Scope mount question

Hey folks, new member here.

H(T) scope mounts for a No1 Mk3 are about impossible to find, but how about the No4 T mounts on a No1? I know there would be some tapping involved to attach the pads, but if properly installed it seems like it would work.

Thoughts

Proud owner of:
Eddystonr 1917 (sporterized by previous owner)
1918 BSA No1 Mk3* (rough but bore and chamber are great, new bolt, considering making an L42A1 clone)
1942 Lithgow No1 Mk3* (absolutely beautiful!)
1943 Ishy No1 Mk3* (poorly sporterized, customizing an ATI stock due to poor fit)

Not even the remotest chance in hell..............

But just one question if I might be so bold........... How do you propose making an L42 clone from a 1918 BSA No1

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Peter Laidler

Not even the remotest chance in hell..............

But just one question if I might be so bold........... How do you propose making an L42 clone from a 1918 BSA No1

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Sorry to have to do this at mealtime, but here's an interesting one.... I'll leave comment at that for the moment. This and others will be the subjects of a posting here very soon....

Attachment 27756

More of a structural analog. The obvious answer as to how would be removing the rear sight, modifying the existing forestock, use No4 upper wood, and attaching a cheek piece on the stock from my Ishy. Once I have the way everything need to be modified, I order new wood and go to work-bedding, nice pillar replacing the front trigger guard bushing, etc. I may even get a No4 mount now just to see what happens.
Yes, it will still be .303.
Has it ever been done? I don't know or care.
Will it work? Won't know until it is done.
Will it look nice? Maybe. I can always order new wood and reassemble as intended.
It has harvested 5 deer for me in the 15 years I have had it, so its not a range queen.

Might I be so bold as to ask - again - ........... How do you propose making an L42 clone from a 1918 BSA No1?

To put it simply, I have a No1, and using parts available to me will attempt to make it look as much like an L42A1 as I possibly can. It will be a clone, structural analog, rudux, a reimagining, etc. Maybe it will look more like a L39. It will certainly look like a No 1 made to look like either. I would like to mount a scope, thus directing back to my original question.

Or I will use the magic wand we keep at work. Everything gets delivered by a unicorn riding a rainbow.

Being on the advisory council perhaps you could help me with the project. Why exactly will a No 4 scope mount not work on a No1?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Son

Sorry to have to do this at mealtime, but here's an interesting one.... I'll leave comment at that for the moment. This and others will be the subjects of a posting here very soon....

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That is sheer brilliance!

I think that what Peter is saying is that for an L42 clone, you are starting with the WRONG rifle. It is simply not possible to convert an SMLE/No.1 into a No.4. Although both rifles are based on the same Lee-Enfield principles, they are DIFFERENT rifles. For example, you can't convert a K98K into an M.1903 in spite of them both being Mausers. (Of course now the father and son gunsmiths in the other thread will say that they have done it - and uprated it to 13.2 mm TuF!)

As to your question, the No.4T/L42 Scope bracket relies on the rifles receiver being slab-sided, which the SMLE/NO.1 ain't.

To be perfectly honest and truthful Clutch, I thought your original idea was a spoof or you'd been at the baccy....... There isn't a polite way of telling you that your idea of making a No1 into a clone anything else (except a delisle) is the stuff of fairytales. As for making it into a clone L42, might I just say that you'll need to start with a steel smelting plant, then......

If you REALLY want a repro No4 or an L42, might I suggest that you just start with a No4, get the repro bits then read this forum fron start to end then get cracking. But starting with a No1 rifle.....................................

awe Peter, I was just beginning to enjoy this thread.

Sometimes you just have to be cruel to be kind Muffer!
Talking of which, seen my wife in Oz yet? She's there someway. I've told her to get her name down for a 'poms go swimmiung with the salties' trip in N-Qld. You know, a bit like those wierdos who appreciate the finer points of swimming with dolphins - or maybe a bit of underwater shark fishing. Anyway, say g'day when you see her

Someone told me that the salties were not real partial to pom's pete, Besides, your wife will probably do a Steve Irwin on them and tie them in knots, Hope she has a good time.

Wow, you guys are good, if only concrete thinkers. Now lets get abstract.
Below are the facts:
I have a No1
It is not a No4
A standard No4 can be made to look like an L42A1, a clone if you will (or an L39)
I am in the US Air Force and have good teeth

Now theoretical:
The furniture of a No1 and No4 could be modified to look like that of an L42 and installed on a No1
Knowing the dimensions of a No4, such as centerline to outside of reciever, a person could have something made to reach that on a No1
With the miracle of modern CNC, one could even have the pads machined into said piece, if not just places for pads to attach
One could also have No1 mounts made if one knew the dimensions
A person could tap the reciever (which my Ishy has), the charger bridge (which mt Ishy also has), or even tap the holes where the charger bridge is attached
From 3 feet away (1 meter to you guys), only the true enthusiast would know, even with a modern aftermarket mount, since not many people enjoy the old battle rifles

Sounds like you got it all figured out there clutch, now build the dam'd thing and lets see it. I've been told a picture is worth a thousand words.....................

