Re: lee enfield disassembly

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buckfever12

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Re: lee enfield disassembly

hey everyone,

I recently purchased a Lee Enfield. While i was taking it apart i learned that a special tool is required to remove the firing pin from the bolt. I was wondering were i can buy that tool? Also, if anyone has come up with a clever way to remove it, that would be appreciated as well.

thanks to all who reply,
 
Firearms disassembly

First of all, just WHY do you think you need to take the firing pin out of the bolt? If it is not broken, leave it alone. If you think you need to clean it, then spray some gun type cleaning solvent in the hole.

Too many people buy a firearm, then proceed to tear it down to the last screw, thinking that it needs to be done. The Lee Enfield is a Military Rifle, and was designed for rough usage. If you don't know how to do it, then you should leave it alone.
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my main purpose for getting it was for cleaning purposes, there seems to be a lot of dirt build up. My fear is that the dirt will collect moisture, and result in rusting. i guess i could keep on dumping oil and solvents down the bolt.
 
Hi. You really don't need to remove the firing pin. However, Gunparts, Stateside, has the tool. $10.80US. Being a tool, there shouldn't be any fuss getting it. Mind you, they do have a $25 exporting fee.
You could make one out of a 1/4" nut driver, 1/4 or 6mm deep socket or hunk of black pipe.
There's a decent drawing of one made by a guy on another forum here.
http://parallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforums.yuku.com/topic/24162/t/Enfield-bolt-take-down-tool.html
There's a good picture of the actual tool here, assuming you haven't been to the page.
http://www.surplusrifle.com/no4/boltdisassembly/index.asp
 
"...a cheap nut driver..." Hi. Princess Auto is your friend. 6608 Dixie Road. Mississauga. South of Derry Rd. All kinds of inexpensive, reasonable quality, tools(and other stuff). One of those places guys like to waste, I mean spend, time in.
 
My real name is Ed Horton and 95% of the Enfiled books and manuals you see on the internet today were donated by me. I not saying this because I'm looking for a pat on the back, I'm saying this because I'm an American and the Enfield rifle is a stranger in a strange land here. I am saying this because I wanted to know more about the Enfield rifle, and I'm saying this because I worked at a military overhaul base.

You have no idea what is inside the bolt or how long it has been since it was last dissembled. Now please read this carefully..........

Issued Enfield rifles were completely dissembled once per year INCLUDING the complete disassembly of the bolt by the armourers.

If you are mechanically inclined taking the bolt apart will not hurt ANYTHING but if you have never set the points on a 54 Chevy or a screwdriver doesn't fit comfortably in your hands then go to plan "B". Plan "B" is simply, just put the bolt in a pan of boiling water and boil the hell out of your bolt and when dry hose it down with WD-40 and rag wrench it dry.

What you do not know about your bolt.

Did someone store the rifle with the rifle cocked and the firing pin spring under load.

If the rifle was stored cocked did this weaken the spring and is the spring now dragging on the inside of the bolt increasing lock time and screwing up your group sizes.

Is any petrified dried cosmoline still inside the bolt, along with any dirt, brass chips or heaven forbid "gremlins".

I'm excessive compulsive and completely strip each and every rifle I get and clean and inspect each and every part.

I reload for my uncle and one year my 30-06 reload went "click" and no bang during very cold weather. My uncle was shooting a sporterized military 03 Springfield, that evening I cleaned my uncles 03 Springfield rifle and dissembled the bolt. This rifle still had cosmoline inside the bolt from preservation and storage from WWII.

Moral of story, take the bolt apart and clean and inspect it "OR" boil the hell out of it, but do something to clean 50 plus years of neglect from inside the bolt. And RTFM :rolleyes: Last page item (f) ;)

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buckfever12 said:
... if that doesn't work out i will just have to buy one, ...
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If you think you need to order one from Numrich Gun Parts in the U.S., note:

1. Orders of parts and/or tools that are not specifically named as restricted from export can be shipped without an export permit as long as the total order is under US$100, except for Canada, US$200 worth is allowed.

2. Regardless of the total value of the order, Numrich will charge an export handling fee of US$25 additional to the actual shipping charges.

3. I have a list of just under US$100 worth of parts and tools I would like to buy from them but haven't gotten around to it because of the inefficiency of paying the extra $25 and not getting the maximum value of order allowed.

4. So PM me if you think we could share an order. Of course, we'd have to work out who's going to get it and then take the trouble of forwarding the other fellow's stuff and whether the savings on ordering from the U.S. will be worth the extra postage for forwarding within Canada.
 
