Any cure for bolt lift?

[Badger]

Thanks Matt ...

This thread has the opportunity to go two ways....

It can either be a valuable contribution to the general knowledge of all serious Enfield collectors, where people interact in a positive way with each other to share knowledge that benefits the whole community, or it can degrade into a contest of personalities dragging some old blood feud from other bulletin boards into this forum.

I'd respectfully ask everyone to please pause for a moment before their next post and see if we can change old habits, making this thread a pleasant experience, where we all gain more knowledge to further our common enjoyment for the same hobby.

In case that's not possible, a reminder for everyone ...

What is the Infractions system? (click here)

Thank you for any consideration .....

[Alfred]

I agree the spring does have a bearing on the amount of "bolt lift" but its not the cause.

My 1942 Lithgow is unfired, the spring is good & strong.
When i cock the rifle & dry fire with the bolt handle down hard in full contact with the receiver, the bolt handle jumps up, but not far.
When i close the bolt with a piece of paper between the bolt handle & receiver then remove paper & dry fire, the bolt handle does not move up at all!
My MkV smle also has a good strong spring & behaves the same way.

Just tried it again, this time cocking the rifle by pulling back the cocking piece only, same result.

Brothers in arms is okay by me.

Your input is valuable.

After your experiment I started thinking on ways to preven contact without making any other alterations but haven't come up with a viable idea as of yet.
A simple piece of cloth tape under the bolt root might do the trick.

I've found theres a very much reduced upwards bounce from the guide rib contacting the flat of the receiver opening , not much but a hair.
The resistence of the telon wrapping on the bolthead threads overcomes that easily enough, and a more snuggly fitted bolthead would be the final answer for my rifle.
If there had been significant over rotation of the bolt head I'd have noticed how loose it was at the front more easily.

Your rifles seem to be in pretty good condition, with simply inducing clearance being enough to prevent bounce from vibration.
If you can find a very thin material that won't transfer vibration, one not so thick as to prevent proper locking of the bolt, we might find a simple non invasive fix.

I'll check to see if the reverse wound spring I used on my No.4 will fit the No.1.

[Edward Horton]

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

There are no repair instructions in any Enfield manual I know of for bolt lift.

When you dry fire the Enfield Rifle you have the weight and mass of the cocking piece and the firing pin striking the rear of the bolt head, this along with the firing pin spring causes the bolt to lift.

When you fire a live round the firing pin strikes the primer, the blow is softened and the chamber pressure of 46,000 CUP holds the locking lugs in place preventing upward movement of the bolt.

We don’t need to reinvent the wheel or fix something that isn’t broke.





I still prefer the Attila the Hun form of diplomacy no matter what Matt and Badger said.

[Alfred]

There are no repair instructions in any Enfield manual I know of for bolt lift.

Yet it exists just the same.

[5thBatt]

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

There are no repair instructions in any Enfield manual I know of for bolt lift.

When you dry fire the Enfield Rifle you have the weight and mass of the cocking piece and the firing pin striking the rear of the bolt head, this along with the firing pin spring causes the bolt to lift.

When you fire a live round the firing pin strikes the primer, the blow is softened and the chamber pressure of 46,000 CUP holds the locking lugs in place preventing upward movement of the bolt.

We don’t need to reinvent the wheel or fix something that isn’t broke.





I still prefer the Attila the Hun form of diplomacy no matter what Matt and Badger said.

Personally i am not trying to fix the 'problem' of "bolt lift"

The strength of the spring seems to control the amount of lift, the weaker the spring, higher the lift.
If this is so, when someone posts they have excessive bolt lift when they dry-firing, then a reply that they may have a weak main spring is more productive than just saying "don't worry they all do that"

[Edward Horton]

Personally i am not trying to fix the 'problem' of "bolt lift"

The strength of the spring seems to control the amount of lift, the weaker the spring, higher the lift.
If this is so, when someone posts they have excessive bolt lift when they dry-firing, then a reply that they may have a weak main spring is more productive than just saying "don't worry they all do that"

Go back and read my first posting in this thread and do not put words in my mouth.

[Edward Horton]

Yet it exists just the same.

And the British and Commonwealth Armourers did not worry about bolt lift as Thunderbox explained in the second thread of this post very clearly.

Air also exists, but I’m not going to worry about it till we start to run out of it.

[5thBatt]

Go back and read my first posting in this thread and do not put words in my mouth.

I did go back a reread your first post & you're quite right with your reply but
It was a generalization statement on posts from different forums on this subject of "bolt lift" not about you.

Also reread Alfred's next post about seeing "bolt lift" with live firing, i have also witnessed this, could this be due to a excessively weak spring causing the firing pin and cocking piece to bounce or maybe a firing pin to set to far back causing the cocking piece to slam into the rear of the bolt body?

[Edward Horton]

If you store your rifle with the bolt closed you are putting the extractor spring under load and over time this will weaken this spring. (more bolt jump)

If the firing spring becomes weak you can have more bolt jump.

If the firing pin is not adjusted properly you could have more bolt jump.

If the *bolt head timing is not set properly you can have more bolt jump.
(*When the bolt head contacts the collar on the firing pin as you screw the bolt head closed.)

How well used and polished the bolt lugs and bolt lug recesses are can affect bolt jump.
(Are they slicker than snot on a door knob) What type super slick oil did you oil your bolt with?

The list goes on, headspace, bolt head over rotation, numerous worn parts, the phase of the moon and a spastic trigger finger could effect bolt jump.

Many things can effect bolt jump, the secret to bolt jump is to properly maintain your Enfield Rifle to the standards in the manuals and then don’t worry about it any more.

I will say this one more time, the two most used and abused springs on the Enfield rifle are the extractor spring and firing pin spring. I have tested thousands of aircraft hydraulic pump springs during pump overhauls and on the Enfield rifle when it comes to these two springs “when in doubt, throw them out” I replace these springs on my shooter Enfield’s with new ones.

Know thy rifle, and don’t listen to wild rumors.

[5thBatt]

I will say this one more time, the two most used and abused springs on the Enfield Rifle are the extractor spring and firing pin spring. I have tested thousands of aircraft hydraulic pump springs during pump overhauls and on the Enfield rifle when it comes to these two springs “when in doubt, throw them out” I replace these springs on my shooter Enfield’s with new ones.

I may not know much about aircraft, but i do know its airflow over the wings that generate "lift", not the springs in hydraulic pumps

I hear what you are saying Ed but the main cause seems to be the shock of impact from metal on metal causing the bolt handle to "lift" jump would be a better word.

I may be wrong, but you are not making any attempt to explain why the "lift" is largely reduced on all & eliminated on some rifles when the contact between the handle & receiver is eliminated.