I am also building an AR in .308 that takes G3 mags. Crazy!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clutch5473

Wow, you guys are good, if only concrete thinkers. Now lets get abstract.
Below are the facts:
I have a No1
It is not a No4
A standard No4 can be made to look like an L42A1, a clone if you will (or an L39)
I am in the US Air Force and have good teeth

Now theoretical:
The furniture of a No1 and No4 could be modified to look like that of an L42 and installed on a No1
Knowing the dimensions of a No4, such as centerline to outside of reciever, a person could have something made to reach that on a No1
With the miracle of modern CNC, one could even have the pads machined into said piece, if not just places for pads to attach
One could also have No1 mounts made if one knew the dimensions
A person could tap the reciever (which my Ishy has), the charger bridge (which mt Ishy also has), or even tap the holes where the charger bridge is attached
From 3 feet away (1 meter to you guys), only the true enthusiast would know, even with a modern aftermarket mount, since not many people enjoy the old battle rifles

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The operations you propose will cost you more in time and money than a previously sportered No4 in good condition.

sorry to put it plainly, but if you must proceed as you plan, I don't think anyone here is going to admit to helping you in any way. The ethics of a collectors forum are not to promote the destruction of the very pieces we seek to preserve. All the advise you have gotten so far, although it isn't what you want to hear, is logical to the max. It is your rifle, and if you choose to mig weld an aftermarket fake 4T scope mount onto a piece of angle iron welded onto the rounded No1 receiver to make the side flat... then in the immortal words of ALF... "Go for it Willie"... but, trust me, more people than you think will know what you have done at a glance.

If it's already tapped, then why not make a clone No1 sniper?..

BTW, I have good teeth too and I'm a D^D Armourer.

Peter

Not sure if she is traveling with your wife, but we have had a very distinguished English Lady in Perth this week. She looks very much like the lady on our coins , but I have been lead to believe hat she is married to a gentlemen of Greek origin.

HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.

They both attended a BBQ by the river today. She "threw a snag on the barby" with several thousand Perth residents. 9 tonnes of sausages were consumed!

Nice of the POMs in England to let our shared Monach visit the Antipodes.

Paul

You could always sprinkle a bit of fairy dust on the number 1, or squint really hard to look at the no1 to make it look like a no4, no wait! you could always start with a long tom and in a few years it will grow into a no4. Nah that aint gonna work, or you could weld a scope to the top of the rifle am i getting close yet.
Scoose me for being a sinic but i really dont think that what he is trying to acheive is plausable in the realms of reallity.
Or is he just trying to wind everyone up!
Regards
Fergs

Might have been born in Greece, but the ancestry of said "Greek" gent is more like 7/8 German, 1/8 Danish and 0/8 Greek....

As for "letting" them visit, I suspect that you and I are helping to pay for the trip to no small extent.

Hope they weren't booked to fly QANTAS!

Just got back from escorting a friend who fell in Afghan back to the States from Germany, priorities shifted indefinitely.

If you want to put a scope on to your No.1 you will need a set of Purdey or Holland and Holland mounts to fit the No. I receiver. Roger Payne makes very good ones if you can get them.Then,depending on your scope body ,you will then have to devise some sort of scope clamping method as the scope rings were usually soldered on the original scopes. I did this ,made Purdey mounts from scratch and mounted an Aldiss scope on a SMLE. It took a great deal of work to do and I wouldn`t do it again!. To be honest,unless you have a good deal of skill and a decent workshop I would forget it!

Smelly sniper, I think you need to read page one of this thread again................... The words Purdey, Holland & Holland and Al;dis don't even come into the equation so far!

I now have an Aldis with the mounts attached to the scope, but not the mounts for the rifle. I am looking to have the rifle mounts reproduced, would you be interested or do you have any blueprints? i would be happy to pay for said service. Unfortunately Roger won't be making these sets for a while. Thanks for any help here.

Thx. I'm expecting some more Whitehead/Winchester A5 SMLE mounts just after Xmas & am also in the process of organising some more PPCo bases. I'll be getting more Purdey's done to follow & may do a limited number of William Evans two piece mounts if there's anybody out there interested........?! The aldis/late war PPCo manufactured claw mounts (P'14/Mod '18 style) for the SMLE have now all sold, so that's something else I must look into. So much to do, so little time!! I'll keep people posted via the forum as things develop.

ATB