L42 Style Build

Hi Guys,

I want to build an L42 style rifle in 308. I have a proofed body, the mag and all the required scraps.

I thought I'd start by fitting the barrel. I sourced a new blank, 1:13" twist to suit 155gn matchkings of the correct profile (approximately). I threaded and chambered the barrel and cut the extractor cutout by hand. That job went well and the chamber looks very nice and she it TIGHT. I will cut the crown and turn down the muzzle to fit a foresight base, which I will bore out to suit and solder on.

I intend to fit No32 scope pads, I have only one set and they are almost too nice to fit to a rifle that I'll sell. It occurs to me to make some from scratch, but that might just be silly... We'll see. The wood will be done next.

Here are today's photos:

Tbone, This will be an interesting thread to follow. It is very nice to see there are still some old world skilled people out there. Your tooling and equipment are first class. I can appreciate the time and effort it takes to do work at this level--kudos! Salt Flat

Hi Guys,

today I completed the barrel by turning the muzzle down a bit and crowning the muzzle. I also bored out the foresight base to fit. There is a little bit of clearance on it to allow for solder. The foresight base I used was a bit butchered already as it had been on a non-standard barrel before, so rather than duff a standard one I think this will serve its purpose just fine. I will have to put the barrel back in to index the foresight, but this can wait a bit.

Cheers

Hi Guys,

I bought a NOS No4 Mk2 forend a couple of years ago and it was badly warped. Most of this is in the front of the forend, but it is also substantial right at the rear. The question has been asked many times if you can steam bend forends back to straight, and my answer is always "No way", but I have cut most of the warped section out, and I just have to bend one side of the rear part of the forend a bit. If I halved the deflection it would be servicable... maybe. Anyway I'm giving it a run. If it's some of the way there I can heavily relieve the area and glass bed it to eliminate tension, or steam it again and re-try. So if it doesn't work then fine, but if I can get this piece of junk to make an accurate and servicable rifle, all the better.

Cheers!

Hi Guys,

I didn't dream this jig up myself, but copied it from the one pictured and described in Peter Laider's excellent article and instructions (that I'm trying to follow): Milsurps Knowledge Library - Making Up a Useable No.4 Sniper - Part 2 (by Peter Laidler)

I expect it to work well. I still have to machine and attach the main body clamp. It occurs to me that it might be a good idea to attach a piece steel along where the base of the receiver will sit on the jig, ajdacent to the main body clamp. The reason for this is that I intend to machine the side of the receiver for the pads on this fixture, and it would be good to have the receiver indexed to the jig, so if the vice if aligned to the X-axis of the mill, then so is the base of the body and presumably to bolt way axis and the axis of the bore.

Anyway that's one for tomorrow, here are the pics:

This is the part I am watching closely. I have my own L42 clone in progress and am leery of drilling into the receiver unless I am 100000% sure it will be correct

Me too, hence the jig.

Hi Guys,

I completed the jig this afternoon and the body aligned perfectly with the X-axis of the mill.

In order to get the pad to sit flat I machined the area of the front pad. Thank heavens for the DRO! I only took about 0.2mm to clean/level the area and remove that little hump at the front. I had to file the bevel on the top of the receiver a bit at the front, as this was a bit raised too.

I have lock-tite'd the pad in place for now and will drill and tap for the front mounting screws tomorrow if I can find some time.

I'm happy there were no dramas with this little operation. Thankyou Peter for the Good-Oil on the jig.

It does take the guesswork out of it. I'll be interested to see how much ( if any ) you need to add to the pads to make them align properly.

Hi Guys,

Today I drilled and tapped the front pad in place, and then fitted the rear pad.

It was a pretty fussy little job, and I had to machine about 0.5mm off the back of the rear pad and do lot of file fitting of the pad, to affect elevation. After a couple of tries bore sighting the rifle is now perfectly collimated with the scope and bracket I have. As described in Peter Laidler's article: Milsurps Knowledge Library - Making Up a Useable No.4 Sniper - Part 3 (by Peter Laidler) I have soft soldered the pad in place and it is now ready to drill and tap, but I don't have 1/4BSF tap! Pretty dopey of me, but a mate is kindly going to lend me one.

By the way, the forend looks like a go'er, it wouldn't surprise me if it doesn't pan out somehow but at this stage it looks okay.

Looks like things are going well for you with the build it shall be very nice when its finished no doubt also is that a No. 32 scope that PL has refurbished for the project.
Will look forward to seeing the results on the range.

Hi Guys,

Today I drilled and tapped the rear pad in situ. I still don't have the 1/4 BSF tap for the rear hole so that will have to wait.

I managed to break a tap in the front screw hole on the rear pad, I think I accidentally picked up the intermediate tap. Anyway I punched it out and tapped it with the right tap and there was no harm done. Beyond that I fitted and modified the rear sight.

