Enfield No4 Mk1 Question...

[nelsonhoneyfarms]

Recently, my Dad gave me his old Enfield. He bought it and the Weaver K4 scope back in 1971 and used it for deer hunting. When he bought it, the salesman told him the gun didn't fire, and sold it to him for $17. My dad cleaned it and it has worked fine since.

Pictures of these guns that I have seen online have a different looking bolt (specifically the area at the rear of the bolt) than this one. I'm wondering if this gun has been peiced together sometime in the past, or if that type of bolt is original to this gun. Either way, I'm excited to have this piece of history that I remember from my childhood. I remember being scared to shoot it when I was little, thinking that the brass butt plate would hurt my shoulder.

Thanks in advance. See attached pics

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.

[Alan de Enfield]

No, a nice looking 'standard' Lee Enfield No4 Mk1. just drilled and tapped for a scope.

The round cocking piece was an original design, which was later substituted for the 'oblong' (flat sided) ones.

Can you show photos of the left hand side butt-socket (where the butt joins the action) which will tell us the makers name, country of origin and possibly year of manufacture.
There should be a number on the rear of the bolt-handle which should match the number on the action.

It was sold out-of-service and into the UK civilian gun market, it was proof tested in the London proof-house and then subsequently imported into the USA prior to 1968

[nelsonhoneyfarms]

Many thanks for the information. Unfortunately those numbers don't match.

[Alan de Enfield]

Many thanks for the information. Unfortunately those numbers don't match.

You have a US Savage manufactured bolt from another No4 rifle fitted into a British No4 rifle.

That is not totally unknown in military use but the bolt would have been FITTED (properly fitted) by an Armourer and re-numbered to show it belonged with that rifle.

When shipments of rifles were brought into the US some importers had the bolts and rifles shipped separately, on arrival no effort was made to re-match the bolt to its rifle.

It may be fine, it may not be - if it is not fitted properly then the total recoil can be loaded onto one locking lug and the potential for all sorts of 'nasties' can happen.

You can check to see if the load is evenly spread across both locking lugs :
From a 2008 post by PL


First things first. Bolts could only be fitted at Field and Base workshops because they were the only ones that had a 'GAUGE, Inspectors, Bolt'. This is a brand new, calibrated bolt. Still in white metal and marked as such. If my memory serves me right, the slot in the long/top locking lug is machined right through to identify it. So that's the reason if you have ever seen one. This bolt is bare.
Clean the locking lug surfaces of the rifle and put a smear of 'engineers blue' marking dye onto the corresponding locking surfaces of the inspectors bolt. Insert this bolt RIGHT FORWARD, rotate it closed, then draw it backwards and forwards a couple of times to mark the mating locking surfaces of the rifle. Push it forwards, unlock and remove.

Examine the locking surfaces of the rifle. The blue witness marks should be evident. This ensures that whatever wear that has taken place on the rifle locking surfaces has taken place equally. If its not, then I'm afraid that the rifle is unserviceable.

BUT, that's not quite the end of the story because you won't have this 'Gauge, Inspectors, bolt' but it's only right that I tell you. Now for a little secret. If you have ever bought a rifle that has a sploge of red paint on the left side, adjacent to the internal left side locking lug, then you now know that the rifle was condemned for 'worn locking lugs'.

If you are going to fit a second hand or new bolt, then do the same thing. If the dye pattern is one sided, then stone the high surface of the bolt until BOTH locking lugs bear evenly against the locking surfaces of the corresponding surfaces in the body. BUT DO NOT ATTEMPT to stone the rifle to get a bolt to fit (you can only get to the right hand surface in any case ....). The rifle body is induction hardened at these points to a depth of .004 - .006" but we have found it deeper.

[nelsonhoneyfarms]

Great information. I used a very thin layer of dye on the rear of both lugs. There was a very slight difference in the wear marks - one was making good contact, and the other's contact surface was fairly small. Used a very fine wetstone and was able to get the contact marks of both lugs to even out nicely with minor polishing.

[mrclark303]

Well done, just recheck your headspace afterwards, sure it's fine if you have removed such a tiny amount of material, but it's always a good idea to be sure.

[Roger Payne]

Incidentally, your rifle was made by BSA (Birmingham Small Arms - that's Birmingham England!) in 1942.

[nelsonhoneyfarms]

Thank you Roger for the information. Very very interesting. I will enjoy learning more about this rifle as time goes on.

Mr Clark - In regards to the headspace, I will need to take the rifle to a gunsmith as I do not have the proper gauges to measure, unless I can measure it using a vernier caliper. Thanks for the advice.

[nelsonhoneyfarms]

I have read of a method of measuring headspace by closing the bolt on a piece of solder with a SPENT shell casing in the chamber. The resulting thickness of the solder along with the rim thickness was the headspace. Is this a good method to use?

[Alan de Enfield]

I have read of a method of measuring headspace by closing the bolt on a piece of solder with a SPENT shell casing in the chamber. The resulting thickness of the solder along with the rim thickness was the headspace. Is this a good method to use?

I posted this on here many years ago but it is somewhere in the mists of time and 'old stickies', however it is still 'findable' here :

No4 Bolt Head Survey and Instructions

This gives you a simple way to get a rough estimate of your headspace.