SMLE NoI MkIII - From sporter to re-mil

[freedomintheskies]

It just pains me to see our historical old rifles being chopped up and made into sporters. As an experiment, I wanted to see how difficult it would be to take a chance and pick up an old wartime rifle with the intent of returning it to it's original configuration.

I've also purchased .312" mold in order to cast gas checked bullets for the 'ol gal.
Anyways, I thought I'd share the results here for whomever wishes to take a look.

The rifle was purchased from a member of CGN about a month ago. It was advertised as a 1941 SMLE No1 MkIII Lithgow, manufactured in Australia. It came with a mag, matching bolt, and an uncut, matching barrel so I figured it would be suitable enough to at least look at.

The rifle arrived and upon inspection, I found that there was a fair amount of cosmoline remaining on it. -Something I was NOT expecting to see on a rifle converted to a sporter. This meant that the rifle was used and not cared for (by way of detailed cleaning) or it was bought and put in a corner for 50 or 60 years. Could I have been so lucky?

[/URL]012 by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/URL]011 by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]


Yes, I could! The bore looks like it had never fired a shot. Not a bit of pitting and the rifling is sharp and bright.

 

[Gnome75]

Sounds like a great deal. Very strange to find cosmoline on a sporter

Good luck finding the wood for a No1. That stuff is really hard to find. I could be wrong but it looks like its starting to be economical to re-mil guns again. There was a couple years recently where it was cheaper to buy an original than it was to build one.

Keep us updated on how it goes but more so where you find the parts. Ebay has been my lucky place. I have heard rumors of a guy in Edmonton that has the blue prints for all these old guns and is making new copies of the stocks.

 

[freedomintheskies]

I took some time and researched where I was going to get the parts from in order to turn this sad old rifle back into the dependable fighting rifle of it's day.

I started with researching this forum for ideas on where the best sources of parts could be had. My first stop was Numerich Arms, as I have dealt with them in the past. I was able to get a forward hand-guard with the ears still intact from them. It's a walnut version, and has had a rough life, but beggers can't be choosers these days, as supplies of mil-surp parts are drying up. I also managed to get a number of hardware items and other bits/pieces.
Another online stop at Liberty tree Collectables netted a new old stock (no pun intended) fore stock in walnut. It was listed as an Ishapore No1 Mk2 piece with the tie brace at the rear. The original butt-stock bolt is too long and interferes with the forestock in this configuration, so I ordered the thick washer for the butt-stock bolt as well. They were also able to provide an un-serialized end cap for the barrel and the remainder of small bits and pieces for the project.
As the packages arrived, I looked things over and sorted everything out.

A test fitting of the fore-stock revealed that it indeed had never been fitted before, as the inletting was only about 90% complete and the recoil support area needed to be carved in order to install. I borrowed some wood carving tools from my father and set about measuring the two stocks in order to determine how much wood to remove. A couple hours later, I had a fore-stock that fit perfectly and was within .001" of the original in the recoil lugs. A new King Bolt spacer was installed and fitted to ensure proper support too.

Since the coachwood of the original butt-stock and rear hand-guard was so light compared to the walnut replacement parts, I thought of replacing it too, but since the cartouches and "Australia" which is stamped under the pistol grip area were in good shape, I stripped the varnish off with 1850 furniture stripper and selected a stain that would darken the wood enough that it didn't look like a franken-bubba piece. I then used linseed oil to finish all of the wood. The colour match is not perfect, but then again it's rare to see one these days that is.

The headspace was also verified using military go, no-go and field gauges. Everything checked out just fine, so this rifle will make a good shooter I think. I was also able to score 450 once fired IVI brass cases and gave them the full prep/trim/anneal and shoulder bump. They will have some 185gr. gas checked pills installed over a load of IMR5744 powder.

The 5 stamped on top of receiver indicated that the rifle was used in Military District #5 (Western Australia), which may account for the lack of pitting in the barrel.

[/URL]20180108_151918[1] by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

Most of the rifle components are stamped with MA, which is not a feeder factory stamp, but "Munitions Australia". The in/out of service stamps are clear on the back side of the bolt handle too.

[/URL]20180108_151930[1] by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

The assembly number is stamped as 0417 on the underside of the bolt handle

[/URL]20180108_151950[1] by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

The un-serialized end cap.

