Lee Enfield LEC or RIC Bolt Disassembly

PanzerSchreck

PanzerSchreck

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Anyone have a link to share or has detailed instructions on how to completely disassemble a Lee carbine bolt? Need to know particularly if the firing pin unscrews just like for a SMLE or if there's a trick to it. Thanks.
 
Hello PS. Place bolt flat on work bench. Take a dowel or screwdriver and place tip in the back end under the dust cover. Push the bolt down until the dust cover is out of the rear slot then strike the dust cover off to the rear with your fiberglass hammer to totally free the cover. Unscrew bolt head and dismount firing pin with the same tool as you use for your SMLE or No.4. To remove safety put the cocking piece in a vice (the long rectangular part as its hard). Put the safety lever at a 45 degree angle. Tap out the safety using a brass drift from the left side. There is a spring loaded pivot pin now evident in the cocking piece that secured the safety. Place cocking piece upside down and it may drop out or just tap the cocking piece on a piece of wood and it will fall out - don't lose it. Any problem just bring it to my place in Burlington. JOHN
 
jtaylor said:
Hello PS. Place bolt flat on work bench. Take a dowel or screwdriver and place tip in the back end under the dust cover. Push the bolt down until the dust cover is out of the rear slot then strike the dust cover off to the rear with your fiberglass hammer to totally free the cover. Unscrew bolt head and dismount firing pin with the same tool as you use for your SMLE or No.4. To remove safety put the cocking piece in a vice (the long rectangular part as its hard). Put the safety lever at a 45 degree angle. Tap out the safety using a brass drift from the left side. There is a spring loaded pivot pin now evident in the cocking piece that secured the safety. Place cocking piece upside down and it may drop out or just tap the cocking piece on a piece of wood and it will fall out - don't lose it. Any problem just bring it to my place in Burlington. JOHN
Click to expand...

Great explanation and done in layman's terms.
 
Thanks, John. Sounds simple enough. I am having problems dismounting the firing pin. When applying torque to the firing pin with the proper tool I can feel the cocking piece wants to rotate in the bolt and I am wary to apply much more torque lest I break something. Is that normal behaviour and I should persist until the pin gives or is there something else going on here?
 
Thanks, John. Sounds simple enough. I am having problems dismounting the firing pin. When applying torque to the firing pin with the proper tool I can feel the cocking piece wants to rotate in the bolt and I am wary to apply much more torque lest I break something. Is that normal behaviour and I should persist until the pin gives or is there something else going on here?
 
Hi PS. Before dismounting any LE firing pin always try to put a tad of penetrating oil down the cocking piece to try to get some in
the threads. Sometimes that helps. Next have a boo at the FP protruding from the back of the cocking piece. Sometimes a loose pin
would be peaned to halt rotation. Almost all Long Lee pins are not peaned so its just a matter of torque (force). I shouldn't tell you to remove the FP set screw before all as thats obvious. An interesting and important point for all: the FP/cocking piece threads are slightly different between Efd, BSA, and LSA manufacture and are NOT interchangeable. JOHN
 
You can put the safety on to stop the cocking piece from wanting to rotate and you can put more torque firing pin.

Or grip the part that hits the sear in a vice before turning the firing pin

Also make sure the little locking screw is removed
 
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Thanks, John. Exactly what I was hoping to hear. I don't see a peaned pin anywhere so I guess it's all bunged up from years of neglect. I'll apply a portion of penetrating oil and elbow grease. And quite right, removing the locking screw should be self-evident, but thanks for mentioning...you never know.
 
Thanks to all I was able to safely remove the firing pin. I have got everything that can be disassembled off the safety, bolt body and head, except for the extractor spring. It's not so much getting it off that worries me but rather compressing it to put back through that opening when reassembling it all. Unless there's a trick to it?
 
Ya, don't be staring down the bolt when you pull the tool back out. If the striker doesn't catch the first thread well, the spring loaded striker and the bolt body can behave like a dart gun.

And I will respectfully disagree with you JOHN, the .25 x 30 tpi striker threads were standard on all strikers by all four manufacturers. A Lee Metford rifle striker will work just fine in a Sht.LE.
What you might have experienced is tolerance stacking and tight threads using parts made by the different makers. But that can happen with parts made by any one maker too.

And the trick to replacing the extractor spring... There is a special armourer's tool that makes it a breeze to install.
OR..
Use dental floss or fishing line doubled to pull the spring through the opening and into position.
 
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