Home done No 4 Re barrel

A few weeks ago I (my son)made an action wrench that would fit a Arisaka. I (he) then made a spacer that would work off the same wrench to convert it to fit a fit a No4. I had a Savage rifle that had been chopped to work with. After sourcing some parts I decided to try out the rigging. I didn't have a sheet of plate glass to suspend the rifle from when I put the two together to mimic the instructions from Capt. Laidler on the sight so I improvised with what I had following what has been written as close as possible.. Luckily the barrel under-turned and the front sight base and action body went together well. The knox form flat was slightly off in contrast to the other surfaces where the shop levels were used. I have attached some pictures for those that may be interested. I was able to receive new or like new parts mail order including the fore-stock and barrel which was mirror bright 2 grooves and sharp at the muzzle. I bore sighted the rifle at a distant object and the target sat right on top of the front site blade. Ill continue to work on the rifle following what has been written here to learn the rifle and make adjustments as necessary. An interesting project non the least.Attachment 86101Attachment 86102Attachment 86103Attachment 86104

So I checked the fit of the bolt body with dye chem to check engagement and it seemed to have even contact. I did this with a empty case with the stripped bolt head in place and there was about the same percentage of contact on both lugs. Those lugs are shaped like a helix and are very tricky to look at. I checked head space as best I could with make shift feeler stock and it was a little tight so I then lapped the face with a piece of oiled wet dry paper on a trued block just a touch to remove an even coat of the blue. The bolt head stops rotation right in line with the bolt guide rib and needs a push towards tight to get the bolt started into the rear of the raceway I felt the slack come out of the lugs and stopped when the bolt handle was at the point where it would drop on its own if there was no tension or resistance on it with the longer of the two measurements. Test fired into the ground four times and no problems with feeding or ejection. I must go back and read more about pressure at the fore-end because this one is tension-ed upwards but snaps to rest with a light tug in a straight line. The stock is little used with no burnishing at the knox form or barrel channel from contact so maybe more work is in order, need to read more. I think I like the design of this rifle vs. the other US rifles I own from the same period. Seems more rugged simple and complicated all in the same package which is more interesting to me, there's more to do with them. Going to punch paper quite soon.

Bedded per instructions and found Knox form needed a few knats whiskers removed and worked on trigger guard at front action screw to eliminate tilt at the last turn or so of the screw and now it needs 6lbs to lift the muzzle. The rear of the hand guard needed slight adjustment once the bedding was finished. It was a little work tapping the fore-stock apart each time at the rear and lamp blacking everything but was satisfying to watch the work fall in line with the text. There's quite a few knats whiskers in there lurking about.

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Originally Posted by Doco overboard

There's quite a few knats whiskers in there lurking about.

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One thing Mr Laidler has been errant on is defining which gnat he is referring to. Note that he has been posted to several continents, each of which has a different indigenous gnat to complicate matters. I have been told that the central North American gnat is much larger than, say, the European gnat. And it's a completely different size to the Australian gnat, hence we Antipodeans tend to often talk in terms of "a tad... a smidgen... and a poofteenth..." All of which are internationally standardised units, of course, which removes doubt as to the datum gnat and said whisker in which one is measuring from.

Damn good show on the work, and thanks for sharing your exercise. :thup:

Up here in Canada we dispense with gnat whiskers and prefer to just remove a tad. 6# of up pressure at the muzzle sounds like you are there. The thing about fitting wood is you have to be careful, you can take away but you cannot put it back.

I went and tried to zero the rifle. Initial shooting indicated way high group at 100yds. but a good centered one none the less which made me happy alleviating fear that I had the barrel clocked way off. I switched the fs blade to a taller one .090 that I believed would get me where I wanted to be and switched the back sight at the same time to the one that is knob adjustable. I believed the aperture on the adjustable model at 200 and the higher front blade would do it because of the original flip type back sight appeared to set a little higher by eye when rotated to 300. I though I had it without going through to much difficulty and was wrong.
I was able to study a few other examples of no4 rifles and they wore FS blades marked in the range of .045 so now Im concerned now that something that I've done and Ill have to make my own sight blade. Im thinking im not going to be able to find a blade from all the vendors I looked at online unless I can speak to somebody. Point of impact and group size is consistent even when shooting a few groups at a time in higher than average heat so reasonably confident I have the bedding close to the way it should be. I'm going to try and follow the method by Rifle Chair on the site to get a better idea of what is happening and keep collecting brass and then start with a minimum charge to see what effect takes place. Enjoying this one tremendously because what a nice shooting and handling design, I want to just be around the point of aim better at 100 to 200 yds.

Got it, found a blade with a taller base and all is good.

There is that other denominator we us 22Sqdn which is also standard unit ~ Fine as a Faries F*rt

A little known fact whilst I am on the subject is that "The F*rt" is the sharpest thing on the planet as it can pierce you undies without splitting them and that my friends is damn sharp...........:D:madsmile::lol: