SMLE Trigger work and handguard question.

[tsquared82]

Hello, I have two questions that I need help with.

1) I have stripped all the wood furniture off my No1 Mk3 to see why I have a hair trigger. Turns out that the trigger, at rest, is pressing against the sear with no slack, and only allowing it to engage at the very edge of the bolt catch. the bolt will release if I bump the cocking piece. However, with the trigger removed, the sear will raise completely home and engage the cocking piece properly. Are there varying sizes of triggers? Do I need to do some filing on the trigger or the trigger guard?

2) Where can I find rivets for the rear handguard spring clip? I've searched high and low with no results.

Thank you for your time!

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[englishman_ca]

You have what is not an uncommon problem with some civilian owned LEs. It sounds like the rifle has been assembled but the trigger has not been set up and adjusted with those parts on that rifle.

The trigger is mounted to the trigger guard. Consequently, the relative position of the trigger to the sear can be effected by the woodwork and how the guard is fitted.

Check to make sure that the trigger guard's mag well loop portion is straight and flat (it sounds like yours could be bowed) and that it sits right down into the inlet and bears along the bottom of the inletting along its length.

The front trigger guard screw must be tight and the steel bushing in the hole is correctly set in length (not too long).

You don't mention if this is how the rifle came to you. A previous owner could have assembled it with random parts and and not gone through the procedure to fit them properly and adjust.
This trigger guard mounting of the trigger was an issue in so much that Enfield actually did an update to the design on the later No.4 Mk.2 to remove the trigger from the guard and hang it from a support on the receiver to eliminate the problem of trigger pull off going out of adjustment.

Your problem can be fixed, you just need to read up on adjusting pull off. The resource is here if you do a search.

Rivets for the hand guard spring clip? You might have to make them. It is the tiny brass washers that are impossible to find.

[tsquared82]

You have what is not an uncommon problem with some civilian owned LEs. It sounds like the rifle has been assembled but the trigger has not been set up and adjusted with those parts on that rifle.

The trigger is mounted to the trigger guard. Consequently, the relative position of the trigger to the sear can be effected by the woodwork and how the guard is fitted.

Check to make sure that the trigger guard's mag well loop portion is straight and flat (it sounds like yours could be bowed) and that it sits right down into the inlet and bears along the bottom of the inletting along its length.

The front trigger guard screw must be tight and the steel bushing in the hole is correctly set in length (not too long).

You don't mention if this is how the rifle came to you. A previous owner could have assembled it with random parts and and not gone through the procedure to fit them properly and adjust.
This trigger guard mounting of the trigger was an issue in so much that Enfield actually did an update to the design on the later No.4 Mk.2 to remove the trigger from the guard and hang it from a support on the receiver to eliminate the problem of trigger pull off going out of adjustment.

Your problem can be fixed, you just need to read up on adjusting pull off. The resource is here if you do a search.

Rivets for the hand guard spring clip? You might have to make them. It is the tiny brass washers that are impossible to find.

I should have prefaced that I have assembled this no1 mk3 with nearly all NOS parts.... foolishly thinking that I could drop in and play like an AR15. This has been a 3 year project and am getting antsy to finish it. I also have reproduction whitehead scope mounts as I intend to replicate a first war sniper.

So, I have read Laidler's trigger pull off documents. If I understand right, I need to buy a fist full of triggers and possibly trigger guards and see which fits best as there are some slight variations. THEN, I would work on stoning the first stage as the sear demands?

Thank you for your time!

[Alan de Enfield]

I should have prefaced that I have assembled this no1 mk3 with nearly all NOS parts.... foolishly thinking that I could drop in and play like an AR15. This has been a 3 year project and am getting antsy to finish it. I also have reproduction whitehead scope mounts as I intend to replicate a first war sniper.

So, I have read Laidler's trigger pull off documents. If I understand right, I need to buy a fist full of triggers and possibly trigger guards and see which fits best as there are some slight variations. THEN, I would work on stoning the first stage as the sear demands?

Thank you for your time!

These rifles were the last of the 'Hand Built, Victorian Era Rifles'

Every one was hand built with each part hand-fitted by Armourers who knew what to do, how to do it, and the effect it would have on adjacent parts.


These rifles are the exact opposite of 'plug & play'.

I built my 1st one up piece by piece "0ne piece at a time" (ala Johhny cash) sourced from every corner of the planet. Eventually everything was together and functioning, but it JUST WOULDN'T COCK.

Eventually traced the fault to the forend fouling and stopping it cocking. Replaced the forend with one off my No1 MK3 410 shotgun and it worked.

[Brian Dick]

I may have one copy left of the Canadian Ordnance Corps, Extracts from Instructions for Armourers that details exactly what needs to be done to set up everything on an SMLE from scratch. I'm lucky to have purchased hundreds of SMLE spares many years ago and am lucky to be able to select fit from bins of parts as you describe. It can be very time consuming but not that difficult. I can't imagine just slapping one together like an AR15 which any garage gunsmith can do. Working these old rifles is a real world learning experience. It's easy to make them pretty but not so much to make them fit and function correctly. Email me at bdlltd@bellsouth.net if interested and I'll see if I have one copy left. I still keep a clean one in my reference library and an ugly, greasy one with many handwritten notes on my bench but I seriously doubt I'll ever have them printed again as too many folks just don't buy books anymore thinking they can get everything they need as a free download off the internet.

[Bindi2]

Before you stone any thing check to see if your trigger guard is bent it must be straight. The correct length collar is a must.

[Brian Dick]

I'd make a guess that if it's been assembled it with nos parts, he may have more problems in store than the trigger.

[tsquared82]

Well, I fiddled about with the trigger as much as I could. Even ordered a small handful of triggers and a second trigger guard. I've made sure that the trigger guard is absolutely level and straight as required. I've tried following Mr. Laidler's instructions on setting the trigger guard screw collar height by counting the turns and backing off a hair... which seems to leave a small gap still at full 1/2" stock collar length.

When assembled WITHOUT any wood furniture on the metal.... the sear is held down to just a cross-eyed look away from firing unless the trigger guard fore end is only about a 1/4" from the rest of the action... which doesn't seem normal.

My brain is telling me that I am at the point to where I need to file/stone my trigger to allow just the first stage to rest at the cocked position... and not be a hair trigger.

Is there any further enlightenment? I feel like I may destroy my enfield. (Had to walk away from it today for fear of throwing it through my wall in a Chevy Chase style fit from Christmas Vacation.)

My cocking piece is "DP" stamped. I may order another one without that marking if possible, just to eliminate that potential variable while I am at it.

[Alan de Enfield]

)

My cocking piece is "DP" stamped. I may order another one without that marking if possible, just to eliminate that potential variable while I am at it.

Just a very small quote on Peter's article on DP rifles :

And before I forget, let me remind you of something else too, JUST in case you’re tempted to buy one to use as spare parts. This is what the Armourers bible says. ‘……..it will be assembled as far as possible with components which are below the standard required for a service weapon’. And another thing you ought to remember. There were NO gauging limits for DP rifles. Mmmmmmm, food for thought there!


It could well be dimensionally incorrect (along with any other parts from a DP that you may have used - the parts were not always marked DP)

[RobD]

Tsquared
Just a suggestion - could you post some close-up pictures of the trigger/sear/cocking piece setup without the wood in place?
Maybe it will be obvious where the error lies.
Rob