I'm stuck until I get that tap now. Hopefully this week, then I can get everything stripped, bead blasted and blued pretty fast I hope. In there mean time I suppose I can the timber work happening.

Hi Guys,

I'm giving the steamed warped timber a run. So I milled out the barrel channel and have half lapped the rear guard through the radius to extend it forward of the mid band. I've done this a few times and it works well. Where I have drilled out the rivets I will plugs these holes with beech or birch plugs. Again this is a modification illustrated in another of Peter Laidlers great articles: Milsurps Knowledge Library - The fore-end and handguards of the L42 (by Peter Laidler)

I have also inletted for the larger knox form.

The last photos show small pieces glued back into the barrel channel, when I milled it out I think I went a little too far and was worried that the forend might be a bit delicate or crush under the top wood. So I machined square recesses and glued in some bits to reinforce the area... I'll measure better next time.

So hopefully I can get the rear guard sorted out tomorrow.

I have a decent SMLE (No1Mk3) butt to use for this build. I'd love to use "all correct" parts, but this butt will fit up fine and I don't really want to go chasing parts for a no collector value job like this. Perfectly functional will be just fine thanks, and the wood will refinish really nicely.

What are you going to do for a cheek piece? I see them advertised but at circa $70 I haven't been in a rush to buy one.

Well the tap my mate sent me turned up today, so I drilled the body for the rear bracket screw (1/4 BSF), it was very hard not surprisingly and I promptly broke the tap in the hole. So that was good. I managed to punch it out by shattering the tap, then I ground the stub of the tap and had another go and broke that too!! Perfect, so I smashed that out as well. The hole has a tiny amount of damage to one of the threads, but nothing that won't clean up. Sorry Gary, I will give you new one!

I have a new set on their way and I expect them next week, hopefully I'll get through with a brand new taper tap. I expect if I can drill it with HSS I should be able to tap it with HSS. If anyone has advice I'm all ears.

And with regards to the cheekpiece, I think I'll make one from scratch.

Tbone, what are you using for oil? A friend of mine that is a master fabricator told me to use Rapidtap brand cutting oil on my Long Branch build last spring. That stuff glides amazingly. The tap gets tight but there is no stop start to its movement, just smooth spin. I only broke one 4Ba tap and it was because I got greedy and tried going too fast, I knew better as I had a lot of torque on that tap

I was just using a general purpose grease-like metal cutting compound.
This stuff: 40004 Molyslip Metal Cutting Compound

I have had and used the stuff for ages, seems good usually.

Would different metals present different gauling resistance as I am not a machinist just a question on the tap Tbone?

I don't know. The main thing is that where this hole is located is right next to that recess for the locking lug and the metal there is extremely hard. I think I'll get there with the new tap, but I'll let you know if I don't too.

Hi T-bone - thanks for the great project write up - better than any mini-series on TV!

Rapid-tap and other lubes are good - tend to be "thin" and function against galling - good for soft alloy steels etc - I have used it extensively and other expensive tapping only potions with unecessary lube / pressure additives..

The best I have ever used was old school "sheep tallow" - also by other glamorous names (smells like victory)- stayed put in the hole and tap, eased pressure at the cutting edge and had "body" to move chips out of the cut zone (watch out for that with thin lubes).

I assume you are tapping in the machine head (driving by hand) for position, axies and feed control - you are obviously a serious machinist so I doff cap if any of this is a given and is already your practice / experience (it may benefit others etc):

Good quality HSS should be good to go on carbon steel (many holes as life expectation and a $ sting reassures quality) - the locking lugs are reported to be a thin case hard so taps should eat the soft center - the crunchy outside is tiny compared to the thread pitch (all taps need to chew, chew, chew - 1/16 of a turn forward, 1/8th back)...and should be light and easy like the drill...blinding and raising the hole by taping / waxing the inside wall (or other dam method) can provide a better lube reservoir if its the runny kind.

Most of the broken tap frustration can be dealt with in the hole - the drill should cut and produce low pressure, dwell (heat in the hole) and a smooth bore and be of the "right size" - check the tap root diameter to the hole size of the drill..I was taught that a 75% form thread is almost as strong as a full form thread, and in this application the thread is only required to produce a light axial load - reducing tap load increases its life.

Often the end from of the fastener thread may also benefit from extra clearance - which can also increase the lead on a hole for a tap to start - think chamfer - I would be temped to touch the pad chamfers when prepping these holes myself...

The drill should not exhibit "wobble or wonder" - this is typically shared by the tap and is a known killer - fix that in the hole with the drill or a mill etc. Reaming the hole to size and finish is an option (not talked about much these days...).

A taper (lead) tap should have 8-10 full thread turns between clearance and full form teeth - manufacturers / suppliers tend to shrink / skimp / offer an intermediate tap (@4 turns) for a "taper tap", smaller taps are best with a single flute for strength.

