Lithgow No1 Mk3* Project Acquisition

[CoatiMundi]

With all this talk about Lithgows around her lately, I decided to jump in on that "action". It is a 1942 and I can't tell when it was FTR'd by the pics. Please comment freely

As you all can see what is needed, I am in the market for parts to get it up and running, and the best way to repair the nice crack in the forend.

Information

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[GunnyUSMC]

The dest way to repair would be to work epoxy into the crack to stabilize it and then reinforce it by lining the inside with fiberglass cloth. I’ve repaired more then fifty forends this way. The repair will not be visible when the rifle is together.
If you want to give it that Arsenal repair look, you can drill holes from the top edge going down and insert small threaded brass rods.

[NORTHOF60]

The metal appears to be in exceptional shape. There is no use scarring on the bolt face at all. Are the bolt, action and barrel numbers correct? What is the condition of the bore? It certainly looks as if you have good bones to build your project rifle on.

[CoatiMundi]

Bolt and action are for sure matching, barrel I'm 99%, waiting for more info. It's definitely not a parts gun. The barrel is reported "bright and shiny with strong rifling". It looks like except for the missing parts, it is straight out of FTR (1955 I think)!

As far as the repair Gunny, I'm leaning old school, but where the crack originates from, I am thinking there is more going on under the hood. I will have to see when I get it apart.

[Brian Dick]

I sure hope you didn't unscrew the stock bolt with the forend fitted. I'd bet there's a lot more damage in there than the crack which was caused by exactly that. Coachwood is bad enough when it's sound. Anyhow, the damage is totally unnecessary if the owner had bought and read a ten dollar SAID Series booklet before getting out the tools. Ugh!

[CoatiMundi]

I'm on the same wavelength as you, when I saw the pics that I what I thought too.

It doesn't make sense to remove the buttstock first, and why would you want to anyway? As I said earlier I am sure there is more going on in the back than is visible now. I bought it full knowing it is like that. I like projects, and I have been looking for an Lithgow to add to the "family".

I made the mistake of selling my L2A1 I built in the early 90's like an idiot so this is my second Lithgow project (and a keeper).

I appreciate all the information provided by this site! Keep it coming.

[browningautorifle]

The metal appears to be in exceptional shape. There is no use scarring on the bolt face at all. Are the bolt, action and barrel numbers correct? What is the condition of the bore? It certainly looks as if you have good bones to build your project rifle on.

I agree with all of that, looks like the body was about newish when salvaged out for parts for who knows what...probably to sell and make more that the cost of the rifle. I'd place a WTB ad on the forum here and these guys will probably have everything on hand. Brian Dick of BDL Ltd in the USA might have them all lying under his workbench if you message him. Looks like a good candidate for returning to serviceable.

[Brian Dick]

The SMLE stock bolt locks into a metal plate inletted at the rear of the forend in most but not all SMLE production. So if you try and remove the butt before removing the forend, it will shatter inside and the draws are usually destroyed. This is especially true with Australian Queensland maple or coachwood which is quite soft and gets worse depending on how badly oil soaked it is. The Indians did away with it in lieu of a No.4 style tie plate and shorter stock bolt that should be below flush with the butt socket. What I don't understand is that when someone goes to take the butt off wrong and has to fight it with great ape strength, why don't they stop before it breaks and learn a bit about how to do it properly? The one thing my instructor/mentor taught me is to NEVER use great ape strength on anything. It simply isn't necessary if you learn first how to do things and fit everything together correctly. If I were you, I'd read Peter Laidler's instructions here three times before I ever picked up a tool to continue disassembly. For those of you who want to spend a princely sum of $20 plus postage, I found a few more copies in my gun show inventory of the Canadian Instructions for Armourers which detail everything you need to know about working the SMLE and many other weapons in service when it was published in 1943.

[CoatiMundi]

The parts were probably "harvested" long ago. I have not seen any import stamps on it yet and I don't think it is a J.J. & CO gun. Looking forward to putting my hands on it.

I have most of the small parts already, I'll message Brian and see what he has under his work bench.

[Homer]

I fear it’ll be a mess in there.

Looks like MA53