea if appropriate semi finished stocks could be obtained, or will it be a matter of starting with blanks?

As far as bluing is concerned, how about hot water method?

 

[jamesharrison]

Evan:

Should you want, I can dis-assemble a commercial Army & Navy Lee Speed which has the B.S.A.Co. patent tang safety & take some photos for you of the holes Tiriaq spoke of, as well as the other required cuts to, and holes in, the receiver & the required inletting to the butt-stock.

OUTSTANDING CCH!

Well done, Oscar.

Don't forget that the .256 Fraser Flanged N.E. (156 gr. RNSP or RNFMJ, both with splits, usually helical, but sometimes longitudinal, in the jacket), or the .256 Swift Flanged N.E. (139 gr. pointed bullet) (both are also known as the 6.5x53R or the .256 Mannlicher in pre-1903 hunting books)



are the RAREST of the commercial Lee Speed sporting rifle offerings. They were NOT offered by B.S.A.Co. or L.S.A.Co. Ld. (they only offered them in .303 Fl. N.E. 2 1/4", .275 Rimless [aka 7x57, .275 Rigby, .276 Bland Rimless], but only by the Scottish makers Fraser, MacNaughton, Alex. Martin & Dickson, at least that I am aware of. Having said (written?) that, it must be stated (written) that they were not really "makers", but rather gunsmiths, albeit extremely talented gunsmiths, who took the basic Lee Speed action & barrelled it to this brilliant Scottish stalking calibre. I have 3 of them and enjoy using them with either the Hornady 160 grain bullet, or their discontinued & sorely lamented 140 grain RNSP bullet, or from my rapidly diminishing stash of Lapua & SAKO 156 grain RNSP bullets.

I have made old style W.J.Jeffery split bullets from old RNFMJ 156 grain bullets (talk about a labour of Love!)



& they expand quite nicely, without losing their cores, as I do not cut off the FMJ tip; I simply dremel 3 or 4 equilateral (I've tried both methods) longitudinal splits in the jacket. My skills preclude my attempts at helical cuts!

With their LEC carbine length barrels, they are extremely handy in the bush of The Shield where I hunt, where 35 yards is a long shot & you cannot see past 75 yards even in the middle of the day, much less at first or last light.

I keep coming back to "Viperine" as the term for the old girls, as they come up to the shoulder like a Rook rifle, yet are quite pleasant to shoot & certainly kick a whole lot less than a LEC with 215 gr. Woodleigh, Norma, CIL, Remington, Hornady bullets.

I shall continue to watch this thread with interest.

 

[Evanguy]

Thanks guys, im pretty excited about it. Ive been back abd forth in building one for a while then i decided to do it after a few years of wanting too.


I only got it CCH on a whim. I glad i did. I think it will be pretty easy to work with and keep tasteful.

Tiriaq, thats the plan for this rifle. It was B_noser that used Jamesharrison's mag to make the thread and try the first ones. B_noser will be making me one of those mags for this rifle. He is also the one who introduced me to oskar as well.

I have thee patten pics for the safety, also another member has show me pics and made a few drawings for me.

Im not sure about the stock. I have a feeling ill need to use a blank and have it made. Englishman_ca was going to do my rough stock work by coping my factory sporter lee speed wood i have from a chunk of walnut. But sadly that wont happen. So now i need new wood and more items to trade for the stock work.

Hot water method? Rust bluing? I was thinking that. I have done hot costic bluing before but that was a bit black and flat in color.

Jim. Thanks for the info as always. Also ill send you an email tonight. I havent forgot about you.

And on this build im down to a 19"barrel so it should feel real handy carring it in the woods.

 

[tiriaq]

Hot water method... Boil, swab, boil, card, boil, swap, boil, card, etc. Doesn't use a cabinet.
A well polished caustic blue job can be very attractive, but I don't think it would be appropriate for a classic like this.

If a stock and forend were available for carving patterns, I bet there would be a market for semi-finished stocks.

The loss of Englishman_ca was very sad.

 

[Evanguy]

Hot water method... Boil, swab, boil, card, boil, swap, boil, card, etc. Doesn't use a cabinet.
A well polished caustic blue job can be very attractive, but I don't think it would be appropriate for a classic like this.

If a stock and forend were available for carving patterns, I bet there would be a market for semi-finished stocks.

