1916 No1 MKIII arrived! Need help.

[Noel]

Today is a good day!
Four years ago I sold Grampa's 1916 No1 MKIII. The bore was gone and it was destined to be a wall hanger once it was fitted with full wood.

I always regretted selling it and finally located the buyer who was happy to send it back. Before I sold it some parts got changed for what ever reason and I need some help from you guys in getting it back the way it was.

1.The cocking piece on the bolt had the raised knurled style. Currently is has the serrated flat sided one that seems more common on the No1.
If anyone on the Canuck side of the border has one they'd like to trade I am all ears.

2. The rear sight it used to have was a leaf sight that used a single screw on the top to hold it to the riser bar. (forgive me if the terminology is off.) The face of the leaf facing the shooter was finely checkered to create an antiglare effect. The leaf wrapped around the sides for added strength. Right now I have a similar style leaf but it does not wrap around the sides. Same offer goes for this if somone wants to trade.

The rifle may need a new barrel as this one is very rough. It has twisty things in it but they are burnt and eroded, looking like Metford grooves. Last time I shot it all it would do is make keyholes at 20yds. Any sources for barrels out there?

She's just an old bubba'd gun, but if it was good enough for Grandpa, it is good enough for me! Just need to get it back to the way he had it. I think along the lines the plan was to get another one with a better bore and put the small parts back on. They must have been misplaced along the way.

On a side note, my 1892 Lee Metford which is a four generation heirloom also has the wrong bolt for it. It has a Long Lee style with dust guard and the safety wing on the rear portion. The magazine is incorrect as well.
If anyone has a proper bolt and mag with a staple perhaps we can figure something out.

This isn't meant so much to be a want to buy ad as much as finding out some proper names for the parts, or places to actually find the parts I need. Hope it isn't seen that way.

Here's Grampa with his brother, the only pic I have of him holding a rifle. When he got back from the Army he wanted nothing to do with them unless circumstances dictated no other option.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Peter Laidler]

Hey, don't you wish you still owned the old trucks/pick-ups in the background too?

[Badger]

Thanks for posting the pic .... very nice ...

Check the Technical Articles for Milsurp Collectors and Re-loaders (click here)

There's a manual that I think will help you some on your journey back to restoring your grampa's No.1 MkIII.

Instructions for Amourers -1931 (Part 2 - Small Arms) (click here)

Covers "Stripping and Re-assembling Rifles No. 1, Mk. III & III*, and Rifles No. 2, Mk. IV."
Covers "Adjustment of Sight— Telescopic— Rifles No. 3, Mk. I* (T)"
Covers "Description and Use of Armourers’ Gauges and certain Tools
Covers "Repairs, Modifications and Adjustments, etc. to Rifles No. 1, Mk. III and III* and Rifles No. 2, Mk. IV*

Regards,
Badger

[Brian Dick]

That photo brought back some fond memories for me as a small boy in Kent County, Ontario. It looks like hunting season in the country and wee bit chilly too! Many thanks.

Brian

[englishman_ca]

Noel,

I can probably help you out with most the parts you need including a Metford bolt. Decent barrels are not too difficult to find here in Ontario.

Drop me a PM and we can get the project rolling.

[browningautorifle]

Brian, I was raised in Essex county and I know what you mean! Sometimes we had to bash through the snow drifts with the sporterised #1 to do the job.

[Noel]

Hey guys.

I have great news, I put a WTB ad on CGN last night after posting this thread and I already have the different cocking piece and also the rear leaf sight cap(?) on its way.

englishman.ca, I will send you a pm promptly, thanks!

Peter Laidler
Hey, don't you wish you still owned the old trucks/pick-ups in the background too?

For a while I had his 1947 Farmall "A" and his 1970 Ford F100 Sport Custom, 360 three on the tree. Both were very rough shape and I can restore his guns a lot easier than I can his old farm equipment so they went to some guys who are restoring them both.
Mom inherited his `32 Chevrolet Sedan he restored. No pics to show of it but it won at the parades so many times he eventually started letting the other folks have the ribbons instead.

Brian Dick

That photo brought back some fond memories for me as a small boy in Kent County, Ontario. It looks like hunting season in the country and wee bit chilly too! Many thanks.

Brian

I think that photo is from `64 up at the homestead. To be honest I don't know what they are up to. They were very lean times and he rarely pulled out the gun other than to butcher a steer, or shoot the blue heeler that tried to eat me when I was barely crawling. I guess I got a taste for guns REALLY early in life!

I have a few more from his tour in the European theatre to share if you boys like while this restoration project goes on. It won't take much of a nudge to share them if you like.

Thanks again for the help!

[farmritch]

I've got a 1916 that a friend made sure I got, but some moron removed the charging bridge.
What chances I can replace it?
Love the pics also

[jmoore]

I've got a 1916 that a friend made sure I got, but some moron removed the charging bridge.
What chances I can replace it?
Love the pics also

They were riveted on, so if you can fabricate some mild steel rivets and can figure out how either buck or squeeze them, then all you need is a donor bridge (or a rooted action).

[Noel]

Well guys time for a little update I guess.
Grampa's rifle is officially back to the way it was when I was almost four years old, sitting on the floor staring at it leaning up against the wood box in their house. Thats a bit over 30 years ago yet I can still recall trying to figure out what a rifle was. It must have been good for the tongue lashing I'd get every time I looked at it.
I was suprised to find out the rifle is actually a 1918 DOM. My memory is going to the dogs.....

The Metford MKII is now sporting the proper breech bolt as well which I did not expect to find so soon. I am suprised to find the trigger is no longer breaking at 11lbs, now it is only 9 or so I guess. No 2 stage to it either, it feels more like a factory new rifle trigger with a healthy spring in it to keep the lawyers happy.

The handguard is still eluding me....... what can a guy expect to pay for such a thing?

Here are a few pics I took of her.