I think ive boaught a bit of a pig in a poke :(

So the Long Branch gun I bought on the basis of its excellent barrel and matching bolt has some issues.

a) The matching bolt isnt, looks like the old number was polished off and a new number stamped on...not so hot. Whats worse using marking blue I can see only one lug touches...not good at all. So I'm considering returning it....

but worse it wont feed very well...and seems to jamb.

:yikes:

b) When I move the bolt forward the front of the small bolt lug hits the seer and that's it, it wont feed. I inserted my no4 mk2 bolt and that fouls the seer as well, so the seer is rising too high? is that fixable?

This has a new stock fitted by the previous owner, its a mk1* so is it the stock is badly fitted?

by this I mean the trigger guard and hence trigger is in the wrong position?

On my mk2 no issues....so a new seer? The pin and seer hole dont seem worn, I cant feel much if any movement there....

regards

:(

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Originally Posted by ssj

The matching bolt isnt, looks like the old number was polished off and a new number stamped on...hot.

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If the rifle was sold as matching, this alone would be a good reason to return it. Peter Laidler may wish to comment, but polishing off a number is not typical arsenal practice, and an arsenal-fitted replacement would certainly have had proper contact for both locking lugs.

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Originally Posted by ssj

Whats worse using marking blue I can see only one lug touches...

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And this would be a good reason to return it as being unsafe to use i.e. not fit for the intended purpose (as a rifle suitable for shooting).

If the seller was a licensed dealer you should have no problem. And a licensed dealer, by virtue of having a licence, is a knowledgeable person who cannot wiggle out of his responsibility by saying he sold it on commission. With a private person you are likely to have a lot of prevarication of the "I haven't got a clue and am therefore not responsible" kind. Be firm. If the seller made such a claim, he is responsible, and IMHO you are in a strong position.

hmmm,

What Ive found is the trigger guard is bent, or was bent 2mm (I have straightened it) , this takes the trigger pin's centre line downward slightly causing it to rest on the seer and pull the seer down enough to mostly clear the bolt lug. Once I straightened it then it wont allow the bolt to feed at all. At the moment Im stumped as to what to fix/replace, well except the seer.

To return it I bought it on the basis of it being matching bolt and "Overall, this is excellent". The barrel is excellent, so if its a simple part replace like the seer I might live with it.

I'll wait on Peter if this is actually a sign the receiver is worn out or something then I'll ask to return and get a refund. We have a consumer guarantee act here that says it has to be fit for purpose...so I have a legal line.

:/

If the bolt is renumbered, set up correctlt and CHS's with the rifle, then it should be fine.

If the sear appears to rise too far, then there was a repair for it. But only once! I detail this in another thread somewhere. But as I said, it was only sanctioned once and then scrap.
The other scenario that fits your bill is that the bolt runs too low in the body. That I'm afraid means that the body is well and truly, what we call iun Armourers technical language, 'shagged' There was only ever one relaxation in this and that was for certain L42's in order to conserve dwindling stocks but I won't go into that here.

Sorry to spoil your Sunday but it looks like it's bad news SSJ!

Thats OK, I will go back to the seller and request I return it and get a refund. I have the consumer guarantee act here that says fit for purpose. The person also sells quite a few parts so its hard to believe he's without knowledge.

Hmm I cant see the bolt runs low as I cant push the bolt up with my fingers...

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edit
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ie a worn receiver...

I'll go back and see what he says.

Wow, that bites! Was your purchase through trademe? I've bought a fair few .303 rifles in the last two years on tradme and had a few similar experiences (although I've recently had the opposite and got an all matching no.5 mk1 when it was stated by the seller as a mis-match). Refining my purchases now and generally only stick to a few well know sellers who trust. Hope you can get your money back!

Yeah TM...it was described as "Overall, this is excellent". Same here I try and stick to ppl with a good reputation, the seller is 100%.

Im just writing an email now, I have the consumer guarantee act I hope, fit for purpose. Im not sure how easy its going to be to get the $s back, but he/she does have 100% positive feedback though, so we'll see what transpires, might just be an oops and it gets sorted OK.

Bugger......

We used to have a specially calibrated 'BOLT, gauge, Inspectors' that was the final arbiter. You have to slightly oil this bolt and press down on the body of it as the lower/left lug passes over the sear nose. If it touches or binds in any way then that's it.

You could try another sear and sear axis pin if you want.......

Remove the bolt and look at the sear stop part of the body. This is the inner ledge that stops the sear rotating upwards. If it has already been doctored due to the body being worn, you'll see a chisel like stake mark across the ledge that will form a slight distortion to the ledge and therefore slightly lower the ledge and therefore the sear nose. But, as I said, this can only be undertaken once.

