Lyman TP Bracket ?

Do the mounting screws for the Lyman TP bracket (part mounted to receiver) call for spring washers? Is the bracket screwed and pinned? Or soft soldered? Any info greatly appreciated. Ron

We sent a TP rifle with loose bracket to our main workshop and I supervised its FTR. No washers under the screws. Bracket screwed and located using the pins and soft soldered, as were the screw threads. Whether the threads were tinned or whether the solder had just run into the threads, I don't know.

Our one was then brought up to the usual MoD phosphate and paint spec, using new parts where necessary. I can only assume that in many years to come, there will be great howls of anguish from the forum that it's not original and it's got a Fazakerley whatsit and a BSA striker and a something else upper handguard and they were never painted and that it's a fake and ............... on and on!

Next question is this Ron. Are you fixing an original or are you making a replica up? You might need a word of advice

DPL,
Do you happen to know if all of the TP bases were soldered as well as screwed & pinned. Unless I'm very much mistaken mine is just screwed & pinned.

(I probably bought a fake)........

GOOD question DRP and I deliberately left that bit of the answer obscure because it COULD be that as ours were/was used to trial the TP rifle and scope (miserable failure on all counts I hasten to add.....) that the actual pad part of the mounting might have been soldered in place by the UK during the wartime trials. In my very limited experience with telescope mounted rifles and rotational forces......, you know, clock and anti-clockwise moments about an axis an all that A level Physics stuff......., I would say with a degree of absolute certainly that there is/was not even the slightest or remotest chance of the mounting plate screwed and pinned to the body remaining tight unless it was secured additionally.

Put simply, (and I know this is simplifying the mechanics of it a bit, but it does illustrate the point.....) if the THREE screws of a No4T front pad can come loose and allow the pad to break away even when soldered to boot, then so will the TP body plate if not soldered. Just my take on thinghs

DPL
TVM. I agree, but suspected that the solder may have been a UK feature, not Canadian. Whilst it is perfectly functional I bought my TP rifle primarily as a collector's item, & very rarely shoot it anyway. When I shoot full bore rifle now I almost invariably grab the L42 that a certain armourer ensured was correctly collimated for me, many years ago. It never fails to come up with the goods, even twenty years later! You might have met the fellow........

ATVB

I restored an original several years ago and the base had never been soldered. There was no base present and the original bluing where the base had once been showed no sign of ever being soft soldered. I didn't solder it when I installed the base and it shoots perfectly. I would imagine that the rigors of hard service use would cause the screws to loosen even though the taper pins do help secure it.

Canadian 32TP's were NOT soldered when assembled in Canada. The hardened pins were used instead of the solder.. I was going to weigh into this earlier but it appears that one or more in the UK were soldered, however when they left Canada they were not soldered here.
I was talking to an old chum about this a short time ago and he said he still has (he hopes) the documents on them and will try and find them. Thought I was a pack rat but he has the T shirt now.
Also, not all were done on 74L series rifles as well.

That all seems to fit into place now Warren. BUT simple taper pins are not LOCKING pins as such simply because you only have to move one .001" or so and the taper lock has been broken and thereafter the pin is redundant. They are simply positioning pins. One other point on our TP rifle was that it was only tinned/sweated down the two legs for the screws - indicative of the UK method of sweating our own No32 pads. So the actual question has been answered

To Peter's question....this is an orginal rifle...bracket was removed long before I got it. No evidence of soldering. I was able to obtain an original bracket and screws after countless leads from board members and my contacts.....thanks everybody.

The screws and pins came with the bracket. One 4BA screw has a spring washer while the other 2 don't....these screws are phosphated. The correct 3BA ejector screw is there as well. Both locate pin are straight not tapered. Want to do this corrected as it's an LB Sniper. I would conclude that the bracket was screwed and pinned....not soldered. Pins ...not sure if they are to be straight or taperred. Not sure of the spring washer. Ron

Ron,
There's no spring washer on mine nor on any of the others I've seen.

ATB