SMLE Mk 1 rearsight question

[RobD]

Does anyone know if the windage adjustment on the SMLE Mk 1 rearsight is meant to click when turned? Mine doesn't click and is a rather too easy to turn - anyone got a suggestion on how to stiffen it up, or got an exploded diagram of the component parts? Attached picture shows the type of sight and adjustment I mean.

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[CINDERS]

I just tried my MkIII WWI adjustable and it has the same feel as the No4 sights with a definite feel to it like an indent a ball sits on when the adjusting is done you get a definite stop when it hits that spot, try and google up an exploded view of the sight and see if you can see any type of arrangement such as this.
The only other thing is they may have had a strong leaf type spring pushing against the rear sight block so it is under tension the spring may have lost its tension or is broken.
I am sure the others will be along to help you with your issue. Good luck.

[smle addict]

Hello RobD,

Just checked two of my Mk I***s and a Cond. II. Same rear sight as in your picture, and no "click" when windage knob is turned. Mine are very stiff/hard to turn.

Hope this helps.

Just added: Looked through my copy of Skennertons "The British Service Lee," and found this paragraph in regards to the SMLE Mk I and Cond II (first pic)

A few pages later, it lists the improvements for the SMLE MkIII rearsight (second pic)

[Maxwell Smart]

My Mk 1* is the same; hard to turn and no clicks

[mike1967]

No clicks on the ShtLE I.

[Peter Laidler]

In my opinion, there MUST be some sort of clicker mechanism. It goes without saying because how would it retain its position? How would the user be taught to zero or adjust for windage apart from turn the knob '....a bit'. Nope..., doesn't make sense to me. Simple friction is not an option. Just me opinion based on nothing more than experience and the obvious. But I could be wrong as my wife tells me every day

[Daan Kemp]

No clicks on the No 1 Mk III, just stiff.

[RCS]

My BSA 1909 Mark 111 has clicks, I can feel them as I turn the knob, but my Mark 1*** and ConD 11 rifles do not have clicks, some are stiff but no clicks

[Peter Laidler]

I suspect that there is a shaped detent spring under the knob and that the shaped detent part has worn away leaving the spring flat. Not that I know, but just based on my gut feeling about the way these things are. Stiffness will be down to lack of use etc etc............ just like adjustment turrets on No32 scopes. And talking of which.............. There was a school of thought during the war that the No32 type telescopes could be considerably cheapened by simply eliminating the range and azimuth mech by a) eliminating the spring, b) the difficult to machine and harden plunger, c) eliminate the calibrated clicker plate and d) most of all, simplify the brass casting and associated machining. It HAD to remain because the clicks were a means of KNOWN adjustment.

JUST like the backsight clicks. I could be wrong of course

[mhb]

to clean them up prior to installation and use, I can tell you that the windage knob does, indeed, have detent notches on its back side, 4 of them, and that the split spring which tensions the knob is formed with a retaining nose that enters the notches, and prevents the knob from turning loosely between notches.
On disassembly, it became clear that the reason for poor retention in the notches was not wear to the knob or the spring, but an accumulation of paint, dirt and hardened oil - the same gunk made the windage knob hard to turn, because it had clogged the screw and internal threads on the staff. When the parts were cleaned, proper function was restored.
In fact, noting that the knob's notches were simple v-shaped grooves extending across the back surface of the knob (supposed to be equal to 1 MOA windage per notch), I added an additional set of notches to one knob in 5 minutes' work with a triangular Swiss file, and now have a 1/2 minute windage adjustable sight for my #1 Mk III.

mhb - Mike