Lee Enfield Sling Swivel Screw

[DanL96a1]

I have had mixed advice on the main sling screw (in front of magazine) being done up tight when not in use or storage. Do you leave Lee Enfield screws done up tight when not in use or leave them tight?

I would assume it could cause the wood to crack, if left under constant contact/ stress?

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[Alan de Enfield]

I have had mixed advice on the main sling screw (in front of magazine) being done up tight when not in use or storage. Do you leave Lee Enfield screws done up tight when not in use or leave them tight?

I would assume it could cause the wood to crack, if left under constant contact/ stress?

The Front trigger guard screw is not tightened up onto the forend (wood) it is tightened up onto the metal spacer inset into the wood so there is no crushing force on the wood work.

Leave it tight !!!

[DanL96a1]

Thanks for your reply , so I’m the case of Enforcer and L42, which has a plate and spacer removed?

[Brian Dick]

You should either replace the plate or fit a guard screw collar. It's there for a reason. In my experience, the "guard screw, front" will loosen with time rather than tighten. Just the normal seasonal expanding and contracting of the wood because of moisture, lack of care, etc. A very wise man told me once to always treat woodwork on a rifle like a living thing. That's why sealed finishes like varnish, polyurethane and others like them were never used on military woodwork.

[Mk VII]

Some people do slacken them off in the winter season - but remember to tie a label on it to remind yourself.

[DanL96a1]

You should either replace the plate or fit a guard screw collar. It's there for a reason. In my experience, the "guard screw, front" will loosen with time rather than tighten. Just the normal seasonal expanding and contracting of the wood because of moisture, lack of care, etc. A very wise man told me once to always treat woodwork on a rifle like a living thing. That's why sealed finishes like varnish, polyurethane and others like them were never used on military woodwork.

Hi Brian thanks for reply, in all EMERS and documentation I cannot find a definitive answer. I did have a collar and plate fitted, but the collar was removed as it was no longer required apparently if plate was fitted.

I tend to give the woodwork a few coats of boiled linseed oil, every few weeks. It’s a excellent stress relief and keeps it looking good! But most important the water out!

All gunsmith of note say leave tight....

---------- Post added at 10:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:31 AM ----------

Some people do slacken them off in the winter season - but remember to tie a label on it to remind yourself.

Yeah i tend to do a thouroght check on all screw, and rifle once out of storage and before shooting. Thanks for advice will put a note around there neck!

[Bruce_in_Oz]

There may be a role for an "inch-pound" torque wrench here.

In shooting disciplines that are out of my financial league, apparently folks use Hex / Torx socket bolts as their trigger-guard screws The idea is that you can "scientifically" test for "optimum" tension and then be able to maintain / repeat it with consistent accuracy.

One idea is to take a long-shank 1/4" cap / Torx bolt and turn it into something that will fit a No1 or No4. Just remember that the front TG screw on a No4 is a 1/4" ( x 26 tpi) BSF and thus has a 55 deg thread form, The screws on a No1 are 30 TPI, "Enfield special". Most of these fancy socket bolts are grade 6 to 8, thus TOUGH and may require a Carbide thread form tool of the correct form, but every home should have them already......

More applicable to rifles with L-42 style bedding plates because the "tilt" of a correctly-fitted Lee Enfield trigger-guard is what is really doing a lot of the work of retaining the fore-end during recoil. It is a very fancy wedge. Do not ignore the other part of this retention caper, the "draws" inside the rear of the fore-end. Carefully re-read all of Peter Laidler's articles on that subject. In reality, it is not the fore-end "moving forward", but the whole rifle moving rearwards under recoil, AWAY from the mass of the fore-end.

NOT a Mauser bedding system, nor a Mauser LOCKING system.

A bit of a study of the ill-fated Canadian J-5550 programme is en"lightening".

[Mk VII]

Sounds a lot like that 'electric bedding' fad in the 1950s, which we don't hear much about these days - and we don't seem to miss it.