I have am restoring a carbine . It has a Long lee butt on it now
Is the carbine buttplate the same as a SMLE ?
Carl
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I have am restoring a carbine . It has a Long lee butt on it now
Is the carbine buttplate the same as a SMLE ?
Carl
The carbine buttplate is different than the SMLE, I can provide pictures when I get home later tonight!
The position of the top screw of the LEC is different than on the Sht LE.
Basically a LEC butt plate is a MLE without the tang as it was deleted in favor of the buttstock brass disc.
Attachment 120911Attachment 120912
Thanks I will trim the long lee one thats on it
Carl
That is probably your only option.
No surplus spares are available, any that might be out there come from disassembled carbines and your chances of finding one is almost nil.
I will be restoring a Metford carbine this winter and will probably trim a commercial Long Lee butt plate i've been hoarding for ages.
There was a tread in the ''Restorer's Corner'', between Bluenoser and louthelou dating from 2014, on that exact subject.
There's a couple of pics showing what needs to be done. It's fairly simple.
I have no clue on how to link another tread here so here's the title :
Buttplate swap - Lee Metford/Enfield MLM/MLE for LEC1 Carbine
Here is the link.
I confess to having a soft spot for those carbines and this was an easy conversion. One can also convert an SMLE magazine to a reasonable facsimile of a carbine mag. That thread should also be on here somewhere.
https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=47559
Thankfully the Magazine is a carbine one
now I am just waiting for the stock to get here
Its coming from Canada
Are brass butplate screws out there or do I need to use Steel ?
Carl
Unless i am mistaking only the LMC or Lee Metford carbine had brass crews.
So if you have an ''E'' stamped on top of the barrel, steel screws should be used.
That being said i did find a place that makes repro brass butt plate screws, not cheap but again probably the only option out there.
They are for the Martini Henry rifles but should still fit.
Again i'm not sure if i can post outside links here so if you still wish to fit some, just let me know and i'll provide you with the link.
Attachment 121081
I have converted several magazines. The converted magazines have the longer SMLE style forward feed lips and an SMLE follower.
I will try to find the thread and post a link.
EDIT
Could not find the post but here is a link to a related tutorial I did over on the CGN forum on Recteating the BSA Lee Speed Perch Belly Magazine.
https: //www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/2002952-Recreating-the-BSA-Lee-Speed-Perch-Belly-Magazine?highlight=magazine