Help with an Enfield Bolt face

[slushee]

EDIT

So here is the real story.

We got the SMLE Enfield from our friendly neighbour, who said the last time he took it out and shot it, he had to "beat open the bolt with a branch".

Upon looking at the bolt, the extractor did not budge until we soaked it in cleaner and got tonnes of crud out. Now it moves 2-3mm.

We brushed the bore with hoppes, and the patches were coming out bluish-green. We surmised this to be copper residue. The Lands and Groves are very pronounced, BUT the flat surfaces of the Lands seem to be all scratched up.

So, could anyone tell me if the bolt could have a headspace problem, or more likely just a dirty gummed up extractor could have locked the bolt after firing? And what do you all make of the scratched up bore?

Thanks for any help.

 

[sunray]

"...a headspace problem..." Quite possible and likely. Have it checked. A dirty extractor won't cause the bolt not to open. Bad headspace will.
Is it an SMLE(No.1 Mk III) or a No. 4? Where is the rear sight? On the barrel makes it a No. 1. On the receiver makes it a No. 4. It only matters because the bolt heads are different. No. 4 bolt heads are easier to come by. They also have a number on them that indicates the size. No. 1 bolt heads don't.
With both rifles, either take out the extractor or slip the guage under it and gently close the bolt. The bolt should close on a Go(you don't really need a Go unless you're changing barrels), but not on a No-Go. If it does close on a No-Go, try a Field. If it closes on a Field, the headspace is too big and you need another bolt head.
If the headspace is bad, you can try the next number up with proper guages for a No. 4. Mind you, if the number on the bolt head is a '3', you have gumsmithing to do.
With a No. 1, you need a handful of pricey bolt heads to try with the guages until you find one that won't allow the bolt to close on a No-Go guage. Not closing on a Field guage will do though.
The scratches can be anything from somebody cleaning incorrectly to pitting caused by shooting corrosively primed ammo and not cleaning properly. Pitting wouldn't be just on the lands though. I'd deal with the headspace first.

 

[slushee]

I took your advice, and brought the rifle into Wortners in Chatham (what a great gunsmith) on Saturday morning. He confirmed the headspace was actually good (almost too little!) but that the chamber where the neck of the brass case sits was rusty. Upon firing, the brass expands into this rusted area and that is what was causing trouble extracting as you had to bang on the bolt handle to get the case out. When the brass case was removed, you could clearly see grooves caused by the chamber on the neck of the case.

He lapped that area down for about 3 hours and barely chared me for 1 hours worth of work!!!! I told him I wanted to take my father out to the range with it for fathers day, so I think he was doing me a favour. Still, what a great guy. Now he couldn't get all of the chamber, but at least now all I have to do is gently bump the bolt handle to unstick the extreme end of the brass case. Eventually I will get a tiny buffing wheel in there to get that last tiny area so it will extract without the gentle bump.

He also said the bore could use a nice scrubbing with some oiled up steel wool. I thought it was unusual to use that but he said it would help get the rust out of the bore and that I'd have to do it for hours before I start doing any damage.

So, thanks for the help with the headspace! Ultimatly I know this 'ole girl is in pretty rough shape, but maybe with some gentle care we can get her back into shape .. and maybe someday get it back into some nice original wood!

PS-I do have to admit, the sportarizing was done with its original wood, and was done really really well. It does look like a great rifle even cut down.

Oh, and to answer your question, it does have the rear sight on the back of the barrel, and it has that No.1 Mk 3 receiver 'ring' (that huge ring of metal) .. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. I have been hemming and hawing about getting ATI's bolt on scope mount for this thing .. I figure the mount doesn't have to be perfect because in its current shape, the rifle probably only shoots 2-3 MOA.

But for a free rifle, I think I can deal with that