Lee Enfield No. 1 Mk III striker screw pitch

[Bruce_in_Oz]

The silly thing is that it has never been easier to make all of those weird old "Enfield Specials".

A while ago I got a batch of trigger screws made for BSA "Martini" Cadet rifles. The friendly folk at my local CNC shop simply loaded in the appropriate pitch data and ground some suitably-formed threading tools and away they went.

MLM cutoff screw - 49TPI ,
SMLE front nosecap screw -33TPI,
SMLE screw, rear, triggerguard - 37TPI,
SMLE Front handguartd cap screws - 56TPI, It can be done!

Just not in "penny packets" at a sane price.

Then there's the absolute classic: The "Bolt" (Latch) and associated "Nut, bolt, mild steel"for a P-07 bayonet: 0.101" x 26 1/3 TPI. Now THAT is a REAL "Enfield Special". See Spec No. 2123.

[Patrick Chadwick]

0.101" x 26 1/3 TPI. Now THAT is a REAL "Enfield Special".

OK, I pass on that one! Diameter is near enough the same as the US "3-" size, but the pitch is extraordinarily coarse. 2.6x1mm would be workable, if there was such a size.

BTW - for anyone in the situation of having to apply such approximations - always use mild steel screws, not tough machine screws, working them (well greased) in/out/in a bit more etc. The screw should adapt itself to the rifle, not the other way around!

N.B. this site
http://freespace.virgin.net/j.frankl...read-table.htm

gives the stock bolt as 7/16 BSW, not an "Enfield funny". Although the site has been updated in recent years, with a couple of BA substitutes now being listed, I have a "pre-update" printout, and it was then also listed as 7/16 BSW.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Found it!

Drawing C-633
#81 (Parts list reference) BOLT, STOCK

14 Thds. per inch. Enfield Standard.
Major Diameter: 0.4375" -0.003"

Well, my trusty, German-made "Bokor" screw-pitch gauge tells me that all of my SMLE stock bolts are, indeed, 14TPI and that the thread form appears to be pretty much Whitworth.

So, maybe "Whitworth" WAS the "Enfield Standard" for that one screw. (Tap-dances quickly away to make a cuppa..........)

Also found in the same box: a different stock bolt. A whisker over an inch longer than a No4 stock bolt, it has the exact, same thread on it, along with "EFD" and a "broad arrow" stamped on the head, either side of the driving slot. It also has the "waist" in the shank, to prevent seizure in the wood from swollen timber or corrosion, just like a "proper" SMLE stock bolt.

Martini or early LE / LM?

[Homer]

Bruce there are still good supplies of nosecap and trigger guard screws avaiable in Australia.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Homer, I doubt most enthusiasts do a proper, military standard, annual inspection on all (or any) of their goodies, so demand for "consumable" parts would be low.

Those in need in Oz can get most things "Lee Enfield", apart from furniture, from Alan At Kingaroy Firearms.

Parts for large and small frame Martinis are a different matter.

The one category that WILL cause problems for those shooting these critters is SPRINGS. High Carbon steels and "malleable cast iron" age and become brittle. Owners of Sniders and Martinis (and early LM & LE rifles), take heed. Martini Cadet striker springs and the split takedown pin in the BSA/"Francotte" variants fail quite regularly these days. I have also seen more failed strikers lately.

Given that many Lee Enfields are almost as old AND until the advent of the No4, used ONLY carbon steels, (NO alloy steels allowed, as per original specs), ....Coming soon (well, in the next few decades) to a gun safe near you.........