Bedding the "H" Barrel SMLE

[bigduke6]

I spent the first 6 months of my apprenticeship just just hacksawing & filing, we then progressed on to using the old elliot shaping machines, then lathes & mills etc. 30 years later these skills come in handy for making parts & repairing these old guns. Once you learnt how to file correctly you never forget!!!

Simon, Did you forget the scraping? thats all I remember on the fitting benches, scraping everything flat, before you could even start to mark out, then the filing could commence.
After 6 months on the fitting benches we moved on to the machines, then to the electrical section, the sheetmetal section, then back to fitting benches, to continue with brazing , hydraulics etc. After 10 -12 months they then let us out into the shipyard.
A few other big companies in the area sent thier apprentices to train with us, as at the time it was considered one of the best training centres in the North West.