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I can't express my gratitude enough for all the quality advice I've received on this thread.
I bought some furniture striper, mineral spirits and 0000 steel wool. As soon as it warms up a bit I'll get busy in the garage. The striper instructions suggest a minimum working temperature of 65 degrees and here in S.E. Michigan we aren't forecast to reach that until this time next week.
Another 'fault' or mistake amateur stock finishers make is this....... Wet the tips of your fingers and wipe them vertically around the curvature, over the top and bottom of the butt and bottom of the fore-end (and handguards if you're so inclined). If it's smooth then all is well. But if you can feel ridges then that would mean marks taken off. I accept that it's a bit pedantic but those sorts of things were how the instructors marked our work. Ridges mean that sometime in the past the wood has been scraped or sanded without the due care it should have had and not made good afterwards. Not that I have ever had to actually give marks for anothers rifle woodworking/repair skills but have had to pass comment. But it's well known that all the old time Armourers - me included I'm ashamed to say - secretly 'judge' others work.
Not that we will mind you...but we're going to want to see it after.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Laidler
I grew weary of waiting for the weather to cooperate so I could start working on the Enfield. So I put it back together and took it to an indoor range this morning.
The rifle works fine. Feeds, fires and ejects nicely. It even seems to hit near where I'm pointing. Once I found where to hold the sights it was no problem hitting a 5.5" target at 25 yds standing. I used a box of 174 gr hand loads that came with the rifle.
I have 3 boxes of 150 gr ammo ordered that should be here tomorrow. If it warms up outside I'll start refinishing the stock, if it doesn't, I may take it to the 100 yd outdoor range on Wednesday and see how it behaves with a bench and sand bags.
Don't forget that the sighting arrangement including the backsight adjustments and foresight adjustments for your No4 is wholly geared up for .303" Mk7 ball.
Capt. Laidler,Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Laidler
I'm afraid I'm too much of a novice to understand the significance. Could you please elaborate?
Thank you,
Bill
Apologies for taking everything for granted Bill but the rifle was made to accurately shoot standard UK Military .303" ball ammo. It is only geared up to shoot that accurately. For this reason the sighting system is calibrated to this spec ammo. The forum is littered with tales of woe from forumers who are having great difficulty because their groups are falling all over the place and the range of foresight blades a) won't cater for the error and/or b) don't equate to the corrections that the books say. Sometimes different ammo won't even group properly.
I always suggest that to initially range test, accuracy test and then zero the rifle you get some standard surplus UK Military Mk7 ammo. THEN having done those tests, you can use other ammo knowing that any subsequent errors are caused by that ammo and you can make mental corrections.
Hope I've explained clearly enough. Other forumers please feel free to correct what I've said or add to it as ammo isn't my forte whereas range testing and zeroing is!
Bill, this term might also be a bit confusing -- it certainly was to me coming from a black powder, muzzle loading frame of reference which made me think of a bullet as a "lead ball." I couldn't understand what "ball" meant, knowing that a Mk7 cartridge didn't have a "ball" for a bullet.baQuote:
Originally Posted by Peter Laidler
"Ball" in this case refers to the shape of the grains of powder, as differentiated from cordite, (which is more like a string)etc. If you google the Wikipedia definition this distinction will become more evident.
Cordite was originally used in the WWI time frame, and it burned hot and fast, causing many barrels to burn out near the chamber. Ball powder burned more evenly and a little slower, enabling full expansion during the time the bullet was traveling from chamber to muzzle. This resulted in a more even, and thus longer barrel wear. I don't know all the history of the ball ammo (Wikipedia will help), but by WWII, the conversion was pretty much complete. It is not likely if you are using modern ammo (including the Greek surplus) that you will encounter anything other than ball ammo.
The 150 grain projectiles will shoot low as compared to service Mk.7z. Your rifle is equipped with it's issue Mk.2 sight which doesn't allow fine adjustment so you'll just have to learn where to hold to get your groups on target.
Mind you, 'ball' to me and everyone else in the Military doesn't relate to the propellant. It's the name given to the projectile. Ball, as opposed to tracer, incendary, Armour piercing etc etc...