Lee-Enfield stamping

[Knottybuoy]

Hey

I'm tracking down the history of a No.4 that arrived last week. It's a 1943 BSA Shirley that was done by Surrey after the war. the original serial on the buttsocket was ground off and electropenciled to match the serial stamped on a No.5 Mk.1 bolt (hollow bolt handle) and then the barrel was also stamped to match.

all the other usual stamps and proofs are present but theres one that I'm not familiar with on the top of the receiver, above the chamber, there is an M within a 5-point star. anyone know what that is?

 

[mr.e moose]

Are you sure that it is not a W?If it is a W, then that is the Weedon repair depot mark.

 

[Knottybuoy]

Are you sure that it is not a W?If it is a W, then that is the Weedon repair depot mark.

It's possible, but the star would appear as upside-down

 

[mr.e moose]

Go to the sticky section and check out the Milsurp knowledge library.Type in Weedon repair mark and you should pull up some images.Peter Laidler also suggests that it could be a mark for Woolwich

 

[points]

A W with a * over it on the barrel knox indicats cord worn

 

[mr.e moose]

A W with a * over it on the barrel knox indicats cord worn

It is a W or a M with a five pointed star around it.

 

[points]

And by the way, I have no idea what is meant by a worn cord. Anybody? I'm not too old to learn

 

[stevebc]

double tap

 

[stevebc]

Cord worn: improper use of a pull-through cleaning kit resulting in the cord wearing the crown unevenly. From another thread on this:

Most well used enfields had worn crowns probably because the pull through cleaning kit was a very hard on the crown. most of the time, the soldier cleaning his rifle would full the rope through and out the muzzle on an angle, rubbing on the crown. If you ever felt an Enfield cleaning kit you will now its pretty course and can imagine constant rubbing would wear a crown down.

 

[Blastattack]

Hey

I'm tracking down the history of a No.4 that arrived last week. It's a 1943 BSA Shirley that was done by Surrey after the war. the original serial on the buttsocket was ground off and electropenciled to match the serial stamped on a No.5 Mk.1 bolt (hollow bolt handle) and then the barrel was also stamped to match.

all the other usual stamps and proofs are present but theres one that I'm not familiar with on the top of the receiver, above the chamber, there is an M within a 5-point star. anyone know what that is?

Hollow bolt handle means absolutely nothing, and is not indicative of a No. 5. I have a Savage No. 4 Mk I in the 65000 range that has a hollow bolt handle. Rifle has not been refurbed in any way and bolt is matched to the receiver.

 

[points]

Cord worn: improper use of a pull-through cleaning kit resulting in the cord wearing the crown unevenly. From another thread on this:

Thanks. That makes sense.
Check the muzzle end of the bore and if that is right, the bore should be worn there. I have seen this but never knew it had a name.

 

[stevebc]

Thanks. That makes sense.
Check the muzzle end of the bore and if that is right, the bore should be worn there. I have seen this but never knew it had a name.

I bought a sporterized Lithgow that had a very badly worn crown because of this. Rather than having it counter-bored (which meant taking it to a 'smith), I bought a piloted reamer and did the job myself. It was surprising how easily the reamer did the job- with absolutely minimal pressure, it cut through the worn crown like it was cheddar cheese. The only reamer I could find was a 45 degree reamer, but I recall reading somewhere that the standard 11 degree crown is really an arbitrary figure. On that basis, I decided the 45 degree should work as well. Here's a picture: not the best, but you should have seen it before!



My preliminary results were encouraging, bringing a shotgun-like pattern at 100yds down to something like half as bad. I've since bedded the rifle, and am waiting for a chance to go test it again to see what improvement I get. For the record, the bore was in truly sad shape, and the whole thing cost only $70 and was meant really only to be a sort of project gun/test bed rifle I could experiment on without worrying about screwing up a valuable rifle.
Based on the hours of fun I've had playing about with it, it's the best $70 I've ever spent on firearms.

 

[Knottybuoy]

Hollow bolt handle means absolutely nothing, and is not indicative of a No. 5. I have a Savage No. 4 Mk I in the 65000 range that has a hollow bolt handle. Rifle has not been refurbed in any way and bolt is matched to the receiver.

Interesting. I wasn't aware some No.4s came with a hollow bolt. In my case, the surrey barrel is stamped to match, and the buttsocket was electro pencilled to match so I think the bolt is not original to the receiver.