No5 forend Cut down from No4

[tbonesmith]

HI guys, just thought I'd post a few pics of a No4 forend I cut down to put on a No5, along with the top wood. The original was shagged.
The donor forend was a savage, and I don't know how but it was badly charred towards the muzzle, it had probably been on fire at some stage. Go figure!
I patched the draws, and the knox, and bedded it in the standard method, did the trigger, and check it out as best I could.
It was a bit of a heap really, the original barrel band was so rusty it broke when I removed it, so I used a No4 band which isn't ideal, but too bad.
None the less now I think it will shoot very respectably, and I will find out for sure tomorrow at 300m.
All being well there, I'll sand the timber back to 240 or 320grit (it's now at 80g), stain it, number it up, BLO it, hit the metal with some black paint, and give it back to its owner.
Not a 20 minute job, and I'm pretty happy with it thus far.

[browningautorifle]

Looks good though. Not surprising. I'm sure Peter can give us a story about this very thing happening in shop at one time...

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

Well done.

[tbonesmith]

All good. The rifle shot very well at 300m and had no real issues. So I'll sand it up and finish it off.

[villiers]

`Tis a job that I find very satisfying. The .308 No. 5 on a No. 4 action entailed no loss of life as the original was a Charnwood. Shoots very nicely at 300 metres too.

[Peter Laidler]

Did you shorten it to original length TBone as I can't see the small patch that usually follows such a modification? Shortened to No5 length, it JUST enters one of the lightening recesses of the No4 fore-end but by using wood taken from the cut-off section of the fore-end, you can make the patch pretty well invisible.]

As I have said many times, we had these converted fore-ends in the Ordnance system but the converters (I think it was Westley Richards on contract) didn't concern themselves with the niceties of wood matching!

[villiers]

I plugged the lightening recess and used a No. 4 metal nosecap. Made a metal plate to fit in front.

[tbonesmith]

Yes, it is to original length, you can just see the vertical line of the patch in the second photo. It came out pretty tight though. I didn't want much of a glue line.
I imagine I'm going to be doing more of these, I've got one to do for myself, and I'm working on doing .223 conversions of No4's and No5's for range use. There is much to be detailed as yet, but the fundamental components and requirements of the project are together. I hope to have a running example, and a template for "production" by the end of September. My guess is many will want these in No5 guise. Sharpen that spokeshave!!

[villiers]

I wouldn´t dare use a spokeshave. A rasp takes longer but there´s less danger of taking too much off. Waiting with bated breath for news of your .223 project (magazine etc). Have you tried the hung trigger? Peter sent me the wherewithall but I didn´t find it that easy to install. Now that it´s in though, I´m very pleased with the result.

[tbonesmith]

All wrapped up, stained, renumbered, bedded, trigger tuned, mag replaced, tested for function and accuracy, metal work painted, and a heap of junk is refurbed to a reliable, accurate and function rifle for range or other use.
Thank goodness I've seen the back of this one!
If you're wondering about the phillips head screw in the band, it's because the original band was rusted through and broke, and this No4 band was stripped out, so I tapped it out to M5 or 6 to use a fastener I had at hand, though I had to turn the head down on the lathe to fit the counter bore.
Anyway I think it's all good, I hope the owner likes it as much as me!