L1A1 Butt Fitting

[waco16]

I have a matching 1961 BSA L1A1 that wears plastic furniture. I want to fit a set of woodwork to it.
When I fit the Butt to the lower there is around a 2mm gap (beneath the rearsight) where it meets the lower.

I have tried 2 different butts and they are both the same

Any ideas?

Information

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[mrclark303]

I have a matching 1961 BSA L1A1 that wears plastic furniture. I want to fit a set of woodwork to it.
When I fit the Butt to the lower there is around a 2mm gap (beneath the rearsight) where it meets the lower.

I have tried 2 different butts and they are both the same

Any ideas?

We might want to move this to the Fal section...

There should be a gap in that area, can you post a pic?

Quite often you get butts with the area at the very top radiused away at a slight angle.

This was an armourer fix to prevent splitting and you can often see a radius of between 2 and 5mm

[browningautorifle]

I remember the FN C1s had a gap too... I wouldn't worry too much.

[waco16]

Oops....
Thought I had put this in the FAL section

I have attached some pictures before and after tightening the Butt bolt - it pulled right up!

[Paul S.]

I believe the gap is there for a purpose. Wood, unlike plastic, swells when wet since moisture is absorbed into the grain. Oiling the wood is also done to preserve the wood and reduce swelling. Having the gap prevents the wood from being battered by recoil should it be badly swollen.

[Peter Laidler]

Paul is correct. The gap, we say conveniently the width of a hacksaw blade was there to prevent the butt cracking in much the same was as did the butt edges when fitted to a No4. The butts without the slip patches were bad for splitting and a bit of a pig to repair. But we found that even the sip patched butts would split. The small gap reduced splitting right down. Nice rifles. On active service you always kept the same rifle. You got to know its every foible and trusted it. Even remember the serial numbers UB58A xxxxxx and AD 63-xxxx.

[newcastle]

Timely post. I am trying to get the plastic buttstock OFF my L1A1 and I am completely flummoxed! I have taken the underside screw out, i have taken the screw out that appears like it should be holding on the Butt plate but nothing is budging. Any hints out there?

[browningautorifle]

There's a slotted cap inside the butt that holds the butt return spring inside. It's a double spring with lots of compression. I used the correct tool, a long round stock that fit the hole in the center of the cap you'll see and it has a screwdriver and a cross handle. You have to watch you don't launch things. Look at an explodes view of the rifle butt before you start. Here's a pic, never mind it's an metric. The springs and screw is the same.

[mrclark303]

Adding to Jims post, the UK plastic butt has a retaining screw in the middle of the butt pad, remove this and use a small hook to remove the plastic ring.

You will then see the slotted screw. I strongly advise you to borrow or buy the the butt fitting tool!

Makes life much easier, believe me...

[newcastle]

thank you - i have the tool all ready to roll.