sights way out on my No1 Mk111*

plinker 777

plinker 777

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I'm in need of some advise from the smle experts please. I have a new to me 1918 all matching SMLE {even the sling is 1918:D} however from the photos you can see the sights are way off:(.
In order for me to hit bulls at 50m, I'm aiming top right of the target {above the red circle}
I have verified with another target and the pattern doesn't change much out to 100m.
My question is should I be messing with the front sight blade,the rear windage, both? and in what order?
I do love this rifle as it's perceived recoil seams to be lighter than my '52 No4Mk2.
I believe if I'm able to get the sights figured out this SMLE will be a real "tack driver;)" Also I find the trigger to be ALOT different from my '52 so much so my first shot got away from me:redface: still down range but I certainly wasn't expecting it to go off.
The Faz has a very definite 2 stage trigger, the SMLE seamed to be very "sensitive" still a 2 stage just almost no "creep".
Anyhow if anyone is willing and able to help it would be most appreciated.
 
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Your bedding might be off, meaning the fit in the draws area and up pressure at the fore end tip. The trigger pull might be a sign of incorrect bedding also, this is caused by wood crush beneath the receiver and trigger guard which changes the trigger guard angle and thus the trigger pull.

You will need to find out where the receiver and barrel are touching and how tight the draws area is and if the rear of the stock is being pushed against the receiver socket.

If the fore stock is loose it can make the rifle hit low for lack of up pressure.

P.S. If you play with your fore stock you won't go blind. :eek:
 
bigedp51 said:
Your bedding might be off, meaning the fit in the draws area and up pressure at the fore end tip. The trigger pull might be a sign of incorrect bedding also, this is caused by wood crush beneath the receiver and trigger guard which changes the trigger guard angle and thus the trigger pull.

You will need to find out where the receiver and barrel are touching and how tight the draws area is and if the rear of the stock is being pushed against the receiver socket.

If the fore stock is loose it can make the rifle hit low for lack of up pressure.

P.S. If you play with your fore stock you won't go blind. :eek:
Click to expand...

:ha: The fore stock isn't loose BigEd, and the rifle seems to shoot straight enough.....just not where I'm aiming:eek: If it were scoped {which it is not thank god} I would be inclined to adjust the "hairs" horizontal up 5" and to the right 3-4". Poor bedding? or sights? Front sight marked 010, {10 thou?}
 
If that was a 50-YARD target, I would say you need to correct about 6 minutes right, given that you have the adjustable rear sight. Also, you are WAY high.

But do remember, these things were sighted to be dead-on at 200 yards, not 54.

Ed has a good point regarding bedding. You don't have The Damned Crack else the rifle would be shooting wild, all over the place, so I doubt that is the problem. As to bedding the SMLE, it should be tight around the action and the chamber, the barrel channel should be FREE (the barrel FLOATS) from immediately in front of the chamber, toa point 2 inches back of the muzzle. This muzzle reinforce often was cut back to 1 inch by Canadian Bisley shooters, although some rifles have to have the full 2 inches, so be careful. There is ANOTHER stock reinforce at the Magpie Screw (Inner Band Screw) so don't chop it out; it is there for a purpose. Wood should FIT the metal: there should be NO stock 'creep' forward or backward. Stock should bear EVENLY at the draws and the barrel should ride in the CENTRE of the barrel channel.

As to your trigger, there is something wrong there. If the rifle were mine, I would dress down a tiny bit of the appropriate trigger lug to afford a more normal trigger two-stage pressure. Use a very fine, very hard, stone on this and be very careful.

You can download a complete set of manuals for this rifle AND for your Number 4 by using the Stickie for the Military Knowledge Library. Or just pop over to milsurps dot com and take out a membership there. They have three actual Armourers on their LE forum and one of them, the former Senior Master Armourer of the British Army, has put online ALL of his Notes as well as more than 20 articles on just how on work on these brutes.

Trigger adjustment for the SMLE is the same as for the Number 4.

Have fun!

Hope this helps.
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Take a look down the barrel. :D It's pretty light. My son bought one at a sale that had a bent one. Promptly retired it.