Why only once.....? Simple. It's told the examiner that the body has already been deemed worn once and this is the second time so it's the chop!

On a DP rifle you'd ignore this and just keep doing it as it is of no real consequence. Same as a worn magazine stop face. Just another of the many things that condemn a No4 that noone takes into account when they linish out the old DP markings

If the forend has been replaced the sear may be hanging up on the wood. I'd remove the forend and check for any witness marks. if you have out of the stock reassemble the with the triggerguard and front collar. check for function. You can use your MK2 for comparison....difference may be obvious. Sounds like a nice long Branch especially barrel condition. Ron

Surely Ron, if the sear was hanging up so to speak, the sear wouldn't be going high enough to engage the left/small locking lug on itsway forward. SSJ's sear seems to be rising TOO high, therefore not hanging up and fouling the bolt slightly. Sitting with a SKN action my lap now........ have I missed something here.........?

Dont think so Peter. The seer fouls even with no wood on it. Looking at my no4 mk2 I can see the seer looks a noticable amount higher, it woud be a big chisel mark to correct that. The "forged" serial number on the bolt is enough for me to return it I think, I mean if its got these 2 nasties what else is there. If I'd paid only a little I'd strip it for parts, as I need a good barrel but a $700 loss I can ill afford.

If I cant get a return, and get stuck with it. Is it OK to remove the barrel and re-use it in another rifle? My understanding is they were chambered before fitting. I have a no4 mk2 with a docked barrel so I could re-use this full length barrel in this case.

You are right. Barrels were made, chambered before fitting and being rimmed the CHS is taken from the front face of the barrel too which rarely wears away - if ever! If it is a good barrel then it is quite valuable as I understand it, not being a dealer or trader in any way and never ever having had to buy one either! But before you set about rebarrelling your Mk2, make sure that you read up about the process because meny of the enthusiastic amateurs who do this work are, er.......... How do I say this? Ah, yes..... '....Have been found wanting'!

I just talked to the guy, he seems certain his gunsmith will repair it so I'm returning it in the morning. ive said I dont want it back, he advertised it as a serial number 18Lxxxx no L on the bolt at all, no L on the wrist as something impacted the L "deleting it", I dont think he can argue around that in a small claims court. So if we cant agree we'll be in there, see how it goes, it will cost me $35, another life experience...nothing like learning!

[re-]Barreling isnt in my league, I'd take it to a gunsmith and get him to do it, I wouldnt think it would take 2 hours, so a couple of hundred $s.

Yes barrels are rare now, Ive searched high and low, if I'd paid not much I'd wear the loss and use it on my good mk2...ah well.

Thanks for your advice, appreciated.

Steven

ssj, was it this one?
Lee Enfield No4 Mk1* Long Branch. 5 Groove. | Trade Me

I would just concentrate on the fact that the body is worn out, as indicated by the fact that the sear binds on the free running of the bolt. What'll eventually happen is that the hard locking lug will chip the cocking bent of the sear and that'll chomp up the face of the cocking piece. Seen plenty of 'em!

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Originally Posted by 5thBatt

ssj, was it this one?
Lee Enfield No4 Mk1* Long Branch. 5 Groove. | Trade Me

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yes that is the one.

---------- Post added at 09:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:50 AM ----------

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Originally Posted by Peter Laidler

I would just concentrate on the fact that the body is worn out, as indicated by the fact that the sear binds on the free running of the bolt. What'll eventually happen is that the hard locking lug will chip the cocking bent of the sear and that'll chomp up the face of the cocking piece. Seen plenty of 'em!

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Hi, thanks I have posted it back, the description of excellent doesnt gel with "the fact that the body is worn out, as indicated by the fact that the sear binds on the free running of the bolt." but he seems to think will repair, or he says he might refund lets see how it goes.

I'd be interested to learn how the sear can sit too high. A worn bolt channel is one thing and that's measurable but if the sear is too high, what causes that?

303guy. It is caused by, well........, wear! As soon as ypou draw the fired bolt back as soon as the sear, under rotating tension from the sear spring clears the sear face of the cocking piece it flicks UPWARDS in order to engage the cocking piece on its forward loading motion. As the sear flicks sharply upwards it's travel MUST be stopped otherwise it'd just carry on spinning. So this further rotation is prevented by the sear stop face inside the body.

Naturally, this sear stop face gets a battering EVERY time you open the bolt. And as a result gets worn - or hammered down. As I said, there IS a staking repair but only once.

Have a look inside the body of your own rifle to see the action of the sear and what prevents it from rotating too far. Too far and it will do all the things I said.

Has that answered the question? Good question by the way...........

Thanks Peter. I have two or three 1896 MLE's and they show no such wear, same with all my others. Then again, they may not have been fired all that much.