Hi all. I’m a new member and short time lurker on here (and some other Enfield forums) and am also a new first time owner of a 1944 Lithgowicon No.1 Mk III* 'smelly'. Everything on it matches and is all Aussie made parts. The only non-matching item is the butt stock which has a 1945 stamp on it. I'm also an Expat Aussie living in the US, so having a piece of home with me is priceless.

So I’ve completely stripped it down to its components, given it a good clean, re-oil etc and am about ready to assemble it. I think the bore may be a little worn and the headspace is near the limit of the no-go, and field gages, but hopefully it’s ok, and I can turn it into a casual shooter.
However I think in the cleaning process (and in hindsight) I know I made a few boo-boos with the fore end, such as oiling up the recoil lugs (after taking the copper pads out for a clean) etc, and I think I may have removed some (or all) of the original receiver bedding compound.
I have a few books on the Enfields, including "The 2012 Complete Book on Lee Enfield Accurizing", but would prefer to re-bed the receiver in the way it would've been from the factory so I can keep it's collectors value.

I’ve also looked for a copy of James Sweet’s Competitive Rifle Shooting, 1954 ed based on the posts I’ve found researching this matter, but none of the links for the pdf download are active. I could always get the folks back home in Aus to track down a copy for me I guess.

So I wanted to check the bedding since I’d removed some of the original Khaki/OD coloured stuff in there, by trying the talc+WD40 method for checking bedding as detailed in Mr Wadhams book. I reassembled the receiver/barrel back into the fore end, with the copper recoil/sear pads installed, and boy it was a tight fit. I also couldn’t get the trigger guard rear pin in very easily.

The barrel at the muzzle end was skewed to the right a little. Getting it apart (I’d been doing it wrong – wiggling the fore end off the receiver/barrel by pulling at the mid band area) was a chore! (*cringe*)

When it came free, there was a nice little transfer of copper onto the left sear lugs, and wear mark on the left pad, but not much on the right. A paper shim under the right pad seemed to bring the muzzle a little closer to center and created perfectly equal witness marks on the sears/pads, however I saw no indications of Talc being removed even though it looked flattened a little.

So firstly I’m not going to remove the fore end that way again, but I’ve inspected for cracks and it all looks sound. Is there anything else I should look for?

Secondly and the main motive for my post, is what advice do you guys have for bedding the receiver in a reversible manner? I’d prefer to protect the collectors value if I can, so I’m hesitant to do the epoxy bedding method as detailed in 2012 Complete Book on Lee-Enfield Accurizing. I’ve also never done a bedding job before and don’t want to screw up.

I’m now letting the receiver dry for several days-week after cleaning the talc, and WD40 etc out of the receiver area with water then turps, and am hoping to find some direction from the community while I wait on bedding.

Thanks and sorry for the blabbing!
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.