[/URL]20180108_152308[1] by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[freedomintheskies]

And on with a couple pix of the mostly completed rebuild.
I'm still missing the intermediate sling swivel and the long screw for the nose piece but I'm placing an order with Sarco today. They also have good assortment of slings and other accessories for military weapons, so I'll pick up a few things for other projects as well.

[/URL]20180108_152058[1] by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/URL]20180108_152118[1] by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/URL]20180108_161413[1] by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

Not entirely sure what the OP or DP would mean. If it were Drill Purpose, I would think that it would be very beat up. Thoughts?

[/URL]20180108_161425[1] by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/URL]20180108_152013[1] by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

These No1 MkIII rifles always looked short to me, but here it is with an M48 Yugo Mauser for comparison.

[/URL]20180108_123435[1] by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[freedomintheskies]

Some more pix of the various stamps and markings (prior to final cleaning.)

[/URL]20180110_120125 by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/URL]20180110_120131 by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/URL]20180110_120501 by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/URL]20180110_120105 by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/URL]20180110_120147 by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/URL]20180110_120027 by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/URL]20180110_120604 by Dave Hanson, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[RifleDude]

Thank you for the progress report. It really looks very well done, nice job bringing another No1 back to its former glory.

 

[VanIsleCam]

Hey OP - I have a similar model and am missing a few more springs, rings and screws. Thanks for posting - its helping to levitate my assss.

 

[Butcherbill]

Nice job, now you just need to find an Aussie bayonet for it, then you'll look at it and say man it's a long rifle with the bayonet attached!

 

[freedomintheskies]

Hey OP - I have a similar model and am missing a few more springs, rings and screws. Thanks for posting - its helping to levitate my assss.

Here is a pic from the Numerich site to help you figure out which parts are needed Van...

My question to those more knowledgable than I: How much tension or load does one put on screw # 39 in order to load the barrel?
- Or do you use it to tune the resonance of the barrel by perhaps doing some "group thearapy" and tightening it a little bit at a time until the groups improve?

 

[louthepou]

My question to those more knowledgable than I: How much tension or load does one put on screw # 39 in order to load the barrel?
- Or do you use it to tune the resonance of the barrel by perhaps doing some "group thearapy" and tightening it a little bit at a time until the groups improve?

That screw (and its ring around the barrel) is supposed to simply bring the barrel in contact with the forend. There's supposed to be contact from about 1.5 inch behind the ring, and forward of the ring. (but sides of the barrel and top should not touch the wood). So even if you tighen the screw like crazy, you will not make the barrel contact "more" the forend. It simply has to touch the wood.

 

[englishman_ca]

The inner band is mounted to the wood with a shoulder bolt and a spring. The set up with the spring is to keep a constant downward pressure on the barrel when things heat up and start to wander. If the stock warps due to moisture or whatever and pulls away from the barrel (we talking micro movement here), the pressure at this point will remain constant acted upon by the spring, and as Lou mentioned, keeps the barrel in contact with the bearing in the barrel channel.
There is another spring with a saddle in the nose cap to center the barrel and again to keep a same constant pressure, but this time upwards on the barrel. So again the stock can move away from the barrel, but the barrel is held with the same upwards pressure.

The screw should be snugged right up until the shoulder bottoms out against the inner band. Crank it hand tight.

It is folk law that tweaking this screw is for making adjustments to the barrel harmonics. Now saying that, the rifle definitely will shoot differently with the thing tight or slack. So if twiddling the screw works for you and improves your shot, have at her! just don't forget your screwdriver at the firing point, you might have to make changes as the barrel heats up.

I note that some target rifles don't even use this inner band, it is left out the assembly completely and the hole plugged in the wood. But that is a bedded and regulated stock set.

There really is a lot of black magic in the design of the Lee Enfield rifle. The makers were world leaders in the technology and knew what they were doing. A lot of stuff that the factory did was done for a reason, and worked.

Fast forward to 2018 and some modern owners/shooters have ideas better than the factory on how to regulate and improve the rifle's performance. Hmmm, things that make me say hmmm.

That is the reason that most sporters without the full wood will have a shifting point of impact as the barrel heats up. However, most sportsmen when hunting might just take one or two shots at their quarry with a cold barrel. Not the same application as a target shooter laying at the firing line with strings of ten rounds or a soldier in battle with a barrel too hot to touch.