At long last!... my first L1A1..

[fernleaf]

After a two month wait for the appropriate license to arrive so I can own one of these, I bought this rifle a few weeks ago.

This is how it looked when I picked it up...









...and this is how it looks after I put a Slaz 64 handguard on it - I think I prefer the earlier handguard, but it lives with the MA70 round one it came with on it. Buttstock is MA73.



Lithgow 1961 vintage, other than having the wood changed out it hasn't been refurbished. No doubt it is ex-NZDF, having the NZ Pattern carry handle...

Accuracy seems to be 'about right' - 4 inch group shot supported from a bench at 100m, but I wonder if it can do a bit better than that - there is a lot of side to side wobble in my rear sight.....

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Peter Laidler]

Side to side wobble in the rear sight can be corrected by making sure that the two zeroing screws are tight. But if the slack is in the slide then you could cure it by nipping up slide on the bed. Loose leaf, same again. But a loose leaf and slide souldn't affect the zeroing or accuracy to any degree because they are both spring loaded and will always (?) return the balls and therefore the leaf or slide to the same position. The rifle ain't known for its pin point accuracy and that's why we didn't pursue its use with telescopic sights.

However, if the body is loose on the TMH, that's another story altogether. And before you go listening to a load of old bollo.......... er......... old wives tales about knocking seven bells out of the sides of the TMH and a zillion other hoary old chestnuts, I suggest you read and digest the previous articles written about the trusty old L1A1's on this very forum

[fernleaf]

I've compared the wobble in my rear sight to a couple of my mates SLRs, and mine is noticeably sloppier.

[Peter Laidler]

You now know what the answer is then!

[enbloc8]

However, if the body is loose on the TMH, that's another story altogether. And before you go listening to a load of old bollo.......... er......... old wives tales about knocking seven bells out of the sides of the TMH and a zillion other hoary old chestnuts, I suggest you read and digest the previous articles written about the trusty old L1A1's on this very forum

For the record, I talked to an Australian who used to do competition shoots with SLRs, and mentioned the fix of silver-soldering shims into the TMH on either side of the body locking lug. He answered that that was forbidden per competition rules, because the rifles were supposed to be "as issued", and somebody who had the $1550 AUD (in the last years anyway) to purchase their own rifle from Lithgow should not have an edge over somebody who just used an issue rifle. Which is probably why the talk of "widen the TMH and tap in the body sides" spread so far....it was seen as "the next best thing".

Now, if you're not bound by such rules and don't have somebody inspecting it, I agree the shim solution makes much more sense.

[Peter Laidler]

You could argue that if it has got to be 'as issued, then you aren't allowed to widen the sides of the TMH either! And that is just as simple to ascertain as tightening up the locking lug too! Just put a GO-NO GO gauge across the TMH!. Too wide means that it's been tampered with.

In real life and to elaborate on the old wives tale part of this myth again, there just ain't enough rib-underhang on the main upper body to make any real difference whether you a|) swage the upper body IN or b) knock seven bells out of the TMH by swaging it OUTwards. I've shot and fixed one or two in my time!!!!!

[Brian Dick]

The EMER shows a weld repair only on the locking lug if memory serves. I still have some EMERS for you SLR builders if in need for the shop. I can't imagine NOT having it. It's absolutely everything you didn't want to know!!! Got beautiful reprint user handbooks too complete with the color fold outs.

[Peter Laidler]

Brian is correct of course. The repair to the locking lug was only to correct the worn lug with a No2 catch. But feel free to knock seven bells out of the TMH's if that's the common practice chaps. Although I can't imagine anyone with an L1A1 NOT having the EMER. Surely not!

[nzl1a1collector]

Here are the official tools for taking the lateral play out of the TMH


They fit to the rifle like this and then you drive the punch in. Of course the plates are held in place by a vice.

[Peter Laidler]

Have you ever seen this Tankie? It's not in my EMER and I've never seen it or seen it used at Base Workshop or even Field Workshops where you might expect it. The side plate things aren't UK judging from the NSN 00 nationality prefix although the 33CW presumably indicates 33 Command Workshop? But where was/was there a 33 Command workshop in 1976? The 'PUNCH, flat, Armourers' was a common punch used across the board in Armourers shops.

I assume that you would have to strip the trigger mech and pistol grip to use the plates and punch and that in order to spread the body, you'd have to leave the top section of the body above the vice jaws. And how the fxxx do you hit the punch to spread the top of the body while gripping the tight without crushing it even more (internal TMH cross-braces?) - and preventing TMH from slipping back into the vice jaws.

Totally bamboozled here KtK!