Printable View
After firing a standard round (and whilst pulling the bolt rearward) I noticed the bolt wouldn't retract past the charger bridge, to my suprise the bolt head had jumped the rec. rail!:eek:
After cleaning I found that while the bolt head appears snug and secure while closed, there is a spot about about 2 centimeters rearward where the head can be "jumped" by hand while pressing up.
Is it safe?:help:
Distorted body........................
Most likely the rifle is safe enough to FIRE, but this kind of thing just is not supposed to happen.
You have a worn receiver rail, friend. It does happen from time to time.
How much slop is there between the underside lug of the bolthead and the receiver rail as you draw the bolt backward? What's the MINIMUM clearance? This is the amount that you can forge the bolthead lug INWARDS by, without interfering with bolt travel. If you can do this, it should cure the problem. You can minimise the problem by making certain that the bolthead and receiver rail are lubricated adequately. A dab of grease will do a good job of this.
Also, think about a diferent bolt-head. There were tolerances on these things, too, and substituting an unworn head might solve your problem all by its little iron self. This would leave you with an interchangeable rifle, of course.
If you alter the bolthead which you already are using, you will end up with a rifle which is OUT OF SPEC, but which will work. This is a very real problem if you have 6,000 more rifles on your rack and you expect the parts to interchange. On the other hand, most of us can`t afford 6,000 SMLEs, even if we would like to have them, so this might not be a problem for you.
Whatever. This is where the problem is, and you have two ways to attempt to cure it.
Hope this helps.
.
Thinking about this, the tech information says that the bolt head must never leave the track under any circumstances. If it does, it indicates a distorted or a worn body. That set me thinking....... how worn can it be for heavens sake before the bolt head leaves the track.
It's simple! If the rear boltway on the body is worn away, and they often are, it will allow the bolt to twist over to the right and taking accumulative error into account, a lot of wear at the rear will allow the front of the bolt and bolt head to move to the right. The nett result is that the overhang of the bolt head will clear the body at the front of the track. Just as it's done in this case.
So your problem P-07 can only be one of three things. Worn body, worn bolt or distorted body
I've just checked a rifle that had a similar problem - bolthead jumping the track. Turned out that the rifle (a 1942 Dispersal, rebuilt as a complete horrid bitsa by some genius) seemed to have a perfectly decent receiver, but it had a mismatched bolt where someone had further ground the locking faces. Headspace was off the scale, and the bolt had considerable lateral and vertical movement. A change of bolt gave a nice tight action and solved the problems instantly.
An old armourer & gunsmith mentioned that "worn or distorted bolt rails" were extremely rare; their shop method involved a quick application of a cold chisel down through the magazine well to persuade the right hand side to move over a bit....
It doesn't mention that method of repair in the EMER or during our apprenticeships. But quite how you'd repair a worn out boltway behind the bridge charged guide is another matter. But I have heard that some of the rebuilders have been known to squeeze the sides together in a press. It takes all sorts as that say...........................
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll check some other bolt/heads and see if the results are different.
I've got the same issue on one I was going to get up and running again. Changed the bolthead, still jumped, changed the bolt body, still sloppy but won't jump out. Is there any real repair or do you just strip all parts and junk the action body?
If a bolt change fixes the problem, why junk the action?Quote:
Originally Posted by tbonesmith
Just because a bolt feels sloppy, doesn't mean its not functioning correctly. Some wartime rifles would have been like that from brand new.
Just unsure of where to draw the line, as to what's worthwhile and what's a piece of junk.
I don't think I'd quite agree with that Thunderbox because the boltway in the body has a set tolerance that we had gauges for plus a calibrated 'BOLT, inspectors'. If it was sloppy from new, then it wouldn't have made it past the first Armourers in-inspection. Just my thoughts but I'll agree that if a good, correctly fitted bolt doesn't allow the bolt head to jump the track, then why scrap it
I suppose what I am saying is that - due to the geometry of the Enfield action with its short, open-top bolt way - degree of boltway wear is quite hard to assess without gauges and thus just from looking at bolt lateral and vertical movement. I.e. a fairly new rifle can still give the impression of a loose bolt fit, yet a very worn rifle with a replacement bolt can give a nice snug fit. I base my own entirely unscientific observations on looking at rifles that are apparently unworn - e.g. mint Lithgows, all-matching British rifles still on their original barrels, etc.
I know what you mean, I guess I just don't want to be too complacent about what I put together. And as I said, where does one draw the line? I'll see if I've got a spare bolt body that doesn't jump, will headspace and bear up on the recoil lugs evenly, and take a spare(correctly fitting) bolthead with out excessive overturn, and if I do, I'll renumber it and build on it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thunderbox
Where does one draw the line is a good question tbone, being men and thinking of ourselves we tend to border on the line of safety sometimes, we have all done it, reached that bit more than we should when on a ladder etc.......Quote:
Originally Posted by tbonesmith
One thing that was drummed into me when I was an Apprentice was safety, after a year in the training school we were let loose in the ship yard, this was an eye opener, seeing some of the things that went on made me cringe at times, but the basics I learnt never left me, but out in the yard you pick up some sayings and three of them have never left me, and I pass them on to Apprentice,s now.
1 Never put your fingers were you wouldnt put your Dick.
2 If in doubt pull out
3 If it was your car brakes and your wife and kids were in the car would you still drive it.