NO4MKII Bolt

[Seaspriter]

Living here has taught me that Yanks stereotypically seem to have an obsession with 'new', 'factory new', 'like new', 'restored' and pulling things apart down to the smallest, most insignificant bit, cleaning and polishing it and putting it all back together again.

As a Yank trained in the military, we were taught to know our weapons, whether they be a torpedo, pistol, or even a destroyer. Our training is to enable us to know how things work, be able to take it apart, and put it all back together again. Understanding how all the parts work is considered a high standard of excellence. We were trained to "care for our weapons." What might seem anal to others is actually a sign of respect; taking it apart, cleaning each component, understanding how everything functions, and ensuring its safety, accuracy, and longevity is integral to "knowing your weapon." Every weapon is different, and filled with unique idiosyncrasies (Enfields are particularly "unique"); this is especially important with historic weapons that might blow up.

I particularly enjoy hearing an inquisitive collector asking every detailed question they can think of, because some of us are always in the learning mode, no matter what our age. So --- keep the questions coming. Many thanks to all the forum members that have taken the time to answer the hundreds of ignorant questions that come cross this site every year.

[mr.tickle]

For now I will leave it be, as long it doesn't impede the function of the rifle. My main goal with stripping it down was making sure there wasn't any cosmoline hindering the firing pin and spring. I plan on getting her out to the range Saturday to see how see functions.

My other desire with taking it apart, is learning the gun and how it functions. For troubleshooting and just for general knowledge.

P.S. Yes, I am a Yank

[CINDERS]

It is the old maxim ~There is never a dumb question. Just a dumb answer.

So if people who want to know and learn ask a question that seems ridiculous to some, we are not trying to insult ones intelligence but wanting to acquire the knowledge so they do not get injured or worse.......

[Peter Laidler]

I disagree with you Cinders (thread13) and Sea spriter (thread 11) in part of your threads. Taking the bolt apart will serve absolutely no part in ascertaining the internal mechanism in this case simply because there is nothing to see that would enlighten you! You KNOW what is in there! The striker that you can see both ends of and a mechanism, in this case a spring, that will be compressed between two collars. The average recruit soldier will have been told this and probably shown this during his basic training using a skeletonised rifle. If we really and truly wanted them to see inside - and strip and clean, we'd have given them the tool to do so. We started down this road with the initial issues of Brens with the complex combination tool. But wisely relegated the tool to Armourers shops only shortly afterwards following reports of buckled butt slides caused by.......yes, you've guessed it already, by incorrect use of the bloody combination tool!.

At the technical 'front' of the Army, we always found that it was always the NON-technical sorts (there was a word for them) that were keen to show off their mechanical ineptitude. And guess what........ IF YOU CAN ASSEMBLE SOMETHING WRONGLY - OR BACK TO FRONT - THEN GUESS WHAT WILL HAPPEN?

Just my jaundiced view of life having been there a few times

[mrclark303]

In addition to the, if it an't broken, don't fix it mantra, if you have an Enfield that groups well, with obvious good bedding, why on earth would you disturb it by taking it apart if you don't need to?

I was speaking to someone at my local range who had done precisely that and was complaining that his SMLE didn't group so well anymore..

[Peter Laidler]

Yep...... and then there's those that screw the striker in too far or not enough............ My friend was one of the mechanically inept in the days when we were trusted to have pistols in the UK. After every comp he'd strip his trusty Browning No2 pistol down supposedly '....to clean and oil it' After several months of this the tapered trigger axis pin was as loose as a tarts knicker elastic! He did try ring punching it but it was really only fit for scrap or spares after he'd ventured down that route!

[CINDERS]

Contrary to beliefs I do not tear down my Lee's every outing or on a whim, I have polished the firing pin shoulders and shaft and inside the bolt body and the spring this is probably an obscure way to try and get a better lock time.
If I and the rifle get thoroughly drenched then yes the top and bottom woods will come of for drying out an BLO. If a person wants to pull down a rifle then thats their turf mine shoot very well indeed all I do is 1-2 times a year they get a drink of BLO or if I break a claw then change it out. I do not get much time to do this stuff as the reloading press keeps me loading for ever.
I love the old girls some are a tad rough but they will make a deer's day on a fine morning.

