N187 No.5 Bayonet Rebuild

[Patt1903]

Having luckily acquired a reasonably priced Radcliff N187 bayonet off of Ebay for a reasonable sum I am now in the process of restoring it. I have purchased appropriate replacement parts from vendors in England. Plus a few extra's to hold onto for my parts stash. The original No.5 grip sets were a nice find! I received the last 4 sets the vendor had in stock, one set was not completely finished and is the best condition set in the lot. The set I will be using has one panel cracked almost in two which will have to be repaired before I use it. I hope the English economy is grateful for the cash infusion, because these parts are not exactly cheap, not to mention the shipping and credit card currency conversion fees. The other parts were appropriated as well, the grip screws and locking catch, plus a SA marked Savage No.4 was picked as well from the second vendor. Other than bobbing the locking catch screw a little when fitted and fitting & finishing the grips, this should be rather straight forward.

The only real question I have would be; are the grips stained at all before BLO, or straight BLO?Attachment 51160Attachment 51159Attachment 51158Attachment 51157

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]

Shame you didn't ask on the forum.......... I'm knee deep in No5 bayonet spares and regularly just send them off for the cost of postage. The catches and nuts don't look like the issue items to me either! Grips just stained if they need matching. If not, just left to float in warm linseed for a few hours. Brian at BDL Ltd can bead and phosphate to like-new UK Mil-spec

[Peter Laidler]

Someone just asked me what's the matter with the bolt part of the catch; the bolt goes in through the right side, into the spring and recessed nut in the left side. It LOOKS, through the cellophane wrapper, as though the bolt head part is stepped and if so, will not engage the rounded underside of the pommell of the rifle or SMG allowing the bayonet to be pulled straight off! At least it did on the one I have just machined to look similar. The head of the bolt should be approx .340" long x .435" dia and the nut part should be .4" long x the same dia, recessed for the spring to a depth of .19 or so. Springs can be round wire or flat wire that fits over thge shaft and into the recess of the nut of course with a free length of .450"

There...... another useless bit of Enfield info if anyone is really interested!

[Patt1903]

Attachment 51164Attachment 51165Attachment 51166Attachment 51167Hello Mr. Laidler,

I was just going to reply with the same information you just mentioned. Plus a few pictures to back up your observations, good call! I picked these up from the vendor thinking they were new and just like the original's (no mention of reproduction on his site for these) I guess I did not do my homework thoroughly enough so I made a mistake. At least it was not lethal to my bank account. My intention is to bring it back up to original spec's with the parts. As they say you live and learn! If it is not too late to ask, I would like to get a complete original locking catch from you? Please let me know the cost for the postage and how to compensate you for it? I will have to inquire with Brian later about the bayonet refurbishment you mentioned. I have a Sterling that is shown in the photo's that may need a little TLC as well. I used the Sterling to compare catches, since i did not have my Wilkinson No.5 to compare too, it is at another location.

Otherwise the repop catch is not tightly fitting as the Sterling, it wobbles in the hole a little, also as Mr. Laidler mentioned it is also stepped so it will probably not stay attached as it should to the rifle.

[Patt1903]

Here is another picture I forgot to show the locking nut on the catch.

[Peter Laidler]

I will PM you over the weekend. But in return please do a short write-up with details about who is supplying this total rubbish. What are the grip screws like?

[Patt1903]

The grip screws are also new according to the vendors site. They fit, but are not the same length, through the grips, just a bit longer. The heads and nuts are just a mite smaller than the holes. You can see this as you look at the edges.

If you have an extra set of correct size/length screws and size nuts, that can be parted with, it would be appreciated.

Attachment 51199Attachment 51200Attachment 51201

[Peter Laidler]

I think he's sold you No1 bayonet screws and nuts..........

[Brian Dick]

Hey Wade, I BDL FTR'd the long Indian SLR bayonet along with the correct scabbard you gave me and it looks new. I just have to fit the new handles. I recognize the printing on that Jiffy Bag!!

[Patt1903]

Brian,

That's great!, to hear that the Indian FAL bayonet turned out very well! I would like to see it next time I visit.

A question just occurred, is there a difference between the grip screws length for the No.1, 5, 7 bayonet? Just a thought?