Lee Enfield cross bolt
I have a Parker hale custom no. 4 with a split in the little piece of wood in the back part of the fore-stock. The part where the long thin bolt goes through. My question is what is the purpose of this little piece of wood an the bolt. Can I glue the piece of wood on each side so it is permanently attached to the two sides of the stock?
Thanks,
Cody
First of all, look at the left side of your receiver and tell us the markings on it. Better still, post a picture of this area, and also of your stock problem.
If you have a Number 4 Mark 1 or Number 4 Mark 1* rifle, then there should NOT be a cross bolt in the rear of the stock. There should be a cross strap which is rivited in place. On these rifles, the trigger is pinned to the trigger guard.
Later conversions of the Lee Enfield had the trigger attached to the butt socket, either by brazing on a bracket or manufacturing new receivers with the bracket for the trigger made into it.
Now for the big question---which type of receiver do you have. Is the trigger pinned to the receiver butt socket, or is it attached to the trigger guard?
If your rifle has the trigger attached to the trigger guard, and your forestock has a screw through the back of the forestock, then it is possible that someone has replaced the forestock with a later one designed for the No.4 Mark 1/2, Mark 1/3 or No. 4 Mk. 2 rifles.
If there is a small block of wood that falls out, it is possible that the above scenario has happened, and someone has added a filler block of wood to fill in the space. This is likely, as a filler block would not fit into the area if your Number 4 was a later converted trigger system model.
If your rifle has the trigger pinned to the trigger guard, I would either replace the forestock with a proper one, or simply rough up the area where the block fits, rough up the sides of the block, ) using sandpaper, clean the areas thoroughly, and epoxy the block in place.
If you are talking about a crack in the rear of the forestock in the trigger area, then that is referred to as "the damned crack." It results in vertical shot stringing if the stock is cracked there. By all means, glue it together as above.
Your description of a bolt through the forestock is a bit confusing, and many people mistakenly give incorrect terms to parts more experienced gun nuts recognize. This is why we need better descriptions and pictures especially, otherwise we have to guess at something.
Best post some pictures though, so we can see what you actually have.
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