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Thread: New Long Branch No.4 Mk.I * and fore ends problems..

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    Unhappy New Long Branch No.4 Mk.I * and fore ends problems..

    I've acquired my second Enfield: a Long Branch made in 1943, two groove barrel, perfect barrel. When i'll have my photo camera i'll post photo of her. Checked the prescripted bearing points with french rust talcum and oil method depicted from Thunderbox and/or tbonesmithicon, i found that :
    - There is no play between forestock and buttstock. With a feeler gauge i found 0.05 mm. in the left side and 0.07 in right side.
    - Good contact at the draws but not so tight.
    -Very good contact around front handguard screw and from that screw to the rear for 2 inches or so. The action sits well on the wood.
    -There's bearing surface over the draws. And it mustn't be there.
    - At the reinforce , the barrel bears only a few, not for reinforce full lenght.
    - Barrel pressure at fore end tip in about 3 pounds, but the barrel rests on the right side, not perfect on the groove.
    To patch or not to patch the draws and see? There's contact but not so tight.
    What to do to improve bearing at the reinforce? These and more question hurt my mind...
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    A Collector's View - The SMLE Short Magazine Lee Enfield 1903-1989. It is 300 8.5x11 inch pages with 1,000+ photo’s, most in color, and each book is serial-numbered.  Covering the SMLE from 1903 to the end of production in India in 1989 it looks at how each model differs and manufacturer differences from a collecting point of view along with the major accessories that could be attached to the rifle. For the record this is not a moneymaker, I hope just to break even, eventually, at $80/book plus shipping.  In the USA shipping is $5.00 for media mail.  I will accept PayPal, Zelle, MO and good old checks (and cash if you want to stop by for a tour!).  CLICK BANNER to send me a PM for International pricing and shipping. Manufacturer of various vintage rifle scopes for the 1903 such as our M73G4 (reproduction of the Weaver 330C) and Malcolm 8X Gen II (Unertl reproduction). Several of our scopes are used in the CMP Vintage Sniper competition on top of 1903 rifles. Brian Dick ... BDL Ltd. - Specializing in British and Commonwealth weapons Specializing in premium ammunition and reloading components. Your source for the finest in High Power Competition Gear. Here at T-bones Shipwrighting we specialise in vintage service rifle: re-barrelling, bedding, repairs, modifications and accurizing. We also provide importation services for firearms, parts and weapons, for both private or commercial businesses.
     

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    Have you fired it?

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    Yes Dick. i reload with 174 Sierra hpbt and 40 grains of N140 Vihtavuory, remington brass, lee neck sized. Groups are good but there are two flyiers in a ten shoot group. I want to use Enfield Riflesicon in 300 meters vintage competion because of the sights, that are the best of other vintage rifle. And i love this rifle. A question : you're Brian Dickicon of BDLicon ? I'm waiting for the No.4 base you shipped to Italyicon last week, I'm so happy to receive it.

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    OK, yes that'd be me. Your base is on the way. Your load is a good one. I'd be tempted to try the 180 grain Sierra Pro-Hunter flat base bullets just to see if it does away with the flyers. They're a bit cheaper and will shoot every bit as well if not better than the the Matchkings in a used barrel. If that doesn't cure it, then you can look at adjusting the forend bedding. Good luck.

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    I've a hundred of sierra Sp 180 grains. I'll try ! i discovered that rim thickness is variable from brass to brass even 0.02 mm, same brass manufacturer. If i lift up the reinforce patched it, upward pressure at fore end will be lost..receiver rear bearings will be lost also.. So what about lowering all the bearing points some decimals of a millimeter? It's only a newbie idea. Feel free to raise your objiections against me!!

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    If the rifle barrel and body is fitting correctly in all of the correct places EXCEPT the reinforce, then you simply need to machine out the centre of the reinforce, slide in and glue a patch and then carefully and gently chisel it away so that the barrel bears on the centre 13mm. Then take it carefully down until the body bears evenly. Then if this is the case with yours, you are back to as it should be BUT with a GOOD reinforce bearing.

    But be advised, the reinforce bearing was the hardest to do. Some fore-ends were made with low reinforce bearings so we had to patch these even before we started fitting them. Of course, in the big workshops we had a jig with a dovetail cutter that we could use (I seem to remember someone showed a photo of one that had been done with the dovetail miller....... Can we see it again?).

    Top marks for trying this Bow but this level of craftsmanship which is akin to quality cabinet making is a long taught but lost art now, except for a few hardy souls like T/box, T/Bone, Roger P etc etc on this site. They're very practical 'follow-me/watch-me' skills as opposed to read-from-a-book skills.

    Off the subject slightly, one of my old Sergeants, Wilf Attrill, used to work part time for an antique restorers, restoring old antique furniture and the like. I used to watch this maestro at work in the workshop after hours (he used to let me french polish...) and he told me that this antique furniture restoratioin was absolutely simplicity itself compared with the fore-end fitting and wood patching that Armourers used to do

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    [QUOTE=Peter Laidlericon;19145

    Off the subject slightly, one of my old Sergeants, Wilf Attrill, used to work part time for an antique restorers, restoring old antique furniture and the like. I used to watch this maestro at work in the workshop after hours (he used to let me french polish...) and he told me that this antique furniture restoratioin was absolutely simplicity itself compared with the fore-end fitting and wood patching that Armourers used to do[/QUOTE]
    Now you're talking about a lost skill pete, time consuming but a pleasurable result, and fun to get the stain off the hands. I remember it well.

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    What a good point Captain Laidlericon! I'm beginning to think that fitting accurately a fore-end is like to make a First Empire table. A friend of mine who makes acustic guitar will give the needed help with precison wood-tools and some adviceses. I'll post photos as soon as possible to make my sweat evident to other enfield's fascinated. Thanks!

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    Before i have got two fore ends ordered in internet to follw my apprenticeship period withouth altering the rifle, i'm trying some brass shims between the buttstock and original fore end. Tht is what i found:
    -Packing fore end at buttstock bearing Raise the amount of barrell pressure at fore end. Well!! I have also the wished bearings at the reinforce. It was only needed 0.05 mm. shims. Only problem is the hanguard fit, i feel some strenght to fit rear hanguard screw. Why?
    The shims are only dodgy, i know. But i have to wait the shipment of a couple of fore end.

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    Question. do you know that the two flyers were shot exactly the same as the other 8 - same breathing same grip position and intensity on teh rifle, same cheek weld sigh picture etc. if you get a good group and two flyers - 99 percent of the time the flyers are teh shooters fault. Also it depends what exactly the group size was. You could get 8 shots inside 1 inch at 100 meters, and the two flyers were 2 inches away in one direction. NOT necessarily flyers, but the capability of the rifle and the ammunition combination you are using could simply be a 3 inch group at 100 meters, whihc isn't bad at all with old rifles - and if you kept firing another 30 or so rounds you would find that this is consistent and the area between them fills in. This is the whole basis of grouping and is often very misunderstood.

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