Need help/advice on a wandering POI problem

[Edward Horton]

I'm sorry Ed, but I think you are mistaken in this. I see no evidence whatsoever in the majority of rifles that bedding problems are the result of wood shrinkage from lack of oil or other agent. In fact I rarely see much evidence of wood shrinkage at all - on the contrary, its remarkable how many very old rifles have incredibly tight stock fit. Enfields were of course stocked using naturally seasoned or kiln-dried wood, thus the wood was de facto pre-shrunk anyway. In fact one of the properties of linseed oil is that it appears to soak wood without causing any expansion or structural alteration. IMHO, bedding problems most commonly arise from wear and tear (especially in the draws) or poor maintenance.

Thunderbox

What you see on your side of the pond is quite different from what I have seen the last six years studying Century Imports on this side of the pond.

If you don't keep the wood properly oiled it WILL shrink and I can say this for curtain from looking a what I believe were primarily Enfield Rifles coming from Turkey that never had a British Armourer lay hands on them.

My wooden deck and the Imported Enfield rifles I carefully inspected and looked at tell no lies.

Below, when wood dries out it shrinks as the gaps in my wooden deck show below.



Also when you re-oil the fore stock and the draws area tightens up this also tells me something.

Thunderbox I mean no disrespect in what I said above but there is a good chance we are both right in our findings of the Enfields we have looked at.

My main point here Thunderbox is you should oil the stock with raw linseed oil BEFORE deciding the stock is a loose fit and before making bedding adjustments. As an example cork sheets under the barrel tip or bedding your Enfield with beer cans and credit cards when oiling the stock just might fix your problems.



Below is a 1950 unissued Canadian Long Branch rifle I purchased from Brian Dick, it has a slight wood shrinkage problem. The first thing I'm going to do is give the stock a long drink of raw linseed oil before even thinking about shimming any part of the draws.



Raw linseed oil will re-hydrate the dry wood in the stock and cause the wood to swell or enlarge.

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.