If we are to fiddle one should be at least prepared and read up or join a site like this and ask for advice from personnel that have the experience. Whether it goes to a gunsmith is entirely dependent on the issue , like I would never change out a bolt, bolt head or barrel I would leave that to a qualified gunsmith who knew Lee's.

[Paul S.]

...... he'd strip his trusty Browning No2 pistol down supposedly '....to clean and oil it' After several months of this ... it was really only fit for scrap or spares after he'd ventured down that route!

I've seen this with more than a few Browning Hi-Power pistols when the owner had repeatedly (once to four times a year) taken the frame and slide down to the smallest component.

I had a mate, now retired, who was a Glock Factory instructor for the armourers' and law enforcement special training courses. Part of the armourer course involves multiple disassembly and reassembly repetitions - enough so that it becomes rote. Short version; he would start the year with all new pistols and have to replace frames as the year progressed and the frames became as sloppy as old molls.

[Seaspriter]

Peter, respectfully you missed my point. I was not referring to taking the bolt apart. I was referring to caring for our weapons by understanding how they work. We had to field strip, clean, and reassemble a Colt 1911 and a M-14 blindfolded. It was our midshipman training. We were also required to fix weapons in the field -- often we didn't have the availability of an armourer of your quality. Maybe this was the difference between Naval Officer and Army Enlisted training. As an Naval Officer, we were required to know our weapons inside and out, and understand their functioning. This was true also for a 1,200 (pounds of pressure) steam turbine, for a radar antenna, and for our navigational equipment. This doesn't mean we were trained to be expert technicians -- we weren't supposed to micro-manage. But we were supposed to understand when something went wrong, why it went wrong, how to get it functional again quickly, and who was best equipped to make the repairs. On a naval vessel (destroyer in a combat situation where I served), we needed this perspective to respond if we took a torpedo hit, were blown asunder by a mine (our sister ship in our squadron hit one outside Haiphong Harbour), or were incapacitated by a missile. My father served as an officer on a destroyer in WWII. His ship took 13 direct hits from Kamikaze, Torpedo and Dive Bombers. Had they not been able to make a multitude of battle repairs, I wouldn't be here to tell this story. I also learned about historic guns from him -- how to fix them and how to restore them: many lessons that came from his Naval Officer training. The lessons he taught me have been well engrained.

Yes, if my Chief Gunner's mate gave me advice not to disassemble a bolt or something tricky, I would heed his advice -- certainly I didn't take apart the BARs we had aboard. But the larger principle of "knowing your weapons and caring for them like they were an extension of yourself" still stands in my training and is carried forth to this day, more than forty years after combat duty. Every military has its rules and principles. I would not judge the British Army by U.S. Navy standards -- each has adapted rules and methods to suit their unique situations and conditions. I have heeded your advice about not disassembling the bolt; but I have had 2 Enfields that needed bolt disassembling and I'm glad I knew how to do it and had the right tool to accomplish what could otherwise have been a difficult task.

[Ridolpho]

Guessing Mr Tickle is in the USA - nowhere else in the world seems to be worried about stripping a rifle down to its constituent parts. Is it like the American phobia for 'head spacing' - whatever you find is unlikely to make any difference.

Well, most of us are not recruits in the army, rather collectors responsible for taking care of our often valuable artifacts. If I see rusty fluid dripping out of the bolt I strip it and find out what's up. They were meant to come apart and it's probably not a good sign if they don't. Even here in bone-dry Alberta on the Great Plains I find the odd rifle with serious active rust. Judging from motorcycle parts I've imported from England, it must be a never ending battle for you guys. As to any tendency to strip things down to their constituent parts, yeah- guilty as charged. It's a big part of the hobby for me. For example, I just took delivery of a Johnson automatic- could you possibly own that and NOT strip it down?

Ridolpho