So you bought one, eh? Sorry it took me a while to clean my rifle. Life, eh? Mine had quite a bit of rust and pitting but it's only cosmetic and it goes with the dinged wood look. Character...

I too strip my rifles down and clean every nook and cranny that I can reach. Just so I know my rifle and know that it's clean and what to expect from it.
 
"...Issued Enfield rifles were completely dissembled once per year..." Hi. Maybe when they were front line issue in some other military. No offense, Ed, but not once, during 6 years in the Queen's Service, as the TrgO then CO of a CF Army Cadet Corps were any of the 20 No. 4's or the 20 No. 7's or 20 FNC1A1's, on my MIU, completely dissembled. Inspected by the CF Reg Force weapons techs, but nothing else.
Prior to taking command, the CO decided to do an excessive cleaning of 'em, without keeping the bolt heads separated by S/N. Took the Reg Force Weapons techs, hours to sort it out with headspace guages. Go and No-Go only. The 'Field' wasn't used.
Not done to CF Militia weapons(C1A1's, Sterling SMG's, .30 and .50 Brownings) either.
"...know more about the Enfield rifle..." Start here. http://www.enfieldrifles.ca/main.htm
Then here. http://www.303british.com/
Any cosmoline will be long gone. Assorted oily gunk, not so much. A full bolt disassemly isn't required for that.
Always check the headspace on any Lee-Enfield. Especially if Century had anything to do with it. When they had a shop in Canada, they assembled thousands of No. 1's and No. 4's out of parts bins with zero QC. Not even checking headspace to ensure the rifles were safe to shoot. Fixing bad headspace on either model isn't hard, but you need the right bolt head to test with proper headspace guages. More of an issue with a No. 1 because the bolt heads are not number stamped like No. 4 bolt heads. You need a handful, at $12.90US each from Gunparts, to try with the guages until you find one that gives safe headspace. Same price for a numbered No. 4 bolt head(0 to 3 only.), but just going up one number doesn't guarantee anything. Especially if you have a #2 or #3 bolt head. Gunparts, currently only has 0's and 1's. They're not the only supplier though. No. 4 bolt heads run $20ish Cdn, up here.
"...CGN member "GAIRLOCHIAN"..." Saw that, but the name doesn't appear on a UN search. Not being argumentative in the least. Just saying.
"...strip my rifles down..." Not a bad thing to be sure, but you don't need to completely strip the bolt. Bolt head off and a bath in a container of solvent will do.
 
Download the 1931 Instructions for Armourers and the 1991 No.4 manual from The Lee Enfield On-line Knowledge Libraries (Index of Articles) sticky at the top of your forum here and read.

Sunray just gave a good example why you should completely strip your rifles and look them over for problems. A bunch of Enfields were taken apart and all the parts were mixed together and they had problems putting them back together. :eek:

My first Enfield came from Turkey, never had a trained British or Commonwealth armourer touch it. And on top of this the Turks cannibalised parts off of other Enfields to keep these rifles in service.

I have spent more time and money collecting Enfield books and manuals than I have spent on Enfield rifles. :( Never be afraid to to take your rifle apart. ;)

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I can take my Enfields apart in several different languages.

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hey QuincyXavier, yeah i made the plunge, mine had some rust on it as well, but like yours it was only cosmetic, it definitely has character, lol.....but all in all, it seems like a pretty good gun, did you end up taking the bolt apart?
 
thanks everyone for posting,
There is a ton of info here that i will have to digest. i will most likely buy the tool off of Gairlochian, that seems to be the most reasonable.
I had no clue there was a potential head space issue, maybe it's best to take it to a gunsmith before i go to the range?
anyone know of a good gunsmith close to the Brampton area?
 
Very interesting thread here with lots of information too (thanks Ed for the primary info).

My experience with my No 1 Mk III * was to take as much of the rifle apart as I could, inspect, and clean as needed. She needed it thats for sure. I, however, did not remove the firing pin. I cleaned around it with Q-tips and oiled it. Works like a charm now.
 
1. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
2. If you must remove the firing pin, buy two tools as you will surely break one!
3. Many firing pins have the threaded end peened over, and trying to simply unscrew the pin will result in No2
Wiggle it both ways until it starts to move.
 
No, I haven't taken my bolt apart yet. I'll probably make one at work in the next couple of days depending on how much work there is to be done.
 
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