I recently bought a Lee Enfield from the EE (a No.4 Mk1 Sporterized). It is a very nice gun, but it did not come with sling swivels, and I wanted to put some on for when I take it to the bush with me. I was answering another EE post about stripper clips for the sporter, and mention to him that I was looking for sling swivels for it. "rgg_7" mentioned he may have some, and I sent pics to him for both the front and rear. The problem was the holes looked like they had been stripped before, and I was afraid that there would be a problem with the screws. He sent a Longbranch swivel for the rear and both screws were large enough that they bit into the wood very well. Unfortunately the front swivel ( a parker hale single screw) hole was too large and the screw just turned and turned. After talking to Ron about it, I decided to plug it with a dowel and go from there. Unfortunately I did not have one big enough to fit the hole, but I found an old bamboo chopstick in my "spare wood bin". It was almost the right size, plus the fibre of it runs lengthwise, so even if it split, it would just push against the hole itself and wedge the screw in. Also, bamboo is not known for mold or degrading much, and it was almost as dark as the stock itself. The piece was tapered slightly so by measuring out and cutting a piece, I glued it in (with carpenters glue) so it was tight, and let it cure overnight. After drying for 24 hours, I tapped a 1/8" hole in it, and screwed in the swivel. Man, you could almost lift an elephant with it, it came out so strong...
... After drying for 24 hours with the 1/8 inch tapped hole into the piece of bamboo...
... Sling swivel attached (it was very tight, and I left some movement for it to rotate as well...
...From the top (underside?) to show how well the bamboo held...
Many thanks to rgg_7 for the help with the swivels (and the suggestion that I put this here), and taking the time to help out another gunnut.
... After drying for 24 hours with the 1/8 inch tapped hole into the piece of bamboo...
... Sling swivel attached (it was very tight, and I left some movement for it to rotate as well...
...From the top (underside?) to show how well the bamboo held...
Many thanks to rgg_7 for the help with the swivels (and the suggestion that I put this here), and taking the time to help out another gunnut.
