No1. Mk III in her new dress.

[Rifleman1911]

Well I took it out shooting on Friday, At 50 yards I could not hit the target. So I changed to using modern CF ball cartridges and still could not do it.

I looked at the end of the barrel and noticed that the barrel was touching the bayonet holder and when pulled down with the finger it had a lot of pressure spring back to the original position.

I knew that this rifle was an excellent shooter so I was puzzled. I removed the end and the top hand guard to find that the barrel now lifted about 3/16" or a 1/4" above the bottom wood stock.

I fired 2 groups of 3 like that at 2 different targets at 100 yards and to my surprise I had 2 in the bullseye and a third a little off on both targets, so now I thought now what.

I started to play with the barrel a little and I realized that there was play in the forward stock screw that holds the barrel ring and pulls it down to the stock.

I brought it home and I looked for a spacer in the old sporter stock it came with and to my surprise there was a spring like spacer in the hole, moved it to the new stock and it pulled the barrel and barrel ring down to the correct position on the stock and when all assembled there is no part of the barrell touching the metal parts of the bayonet mount. I think I fixed it.

Will find out soon when I get to take it out again.

I also forgot how much me .300 win mag kicks like a friggen mule after I was done fiddlen around with the No 1.

My shoulder still hurts a bit.

 

[louthepou]

Good troubleshooting there.

Indeed the barrel tip can't touch the hole of the nose cap.

Also there are precise spots where the barrel should come into contact with the forend (but no contact on the sides though). The more the bedding is done following the Armourer's instructions, the better the shooting, usually!

Here's what I found in the 1931 "Instructions to the Armourers":

"The fore-end should seat on the base of the body, especially at the front
end for 1½ inches at least, on the barrel at the reinforce, and from half an inch in
rear of the inner band recess to the nose-cap. The guard screw- collar should bear
on the boss of the body; and its outer end should be slightly below the guard
seating (about .01 inch). The fore-end must be clear of the barrel from the front of
the reinforce up to a point half an inch from the inner band recess; it should fit
closely between the sear lugs and the face of the butt socket of the body. The
inner band recess should be of sufficient depth to ensure that the inner band can be drawn down on to the barrel.

When the seatings and clearances are satisfactory, press the fore-end on the barrel and body, assemble the trigger- guard and screws, and test to see that the barrel is free and that it seats along the bottom of the groove without undue tension. Test the pull-off for double action and, if unsatisfactory, adjust as necessary— see paragraph 6. Assemble the nose-cap and screws, test the alignment of the barrel in the fore-end and the barrel hole in the nose-cap, and, if necessary, adjust the sides of the groove to avoid influence on the straightness of the barrel."

Hope this isn't giving anyone a headache

Lou