Grizz
 
If you are getting a grouping on paper, leave things alone until you get the sights dialed in. It is way too easy to throw things out. Even changing the tension of the middle band screw or trigger guard can effect your point of impact relevent to the point of aim. Windage can be adjusted by drifting the front sight blade left or right in its dovetail. Elevation can be adjusted by changing the blade out for one of different height. Blade marked with .00 puts blade tip 1.000 above bore axis, so yours marked . 010 is 1.010 above, so you will need to find or modify into a shorter one. Enfields tend to be sighted high right from the factory.
 
I will say it again, if the trigger is off and doesn't have a definite two stage trigger you have a bedding problem caused by excessive wood crush. Do you people remember they moved the trigger on the Mk.2 just because of this reason.

Why is it an American can translate a Canadian manual where the "KEY" word is "MAY". The trigger guard was/is bent on the Canadian No.4 Enfield rifle because they do not make replacement stocks anymore. Normally if the fore stock had .010 wood crush below the receiver and trigger guard the fore stock was replaced to get the correct angle on the trigger guard. Once your have over .010 wood crush you can not adjust the lobes on the trigger to get the correct trigger pull.

Below the key word is "may", if the wood crush is excessive you bend the trigger guard to get the correct trigger pull. You must have the correct angle on the trigger guard to have the trigger within limits.

No4Mk1Arm_Page_43.jpg


Wood crush decreases the distance between the bottom of the receiver and the bottom of the trigger guard. When this angle increases you can no longer adjust the trigger pull by adjusting the trigger lobes. What was done on the long lasting Canadian Ranger Enfield rifle was to bend the trigger guard rather than take the rifle out of service due to lack of replacement fore stocks.

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No.1 bedding points/contact areas.

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Update: Rifle has been disassembled, inspected, reassembled. This is what I found; all wood except from the lighter handguard is original and ser.# to the rifle. The bad..."damned crack":( although my rounds don't wander....so???
All bearing contact seems to be correct with very minimal "crush" to the wood:D...too bad it's cracked!:p
I pulled or rather "stretched" the spring on the very front spring loaded {block} or whatever it's called.
I knocked the front sight over to the left. {just passed flush on the right side of the tang}
Reassembled the rifle, ending with the nose piece which now needed a slap with the palm of the hand to "click" into place. {it felt too right to be wrong:D}
My 2 stage trigger has improved markedly. Still "softer" than the No4Mk2, but a lot better.
I'm not sure why though, as I didn't really do anything but explore? I did clean a bunch of 100 yr old crud out of all the nooks and crannies, surely that wouldn't have changed a thing.
So Long story short, I'm on the market for a complete No1Mk111* wood set that has either been preserved in linseed oil or a barrel of British Naval Rum since 1918.
Much Thanks Ed, Smellie, John and the rest.....man I love cgn:)
 
The Damned Crack can be glued, friend, taking care of that problem. If the rifle is hooting okay now, leave her as she is. Next time you have her down, check for fit of the wood. The Damned Crack comes about when stocks ar subjected to this dry climate of ours; the wood tightens around the action until finally it lets go. As long as the wood is tight aound the action, the rifle should shoot okay; it just becomes unmanageable when the Crack spreads the wood. You can snug it up with some epoxy injected into the Crack, then a MILD clamping. I use a cattle-type hypodermic syringe I begged off the vet. Works.

Good luck and good shooting.
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smellie said:
The Damned Crack can be glued, friend, taking care of that problem. If the rifle is hooting okay now, leave her as she is. Next time you have her down, check for fit of the wood. The Damned Crack comes about when stocks ar subjected to this dry climate of ours; the wood tightens around the action until finally it lets go. As long as the wood is tight aound the action, the rifle should shoot okay; it just becomes unmanageable when the Crack spreads the wood. You can snug it up with some epoxy injected into the Crack, then a MILD clamping. I use a cattle-type hypodermic syringe I begged off the vet. Works.

Good luck and good shooting.
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Click to expand...

Well that's great news! Smellie, I did notice a steel clip of sorts that's imbedded into the wood above the "damned crack". Would it be prudent to put another steel insert { heavy staple for electrical wire?} across the crack after it's epoxyed?
 
Ganderite said:
Sorry. Re-read your original post. Rifle is shooting low, so you need a shorter front sight.

or just slide the rear sight up a couple of notches.
Click to expand...

Hmmm...now that you mention it. I did slide the rear sight to it's rear most position {figuring 200yrds/ shooting 50m wouldn't be useful} Perhaps It's too low.....Arrg..too much guessing, need to go to the range and burn some powder is all:confused:
 
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