Bedding the "H" Barrel SMLE

[Peter Laidler]

A pleasure to see that woodwork TBone. I hope the plugged inserts are all done with the plug/insert grain running with the grain. Do you ever use or even have access to that old melt-in-the-pot bone glue?

It reminds me of xxxxing hours and hours spent, xxxxed off, learning to do and fit butt patches, cutting out and skeletonising woodwork for these stupid apprentice projects and test pieces that I always failed miserably. Happy days. Now I enjoy it, especially if it's something like patching up a butt from a captured Thompson gun or a Mk5 Sten pistol grip or Bren bit. Well, it must be range tested afterwards I always tell myself and the ammo storeman

[Bindi2]

Hey, young Tbone... The real test isn't to see it shoot 1" groups at 100yds. That's pretty easy to achieve- fully floated, partial floater, centre bedded, muzzle bedded semi floater, India packing, - all can give you 1 inch. What you are after is a rifle that will hit an aiming mark with a cold barrel, first shot. Then fire four more shots within a couple of minutes, then go straight on to fire your five shot group. Usually you will find the first four are stringing an inch apart vertically, the rest might cut a nice group. Gives you 4+ moa... a pretty ****full result, really.

Best of luck, mate... I will admit to having fluked it more than once...

Glad your are not my BOSS. Go for it Tbone choccy frog is the prize

[tbonesmith]

Happy to report that the rifle shoots very well. Didn't really get scientific today, just tested it out in a match, 100m:2 sighters on a figure 12 then 5 rounds single snap, into a 5 round rapid all on a figure 12, then 3 exposures, double tap on the figure 12, then 3 doubles and 3 singles on a figure 14.
I had to use 6 O'clock hold because I couldn't get the elevation, and I had to hold off a bit, but I got all the hits on the 12 in a nice small group, but could only get 3/9 on the 14 as I just couldn't estimate the hold off until I'd seen quite a few splash.
So I'll change the foresight to a lower one, and adjust the foresight over a little bit, but this rifle will do just fine in this sort of club competition.
I need to get it to eject a bit more posotively too, I guess it's either the extractor or the spring (or both). I've come across this a bit, any one have some spares to sell me, I don't have many and they're all pretty second hand?
200m next week, I'll make adjustments and try to put a group down.

[Son]

Sounds good so far. Once you finish setting it up and it's had a couple hundred down the tube will be time to try shooting groups, both hot and from cold. One question... did you treat the exposed wood in the foreend channel? I've seen arguments for both oiling and leaving it raw, some then give it a liberal coat of powdered graphite... Your rifle may spend a few "outings" settling down before it constantly performs.

Not quite choccy frog yet, but on the way! Well done!

[tbonesmith]

I don't see the point of graphite, I think I just gave it a light wipe over with some BLO, to seal it somewhat. I figured that powdered graphite might help only if there was more than one possible location of the barrel in the channel, but this barrel and action are bedded so that there is only one possibility, down the centreline of the inletted channel. It can't sit left by a fraction, or right by a fraction, because the draws, and the wrist are fitted perfectly, as is the knox. The channel is cut so the barrel can be pushed left or right by a little, but the centre line is the bottom of the channel which is smooth, therefore any movement of the barrel left or right, means " climbing " the channel sides, and it can't do that anyway as the nose cap fits, with its factory hole, firmly, and it too is dead on the centre line.
I'm pretty sure that this is going to be winner, with some really basic adjustment(ie sights etc). But we'll see.

---------- Post added at 07:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:38 PM ----------

Do you ever use or even have access to that old melt-in-the-pot bone glue?

I think I used it at TAFE when I was learning my first trade (Shipwrighting). I havn't seen any for sale, but I assume that some specialized timber working shops have it, why not? They still sell that cows milk based one, and a lot of other weird adhesives. Is it somehow advantageous to use?

[Peter Laidler]

Re the old boil in the pot wild animal glue Tbone. No advantage at all really and the modern wood working adhesives are far superior., It's just that I remember the smell. Reminds me of my first girlfriend................ Not the smell, - just the wild animal part!

[RJW NZ]

I think I used it at TAFE when I was learning my first trade (Shipwrighting). I haven't seen any for sale, but I assume that some specialized timber working shops have it, why not? They still sell that cows milk based one, and a lot of other weird adhesives. Is it somehow advantageous to use?

I should have known there'd be a fellow shipper on the other end of that enfield dust, I was at the Nth Shore Yacht Squadron around 81 ish, til I got a phone call to make rocks for the movies, after that boats were history.

[tbonesmith]

Mmmm, the familiar smell of chop strand rocks, I went into Cabinet and Furniture building... can't say I miss it...

[bigduke6]

It reminds me of xxxxing hours and hours spent, xxxxed off, learning to do and fit butt patches, cutting out and skeletonising woodwork for these stupid apprentice projects and test pieces that I always failed miserably. Happy days. Now I enjoy it,

Have to admit, I,ve gone full circle regarding parts of my Apprenticeship as a Fitter/Turner (in a shipyard) and enjoy it now more than ever, although after two weeks out my time, I resigned and went off to start a career at sea, there are many times I need to use a lathe at work, but when its for myself and using the one at home, lots of job satisfaction.

Little did I realise at 16 in the shipyard training school, spending hours lining up work in a four jaw, taking the smallest cuts at the slowest speed, and being bored to tears .... how much it would be of benifit in the future.

It was not long ago that I metioned it in a email to Wheaty that I was looking at finishing my qualifications off, it was only when I was asking about exams or anything close to what I had started many years ago and informed the young person that I had finished My Apprenticeship, served as an Engineer in the Merchant Navy for the last 20 or so years, I was told I couldnt just do the exams, I also had to do some form of practical on the job training.............. sometimes its just best to put the phone down.

[Simon P]

I spent the first 6 months of my apprenticeship just just hacksawing & filing, we then progressed on to using the old elliot shaping machines, then lathes & mills etc. 30 years later these skills come in handy for making parts & repairing these old guns. Once you learnt how to file correctly you never forget!!!