Reproduction SMLE stock

[Flying10uk]

In Post 12 I mentioned that I had converted No4 top hand guards into SMLE top hand guards for my U.K. deactivated 1930s SMLE. I believe that Forum Members may be "missing a trick" here because I am not a carpenter or woodworker by trade or probably any more skilled than the average Forum Member. I am a metalworker and precision engineer and so I am very careful to measure correctly, double or trebble check my markings out before, hopefully, cutting once.

The main motivation for converting No4 hand-guards into the SMLE version was because I purchased a U.K. deactivated 1930s SMLE with no woodwork but I didn't feel inclined to pay the prices being asked for either original or "proper reproduction" SMLE hand-guards. The purpose of this little article is simply to show that it is possible to convert the plentiful No4 hand-guards into the not so plentiful SMLE hand-guard and hopefully to show other Forum members what is possible with a few basic woodworking tools and knowledge plus a little confidence.

A slight word of caution here as this conversion was carried out for a U.K. deactivated SMLE which is obviously only a show/display item. I don't know how well the No4 hand guard conversion would perform on a live rifle; this is something anyone trying this conversion would need to research for themselves.

This was the first time that I had tried out this conversion which I admit is not perfect but it is good enough for me. I thought that it would be possible because the No4 rifle was developed from the SMLE and all I have sort of done is to reverse engineer the hand-guards. The "new" rear SMLE is made from a No4 rear hand-guard cut and reshaped to size etc to match that of the SMLE. The "new" front SMLE hand-guard is made from a front and rear No4 hand-guard. You can see from my pictures the overlap/scarf type of joint. I further strengthened this by glueing thin slithers of wood on the inside of the "U". Obviously the combination was then cut to size and then shaped. I turned up a new steel "nose-cone" then sectioned out the bit which was needed for the front of the front hand-guard. This was then VERY carefully riveted to the hand-guard.

The purpose of showing what I have made is not to try to show off but to, hopefully show and to motivate other Forum Members of what is possible with basic tools and skills.

I was lucky enough to find a new old stock fore-end and I used a No4 butt.

This article is not intended to be a study of the U.K. deactivated rifle it's self, only the hand-guards

Information

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[browningautorifle]

This was the first time that I had tried out this conversion

Nice looking handguard...might pass for correct...

[BushyFromOz]

It's certainly possible - in my experience, the problem isn't getting them into Australia (At least in Queensland, the import paperwork is fairly straightforward to obtain) - it's getting them out of whichever country they're currently in. Shipping firearms internationally costs a lot of money and the export paperwork can be troublesome, depending on the country.

Indeed. Finding a good quality Lithgow overseas seems to be fairly straight forward, but the cost of getting it imported and jumping through the paperwork will push the price up by 2 or 300%

The purpose of showing what I have made is not to try to show off but to, hopefully show and to motivate other Forum Members of what is possible with basic tools and skills.

Handguard's are not a problem. Find a forearm that it in good condition is a problem. When Springfield Sporters, numrich etc had all those indian and british DP's timber for sale, I was spiting chips as they refused to export even when splitting it up over multiple purchases would get each package under $100

[Flying10uk]

Find a forearm that it in good condition is a problem.

Has anyone ever looked into seeing whether or not it's possible to modify a No4 Fore-end into a SMLE Fore-end? It may seem unthinkable to some but I do wonder if it's possible; it would require some extra wood grafting onto the front of the No4 Fore-end plus some other alterations.

[mrclark303]

In Post 12 I mentioned that I had converted No4 top hand guards into SMLE top hand guards for my U.K. deactivated 1930s SMLE. I believe that Forum Members may be "missing a trick" here because I am not a carpenter or woodworker by trade or probably any more skilled than the average Forum Member. I am a metalworker and precision engineer and so I am very careful to measure correctly, double or trebble check my markings out before, hopefully, cutting once.

The main motivation for converting No4 hand-guards into the SMLE version was because I purchased a U.K. deactivated 1930s SMLE with no woodwork but I didn't feel inclined to pay the prices being asked for either original or "proper reproduction" SMLE hand-guards. The purpose of this little article is simply to show that it is possible to convert the plentiful No4 hand-guards into the not so plentiful SMLE hand-guard and hopefully to show other Forum members what is possible with a few basic woodworking tools and knowledge plus a little confidence.

A slight word of caution here as this conversion was carried out for a U.K. deactivated SMLE which is obviously only a show/display item. I don't know how well the No4 hand guard conversion would perform on a live rifle; this is something anyone trying this conversion would need to research for themselves.

This was the first time that I had tried out this conversion which I admit is not perfect but it is good enough for me. I thought that it would be possible because the No4 rifle was developed from the SMLE and all I have sort of done is to reverse engineer the hand-guards. The "new" rear SMLE is made from a No4 rear hand-guard cut and reshaped to size etc to match that of the SMLE. The "new" front SMLE hand-guard is made from a front and rear No4 hand-guard. You can see from my pictures the overlap/scarf type of joint. I further strengthened this by glueing thin slithers of wood on the inside of the "U". Obviously the combination was then cut to size and then shaped. I turned up a new steel "nose-cone" then sectioned out the bit which was needed for the front of the front hand-guard. This was then VERY carefully riveted to the hand-guard.

The purpose of showing what I have made is not to try to show off but to, hopefully show and to motivate other Forum Members of what is possible with basic tools and skills.

I was lucky enough to find a new old stock fore-end and I used a No4 butt.

This article is not intended to be a study of the U.K. deactivated rifle it's self, only the hand-guards

Well done F10, all nicely coloured to match too. Certainly a viable option for a display rifle as No4 woodwork is still very plentiful and relatively cheap, there still seems to be warehouses full of the stuff!

You can, I believe make the subtle alterations to the No4 butt to match the SMLE profile.

That said, as Peter, Mike and our other resident Armourers have said in the past, fitting a No4 butt is also entirely correct too.