The loss of Englishman_ca was very sad.

ohh yeah, ill have to look more into that method, i would love to be able to do it my self. im worried about the shallow engraving on the dust cover, i dont want to make it any shallower when polishing. i also dont want to wear the edges off the letters. it would be nice if i could make it quite readable

i have a factory lee speed commercial sporting rifle that the stock can be copied, where do i send it lol

and yes it was very sad to hear about Simon, me and him have been working together on a lot of projects over the last 5 or so years. really he is the one who got me into these pre no1 lee enfields. (i happen to have a barrel of his still. cool thing is, its a lee metford mk1 its an odd knox and for the rifle that would also take a 8 round single stack mag, i need to put it go good use some day in memory of him)





also these are the pics of where im getting my inspiration for this build. none of these are my rifles but seeing these pics made me want to build one to that level of awesomeness. its a combo of the 3 lol

i like the bluing color and shine of the first pic
i like the lines of the wood and rife it self also that shine in the second pic
and the third one just oozes awesomeness, full rib, tang safety. its a real beauty

 

[mctrigger]

Tagged! Nothing prettier than fine sporting rifles. The barrel bands for slings make it for me. Perhaps not ideal for accuracy but sure makes them good looking IMO

 

[tiriaq]

That rear sight with a standing leaf, two flip ups, and then the ladder appears on just about every .303 sporting rifle made in the UK during that period. Even saw one on an A&N .303 double rifle. The styling of those sporting rifles is so subtle. Same basic action as on every sported SMLE out there, but the difference in appearance is night and day. I remember that one was featured on the cover of Precision Shooting. It was in .375 rimmed.
I've often thought that a salvaged SMLE barrel rebored to .338, .358 or .375 would be just the thing for a project.
Last deal I had with Simon was for a MLM that he was going to restore.

 

[vykkagur]

Excellent project Evanguy. This is definitely my kind of build! Any chance you could post some more pics of your barrel and adapter system, especially from the breech end? Very interested in this. We've had another thread going discussing this very issue.

 

[iron cat]

My Lord that is a thing of beauty !
Cat

 

[Evanguy]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

I do plan on using one of those rear sights on my rifle as well. Or i may use a NEC 3 leaf rear if i cant find a lee speed one

Yes very subtle things make up the rifle. Its hard to believe they are the same basic rifle as a 150$ sporter LE.


I can post more pics of it. But it is very straight forward For rimmed cases. The od if the sleeve is threaded for the receiver. And tightens up on the outer receiver ring. So that can be install and torqued. Then the barrel just threads into that as any barrel would but it gets tightened upto the inner receiver ring. Then i mark the extractor area unscrew it all and cut it out .

Some times a silver solder the nut to the barrel after i have it set if its a non rim case and i need to set head space. Like on my 6.5x55 no5 LE build. Then i can still change the bolt face to dial it in.

I have used this method in probably 15 different builds using LE actions. I have some threads on projects that i did the same process on.

 

[vykkagur]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

I do plan on using one of those rear sights on my rifle as well. Or i may use a NEC 3 leaf rear if i cant find a lee speed one

Yes very subtle things make up the rifle. Its hard to believe they are the same basic rifle as a 150$ sporter LE.


I can post more pics of it. But it is very straight forward For rimmed cases. The od if the sleeve is threaded for the receiver. And tightens up on the outer receiver ring. So that can be install and torqued. Then the barrel just threads into that as any barrel would but it gets tightened upto the inner receiver ring. Then i mark the extractor area unscrew it all and cut it out .

Some times a silver solder the nut to the barrel after i have it set if its a non rim case and i need to set head space. Like on my 6.5x55 no5 LE build. Then i can still change the bolt face to dial it in.

I have used this method in probably 15 different builds using LE actions. I have some threads on projects that i did the same process on.

If I'm reading this correctly (I may be a bit fuzzy on the "tightened up to the inner receiver ring" part - I think we might just have different terminologies for the same things), you're pretty much using exactly the same method as I have, but mine tighten up to a step machined on the barrel O.D. If you get a chance, a couple of pics might help overcome my cognitive limitations. Very impressive work, sir! I, too, have just signed up for your fan club.

 

[tiriaq]

Like a Mauser 98, there is an internal collar in the receiver ring. The face of the barrel is set up hard against the front face of this collar. Like a Mauser, a Lee Enfield barrel can be machined to torque against the internal collar, the face of the receiver ring, or both.
In this rifle, the breech sleeve is torqued against the face of the receiver ring, while the barrel is torqued against the internal collar.
Another way, as you have done, is to torque the sleeve against the receiver ring, and the barrel against the front face of the sleeve.

 

[vykkagur]

Like a Mauser 98, there is an internal collar in the receiver ring. The face of the barrel is set up hard against the front face of this collar. Like a Mauser, a Lee Enfield barrel can be machined to torque against the internal collar, the face of the receiver ring, or both.
In this rifle, the breech sleeve is torqued against the face of the receiver ring, while the barrel is torqued against the internal collar.
Another way, as you have done, is to torque the sleeve against the receiver ring, and the barrel against the front face of the sleeve.

Ah, that explains it. I've never worked on a Mauser (not because I don't like them, just haven't had a reason to do so), so I'm not acquainted with the internal collar. Thanks tiriaq.

 

[Evanguy]

Tiriaq did a better job then me explaining it.

Ill get pics if the inner and outer receiver rings. And pics if the barrel and sleeve and how they all fit together tonight.