The tap drive should be "hard" - no slop or backlash - use a tap collet if poss, (the tap itself possessing great quality location / drive features) the axial feed should provide no wander or end pressure (up or down) beyond the pull of the thread pitch when the tap bites.

Similarly all of these factors are in play when hand tapping also - that's where mastery comes in!

I have some taps that are 40 plus years old - sorry, nobody can ever "borrow" them - they represent my livelihood and I don't run em like I rented or stole em!

I hope this helps, and I look forward to another gripping installment!:cheers:

Hi Guys,

I got some good quality Sutton taps and managed that part of it finally. I then got the pads soldered on and the scope alignment is not perfect but a few clicks and I'll be on the mark.

I got the metal parts bead blasted today and put the first application of rust bluing solution. This is time consuming, but the bead blasting and prep are the longest leg. And I should knock the bluing over in the next couple of days in a couple of 1.5 hour sessions. I use 3 applications and get a finish that I'm very happy with.

So I will make sure that the wood is ready to fit on Friday, and I should have a rifle to shoot on Saturday. We'll see

That's a real credit to your skill and patience Tbonesmith to be putting this all together a hearty congrats to you hope you get to the range on Saturday

I was going to say the same as Cinders. This is a quality build. I'll be very interested to see how it shoots.

Yes very well done, and must make you feel that you have really achieved something.
I would be interested, and love to see a video of its end game if you have the time on completion:thup:
Not sure of the progress through our UK firearms departments on change of round size and barrel etc unless you were a manufacturer here of course.
Do you have just as tight regs there?

Cheers guys,

Firearms laws are pretty restrictive here and to do a build such as this one needs a Firearms Dealers Licence, which is the same as that for a gunsmith or manufacturer, which I have got. All barrel changes are reportable too, and there is a requirement for marking work. No proof laws though, but I only build 7.62 rifles on (No4)bodies that have a 7.62 proof stamp from previous conversion, while not a law it is a requirement for use on NRA ranges.

I would love to do a little video on completion, I hanvn't done one before, but why not.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gil9713

Not sure of the progress through our UKicon firearms departments on change of round size and barrel etc unless you were a manufacturer here of course.
Do you have just as tight regs there?

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Very similar here Gil, but the catch 22 is: Rifle No AL2222 comes to me as a .303, its on the national register as that and on my books as that, I re barrel rifle No AL2222 so it it is now a .22 RF noted on my books, I need to proof it before I could sell it, but could transfer to another dealer with no proof, after this the other dealer may proof it then sell it, he then sends in the paper work that Rifle AL2222 .22 RF has been sold to..... etc etc, only problem now there is 2 x AL2222 one in .303 and another in .22 RF on the national register..... but only one AL2222 !!.


Just an example but I know of a few examples that may have been on a dealers books for some time or have been from dealer to dealer that are not on the national register, ( obvious never been sold on to a FAC holder when the the register came in)

And before I forget, nice work tbone

Hi Guys,

I completed the bluing this morning and I am very happy with the result. The job is nice and even, dark and satin. Everything is a bit oily for the next 24 hours, but it will more or less look freshly refinished, because it is! I didn't bother with any polishing or anything, as I think they look just fine bead blasted and any burrs neatly filed back.

So she should be ready to assemble tomorrow.

Cheers:thup:

Outstanding workmanship TBone it will look really good I reckon when it all comes together :super::thup::beerchug: :cheers: just in case you like reds!

I agree with you about bluing over a sand/bead blasted finish. Looks workmanlike. Do you have phosphating facilities Tom

Not yet Peter, the reason I use the bluing method I use is that I can do it in my limited space and it is versatile enough to be used on everything, more or less. The labour is a killer though.

Hi Guys,

I am having some issues with bedding the rifle. With the wood being a bit warped I couldn't get the barrel to sit in the centre of the barrel channel. Because the barrel is so fat, there isn't any wiggle room. I gave it a good run, but without glass bedding this forend is a bin-job. But we have the technology!

I have very good bearing on the draw and wrist but I needed to elevate the front of the action a bit and centre the barrel in the channel, so I taped the barrel at the front of the forend so is sat where I want it to, and bedded the front of the action and the knox, I put the trigger guard and screws in mainly to ensure alignment.

One thing to keep in mind if doing this is to "ENSURE THAT THERE ARE RELEASE ANGLES WHERE YOU APPLY YOUR BEDDING COMPOUND". Where I have been concerned about the lack of release angles I have created them with plasticine. With regard to release agent forget hair spray or WD40 or any other rubbish, just buy some "Mould Release Wax". The tin on the table cost about $25, 10 years ago and has released hundreds or articles from various moulds and will do me for another decade I expect. It is easy to use, economical, and thoroughly reliable.

