Scope mounting parts for No.1 Mk3 HT

[Hornant]

A friend of mine has his Grand dads scope from the war and wants to mount it on a rifle. It was on a No. 1 Mk 3. The scope is in great condition and has the rings(with mounting hooks) on it.

Are there parts or drawings available for the mounting pads. I have a lathe and mill so I could make some bits if needed. Original or repo parts would be better.

This guy is a keen shooter and it would be great to see this scope back in service.

Information

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[Beerhunter]

I have a feeling that a chap in HBSA has done exactly that. If he is at the shoot next Wednesday, I'll ask him.

[Son]

Original parts are very few and far between, and go for a lot of money on evil-bay. So far no one has been able to come up with a decent set of workable drawings for the mounting parts either. As the originals required a bit of machining to the side of the rifle, it may be easier to try to borrow a rifle or visit someone who will let you do a diagram and take pictures. Unlikely you will be able to remove the bases, but you will be able to see what I mean.

Good luck, keep us informed with how you go. If your friend wants to know a bit more about the rifle it came off, find out what the rifle serial number is engraved on the scope and also the stamped number (very small) on the eyepiece brass ring as well as the number on the mount rings and let me know either here or by private message.

[Hornant]

Thanks....I will get the numbers on the scope when I do the job. I may know some one with some drawings or a rifle that i can have a look at.

[Beerhunter]

I am told that there may be some drawings at the Royal Armouries Home | Royal Armouries

[Peter Laidler]

I doubt that there will be any meaningful drawings anywhere for mounting pads to No1 rifles. I say meanigful in the 'accurate' sense because the bodyside curvatures/radii are all over the place and the many varied makers. This was even relevant with the No4. As a result of this, H&H finally got their rifles from one source and could then base their conversion programme on a known constant. Having said that, even the BSA supplies weren't 'constant' in the true sense of the word as seen by the variables in the machinig for the front pad. But at least that was rectified by running a vertical milling cutter across the area.

Just my thoughts........................

[Son]

Totally agree, Peter. I'll make an assumption here about the fitting process, based on my experiences as a tradesman and with these rifles.

As usual, totally open for comment and constructive correction.....

I would mount the front base first. This would set the height, centre line and square for positioning the rear base. Then, using a milling cutter specially produced to machine the correct form, the cut into the side of the charger bridge could be made to the right depth from the side and the top, parrallel with the bore, to position the rear base at known dimensions from the front base.

Doing it this way should take out any guesswork involved with rounded surfaces not consistant in size or shape from receiver to receiver. I would also suggest that the matching numbered components (scope, rings and bases) should not be mixed up, as manufacturing and assembly tolerences in those components mean a missmatched set-up may not fit a rifle- but we all know that a great many were mixed up....

[Peter Laidler]

Just thinking out aloud Son, but the trouble with an SMLE is holding the xxxx thing square and secure in the first place. Any knowledge as to exactly how parallel the bottom surface of the body is to the axis of the bore? Comments............

[jmoore]

Made a fixture for holding No4 bodies that clamps the receiver bottom via screws run though a dummy bolt. So far it shows that the rear sight axis pin IS 90 degrees to the action bottom w/in a couple or three thousandths. Don't remember how close to parallel w/ the bore axis it is, but I think its close.

As for an SMLE, sorry haven't tried that one yet! (won't fit this fixture, I don't think)

ETA (OT) for a fixturing nightmare, try a Krag action! Nothing is parallel or square to anything else that one can easily mount the action to.(bad grammar but in a hurry)

[Son]

Just thinking out aloud Son, but the trouble with an SMLE is holding the xxxx thing square and secure in the first place. Any knowledge as to exactly how parallel the bottom surface of the body is to the axis of the bore? Comments............

I've got a barrelled action loose at the moment, I'll get it out and clamp it onto a flat surface and project a light through the bore or something- I'll get back to you shortly....




Ok, I'm back.
I set the barrelled action up, clamped gently so the bottom surface of the action was held down flat. I turned the lights off and stuck a single LED torch in the muzzle and then the chamber to project a spot onto a block set up at the opposite ends. I marked the centre of the spots and measured their height above the surface to be the same at each end, over a span of four feet. Conclusion from this rough experiment- the axis of the bore appears to be parallel with the bottom surface of the action.