bedding problem

perhaps some one could help me with a problem. I was given a nice looking lee enfield. To make a long story short it shot terrible. 6 inches hi first shot, then straight down a foot at 50 yards. I suspected a bedding problem. Sure enough the entire barrel was epoxied to the stock. The worst job I ever saw. With patience and skill I was able to take it a part and remove the the epoxy. The stock is still in tack except the mid band screw and spring area around the stock. I know there are Brits or Aussies here who could help me with bedding. I find bits and pieces on the internet but some times conflicting info because of the various models. There is info about cork, free floating then not free floating, touching here and there. Any info or links would be apreciated. Don from Joshua Tree

Check the following articles in the MKL which have assorted information on bedding .. :thup:

The Canadian Marksman (Bedding the 7.62mm No.4 Rifle) - 1965

Fultons of Bisley; Enfield accuracy secrets revealed. (By RJW NZ)

Worn draws in your No1, 4 or 5 fore-end .... (by Peter Laidler)

Also, if you go to the Gunsmithing for Old Milsurps (click here) forum home page where you started this thread, then scroll to the bottom, you'll find a box called Tag Cloud. It's a bunch of words in alphabetical order and look across to see the word bedding. Click on it and you'll get a list of all posts where the word bedding has appeared in the title of the thread.

Hope this helps … :)

Regards,
Doug

i would need more info. type of rifle ect...

yes I apologize for that, its no1 mk3, still has a good barrel, the bolt is as smooth as silk, beautiful rifle, I have a coyote problem here, lost two dogs in the last two months. I hope to get it shooting accurate out to 300 yards, thanks for all replies.

Is it in a full wood set?, not cut down? and is the barrel standard military profile, or a heavy barrel often stamped with a "H" on the top of the knox. It's quite a big job to take these from rifles with real problems in the furniture to excellent shooters, if viable at all. First check the forend is straight and not warped in any direction, if it is you'll need to replace it. If it's okay, I'd remove the epoxy as best you can so you have a fairly clean slate to work on. Then put the forend on the barrlelled action and see what you have: Does the receiver fit tightly into the action inletting? Does the barrel sit centrally in the barrel channel? Is the forend providing upward pressure to the barrel? If so where? When you replace the nose cap does this influence/move the end of the barrel?
Among other things assessing these points will determine the necessary course of action to get this rifle stocked up so it will shoot as well as it can. Post what you find and may be include some photos.
BTW to get these right takes ages and it's a very fussy little job.

Thanks for your reply mate. The rifle is a 1950 no1 mk 3 from India with the crown on the wrist. I cleaned it up good, barrel looks good slugged out to .312. The fore end is channeled slightly off to the left about + 1/16 of a inch. Repaired the inner band screw wood, it now moves the barrel up or down. It is free floated from the chamber to the mussel. The fore end stud puts the barrel to the top of the nose cap when tightened up. I was looking to put some cork or rubber aft of the outer band and also near the mussel and replace the fore end stud and spring. It looked liked any pressure points were eliminated. I then got on the internet and read that the Brits, Aussies and Canadians have been tinkering with those same pressure points for over 70 years. You guys pretty much wrote the book on accuracy and how to fine tune a rife. Right now the receiver is bedded properly and I"m staring at it thinking what should I do now. There is alot of conflicting information, like hard wood bedding points, packing the outer band and hand guard area etc. Mate any advice would be apreciated, thanks Don from Joshua Tree...

I'd be thinking of putting 2 bearing points or a full bearing channel on the forend at or between the centre band, and at the muzzle or close to it. This is often done in filler of some sort. Lately I've been avoiding filler and doing it in timber patches, but each to their own. I'd create these points so that they provided some upward pressure to the barrel, ie so it takes some pressure to lift the barrel off the forend. How much pressure will probably be dictated by the location of the hole in the nose cap. That is, if you pack the barrel away from the forend too much you'll lift the barrel so the nose cap won't fit. Also, I'd make these points so that the their radius is somewhat larger than the barrel, so the barrel sits nicely in the bottom of the channel rather than being firmly held there by a tight fitting block. This also allows you to test that the barrel is naturally centred, by pushing it off centre it should return there if all's well, if it's not naturally centred it will stay pushed up one side of the channel. Bearing blue helps.
Once I'd done this I'd give it a try, and if everything is good, then leave it as is. If groups are not ideal, but the setup so far looks good, I'd try some light packing on the top of the barrel from the front guard about 4" long starting an inch or so back from the front of the guard.( I've never done this in practice but I've seen it on plenty of range rifles so it's worth a try)
I think the key to getting acceptable accuracy is good bedding at the rear(like no4's ), and having no sideways influence on the barrel from muzzle cap or forend, and some bearing of the bottom of the barrel forward of the middle band on the forend. Beyond that you're going to have to play with it.
If you get reliable 3" or 4", 10 shot groups at 100m out of a SMLE with a standard barrel, you'll be doing good. Plenty of people say they get better than that, but not every rifle will give you better than that.
This thread has my setting up of a heavy barrel, and the standard barrel can be set up similarly, in a channel, or with a couple of points.
Bedding the Barrel SMLE