The bedding material I prefer is a shop mix of epoxy resin and powdered aluminium, and the viscosity you are after is so that is will sag but not drip off an inverted scraper/stick. It should look wet, if it looks chalky or dry you have added too much powder.

Anyway I prefer to avoid this method on these types of rifles, but it works great and as I said this forend was stuffed for other methods, and could yet prove a failure...

TBone that is looking spectacular we in the forum and I will speak for others it looks bloody fantastic honestly bloke a real good job and I do not think I will be alone in saying this to you.....:super:

Just a minute TBone.................... If you need to raise the muzzle at the front/lighten the muzzle bearing load, then you should lower the body slightly at the rear of the fore-end. The body longitudinally rotates around the front trigger guard screw in effect when fitting fore-ends. Additionally, the accumulative error ratio achieves the aim.
A similar method of bedding was permitted at the end of the old L42's life in order to utilise existing stocks of old fore-ends (and some were worse than dire, believe me!). The method was to set the epoxy on the fore-end, place cling-film between it and the rifle, then seat and allow to set. Remove rifle and clingfilm if you can(?) and that was it!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Peter Laidler

If you need to raise the muzzle at the front/lighten the muzzle bearing load, then you should lower the body slightly at the rear of the fore-end

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In this case it's all a bit twisted and I understand what your saying but I'm out of room all round with some twist and warp, I can't go lower at the rear.

Hi Guys,

I got it together this morning, gave it a quick run in, then shot the attached 5 shot group using 6 0'clock hold at 50m (it looks like 4 holes at 5.30), made some scope adjustments and shot it at 100m for the service shoot, it did well.

I will stick with this wood set, and just refinish it as best I can. I would like to use better timber, but I suppose this is 2014 and I have to use what I've got. None the less I think it will look fully respectable and be extremely accurate and reliable.

One other thing to iron out it that while it feeds and extracts reliably, it's a bit stiff on feeeding, so I will chamfer and polish the mouth of the chamber a bit.

Next week is a good test, 400m scoped "sniper" shoot.

Not bad looking rig love the stripe patination on the butt has been a good thread gets better each time well done Tbone :clap:

Hi Guys,

This morning I pulled the barrel out again and adjusted the mouth of the chamber a bit, radiusing it a bit and polishing it. I got it back in, and feeding is pretty smooth and happy.

Shot the rifle at 400m today, it was single snap on a figure 12 with a 6"bull. I got 19 out of 20 hits, no bulls, but the groups were pretty tight, up and right of the bull. So no big issues, plenty of elevation left on the scope too. With regard to collimation I was wondering how it would pan out, and today we had about 5 points of wind, and I had 7 or thereabouts on the scope so I was out by 2-3 MOA which I'm pretty happy with really.

I am not 100% happy with the forend as the barrel is not perfectly centred (about 1.5mm off), it is however free floating and the rifle performs very well, so I'm just going to leave it as is. I can't justify the time and scrapping something that is perfectly functional. So I'll pretty up the timber and get some pics up this week.

What was the 20th Tbone a trigger shot ? :rofl:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CINDERS

What was the 20th Tbone a trigger shot ? :rofl:

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:dunno:

Hi All, first time poster - long, long time reader

T-Bone have enjoyed following your project for a while now, and am impressed with how it has come together so far. You've got me quite keen to build an L42ish rifle of my own.

Wondering about the barrel you've used:
-How near to the original L42 specification is the profile? What contour#?
-Is it a local blank (AUS)? Tobler, Tse, Maddco etc,?

Unsurprisingly the RSAF enfield 7.62 mag (L8, L42) is proving very difficult to track down, Does anyone have any leads on one of these?

Thanks

Hi BrianLara400*, thanks for posting, and although belated, welcome to the forum.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BrianLara400*

Wondering about the barrel you've used:
-How near to the original L42 specification is the profile? What contour#?
-Is it a local blank (AUS)? Tobler, Tse, Maddco etc,?

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I bought the profiled blank from TSE, they said it was the correct profile (custom profiled from their file), and while I'm not complaining it's a bit heavier than original. When I do the next one I'll send them measurements of an original, and they can make it to those dimensions. I really like TSE barrels and find they shoot great and are excellent value... As well as being good to deal with.

I had been looking for a while for the right mag, and finally found a couple attached to rifles. None spare though sorry.

Thanks for your info T-Bone,
Had thought as much regarding the Mag, however will persist and something will turn up eventually.

Very much looking forward to your next instalment, with the whole thing finished and tarted up;)

On the subject of magazines, I wonder if anyoine else has noticed just how close the AI 7.62mm L96 magazines are to the 7.62mm No4/L42 magazines are? I think that there scope for fitting a gash spare one of these into a No4/L42. Just looking, I think it'd be a doddle......