Warped SMLE Mk I*** Forestock

Hello all, feel like I'm frequently seeking guidance on here as of late.

Received a SMLE Mk I*** that I've been anxiously awaiting for a couple weeks. The rifle is in great shape and I was quite pleased with it till I looked down the sights. That was when I noticed the forward sight was nearly touching the left ear of the nose cap. About two minutes later, I had the rifle disassembled and it was pretty apparent the forestock was doing its best impression of a barrel roll for the last third or so. :banghead:

I am not even a novice wood-worker, so my big question is whether the stock is salvageable or am I going to have to go down the (likely expensive) path of trying to get a duplicate made off my Cond. II?

I'll try to get some photos once I get it back together.

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Well, if steam / hot oil can be used to bend a shotgun buttstock as shown in several youtube videos, e.g. here Brownells - Jack Rowe, Master Gunsmith Series, Stock Bending. Part 1 - YouTube
then I expect the same principles could be used to straighten a fore-end.
Would need a lot of planning and preparation before starting, and I'm sure there's no shortage of expertise on this forum to advise you.
Rob

We've been back and forth over this ground time and again, there's also no shortage of threads discussing it. Thing is, with that particular rifle, why mess with it? It's scarce enough in that form, I'd leave it alone. Certainly replacing the front end isn't going to increase value...

It can be straightened.

A session in a steam box and then some careful jigging.

Sounds easy don't it?

303, I had a similar warp on a 1903 Springfield. I tried the steam method with no luck. I finally cut the forearm at the lower band, realigned the pieces and doweled and glued them back together (like a duffle cut repair). It worked fine. I'm not sure if I would try it on a rare stock like yours but is something to consider. Salt Flat

Thanks for the responses all!

BAR, replacing the stock would definitely be my very last choice. It will most likely stay as is, although that will depend on how it shoots. The barrel does bind a bit in the forestock, so I'm curious to see what impact that has.

Englishman, you certainly make the steam box and jigging sound easy, but I expect it'd probably a bit nerve-wracking! All of this makes me wish I'd had an opportunity to take shop class back in the day.

Salt Flat, that is certainly something to consider, but I think it would hurt my heart too much to cut it, haha.

I will have to see if I can get a forestock made regardless, as I have another Mk I that I'm trying to bring back from the grave. Fortunately it still has its proper bolt and the butt stock is still good, but its forearm is all cracked to pieces. I did manage to find a correct Mk I nose cap, Mk I top wood, and Mk I rear sight all in the span of a week though!

i would be keen on a mk1 forewood if you do reprodce any.

Ya, I remember we made toboggan skis in wood shop at school when I was a kid. Nothing magic about bending wood, it just needs heat and slow gentle force.
The wood fibres are bonded together with a substance called lignum, it is in all wood. Lignum melts with heat.

It is the heat in the steam box that softens up the lignum and allows the wood to become plastic and to be formed and moulded.
Your rifle could have been stood leaning against the wall beside the furnace in the basement, for example. Extended periods of heat would stress relieve the wood and let it find its natural set. In this case, a couple of degrees twist.

I use steam box as a heat source because it heats evenly from all directions and is not possible to scorch the wood. The steam has to be cranked up high for a long period of time.

The concept to straightening is simple. Just heat the fore end up and give it a little twist to where you want it and hold it still while it cools.
The jig could be something as simple as a barrelled action with sights removed and a bunch of block, clamps and shims.
Hold the action solid in a vise on the bench with the fore end mounted, rig up blocks onto the front end giving it a little over twist in the opposite direction.
When the wood cools, it would spring back a tiny amount and take on a new set. Beauty of it is that you can repeat and keep tweaking until it is straight. Once cooled, the wood would remain straight, unless it was heated and the lignum was softened up again.

I am not meaning to sound flippant when I say that it is simple to do. There is probably somebody local to you with the skills and the kit to do it for you. Check out furniture makers. The hoop backs on kitchen chairs are bent wood.

Englishman, I am intrigued about the steam box, can you explain the design? How does it fit over the fore-end and seal, and how do you generate the steam - is it just a tube coming off the spout of a kettle?

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Originally Posted by RobD

Englishman, I am intrigued about the steam box, can you explain the design? How does it fit over the fore-end and seal, and how do you generate the steam - is it just a tube coming off the spout of a kettle?

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Rob: I use a big oven roaster (turkey size) pan with doors cut in the ends. I put water in and sit it on top of a single element hot plate. I've used this to straighten bow staves and the key is definitely to get the wood to the right temperature through and through. When it's correct the wood bends like plastic- quite amazing. If you get it wrong it cracks. For rifle stocks I prefer the boiling linseed oil/ torch method as it doesn't seem to affect the wood at all. The secret, as with steam, is to get enough heat in. I've had good luck with a few and had others crack. My best result was with the forend off of a '41 Fazakerley which had a nasty bend and twist. Straightened it with hot oil 4 years ago and it remains straight today. Regarding the gun in this thread, with the collector value of a good Mk I, I don't think I'd touch it. If I was intent on shooting it a bit I think I'd just try it as is or, better yet, shoot a different one.

Ridolpho

Tonyd, I will definitely keep everyone apprised if anything comes of it. Fortunately, I have another unwarped Mk I stock that could be duplicated for the rebuild

Englishman, no worries, I definitely didn't read it as a flippant response. And thank-you for taking the time to write up the details of the steam box. It is certainly something I will be looking into.

I'm no woodwork expert or wood technologist but as apprentices we did have two superb woodwork teachers who taught me the little I still remember. And it's this......... You CAN straighten a fore-end in much the same way as you can bend a butt to make it fit a shooter. But guess what? Yep, got it in one. Unless it is retained in that position - like the curved wooden fenders of a tug-boat, it's going to revert to form. It's called the laws of nature.

And another thing. There's two sorts of wood. There's wood that has warped and there's wood that hasn't warped - YET!

G'day all, this is my first post. I wanted to give some information on the the warped forewood post. My son uses a CNC mill to reproduce SMLE uper & lower forewoods in Australian Coachwood one of the woods used by the Lithgow Small Arms Factory here in OZ during the 1940s. The upper wood can be two piece or single for use on "Range Rifles" The end product is very precise having been referenced to the original Armourers drawings and saves a lot of hassles for restorers.

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Originally Posted by Lateo

My son uses a CNC mill to reproduce SMLE uper & lower forewoods in Australian Coachwood

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You should raise a WTS ad in the forum for that...they likely will sell.

I suggest shoot it and see how it goes.

Many years ago I had a Lithgow No.1MkIII* manufactured in 1919 still in its original wood. It had a warp very similar to this in the forend when I bought it, unbeknownst to me.

I found upon shooting it that the pressure it exerted on the right side of the barrel near the muzzle caused the rifle to throw shots left to the order of about 1 inch at 25 metres. However despite throwing them to the left the thing strung 10 rounds through a ragged 0.5 inch hole with one flier at this range the first time I shot it.

I duly drifted the sight and stretched the rifles legs finding it to be an excellent shooter.

I pondered trying to straighten the wood in the long term.

However I ended up deciding that even though the aesthetics of having a sight drifted all the way over to the left are unpleasant it was outweighed by how well the rifle shot and elected not to mess around with the wood.