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Thread: Lithgow SMLE Accuracy project

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  1. #1
    Legacy Member AradoAR234's Avatar
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    Lithgow SMLE Accuracy project

    Late last year I managed to pick up 3 Lee Enfield Riflesicon from a nearby dealer for a really good price. My initial thought was to have one as a parts rifle, one as a dedicated sporter, and the other as a Full wood "accuracy Project". Although I originally intended to buy just two of the, the dealer threw in another one for free, as he said he just couldn't sell it.

    Easy to see why.....it was the most bubba'd Lithgowicon I have ever seen. In an attempt to "sporterise" this poor rifle, someone had used a hack saw and angle grinder on the bolt to duplicate a Mannlicher style and failed miserably, as well as a flush fitting 5 shot magazine tack welded to the trigger guard etc. Oddly enough, this misguided soul had fitted what appeared to be a handmade trigger of quite good proportions and style, fitted a solid quality bridge mount ( with a woefull, cloudy, bottom end 'scope ), with mismatched after market custom butt and forend. I thought it would be good for parts anyway, and it was free, so I grabbed it.

    The main buy was a 1918 BSA full wood, shot out barrel and non matching bolt, but otherwise period correct, right down to the stacking swivel. This was to be the donor rifle for the other one, a like new condition 1943 Lithgow, R.A.A.F. issue that had also been sporterised. Take the timber and fittings off the BSA, put them on the '43 Lithgow, and then use all the tips and tricks I've picked up over the years, and make a really accurate Full wood, without ruining a collectible.

    Although the BSA had no real value for a collectors piece, and was too dangerous to shoot, I still had some misgivings about its donor value. With no stamps or discerning marks or dates on the timber and fittings, I decided to reluctantly sell sell the whole Full wood and fittings to another collector who desperately wanted a WW1 BSA restoration. He was really happy with it, and the money was to be put toward finding another more suitable non-valuable set of woodwork.

    I'm taking my time getting to the point, but just wanted anyone who wants to read this to understand I had a particular end goal in mind, and there was no great rush. So, about a month ago, I contacted another dealer who used to advertise "as new" repro stocks for Lithgows. As luck would have it, he had one complete, as new, set of full wood timber for a reasonable cost, so I grabbed it straight away. The priced was reduced due to some minor surface damage on one piece, but otherwise brand new unfitted, and much better suited to my purpose.

    It should arrive this Friday, so I've stripped out the '43 Lithgow and cleaned off the cosmolineicon, and gave the sporter stock to a mate who needed one. The barrelled action is in remarkable condition, matching numbers, with the rifling practically 10/10 and shiny as a mirror. The headspace is perfect, just a fraction tight, with all of the blueing still on the bolt surface and magazine, and the locking lugs identical on their contact surfaces. It looks as though it has hardly ever been fired. I have a central No 4 Range sight which I'll fit to wring the most out of it at some stage down the track, but for now I'll use the standard sights. I'll do my best to post some pics of the project over the next week
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    Legacy Member AradoAR234's Avatar
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    and as a sideline....

    While I didn't intend to get side tracked in this thread, I thought it would be interesting to someone to know what happened to the Bubba'd parts rifle that I got for nothing. She ended up being the classic dark horse of all time. With nothing to lose, and a pile of spare parts and some curiosity, I assembled a bolt, swapped out the trigger guard, and fitted a magazine. With the forend off, I shimmed up the receiver area to float the barrel, and cleaned up the drawers for a snug fit.

    I gave the barrel a good scrub, which came up remarkably well, and swapped around some bolt heads until the headspace was spot on. I then cleaned up the trigger and sear, polished up the cocking piece, and put on a spare scope that was lying around. I didn't bother with the finish on the stock because I just needed to know it would work properly before getting too carried away. I figured if it shot minute of deer, I could just sell it as an inexpensive sporter to someone local and recover my costs.

    Even now, I can't believe the transformation. Sighting it in with cast loads first, I actually thought it was so inaccurate I was missing the target completely. Turns out it had shot a ragged hole with a three shot group. Adjusting the scope, it shot another ragged hole with 5 shots, no flyers. In all my years with cut down and sporterised SMLE's, I've never had one this accurate. Somehow, it had all come together out of what I believed was a total junker.

    Needless to say, I won't be selling it at all, and will probably take it Deer hunting next season. I'm even reluctant to re-finish the stock or tidy up the bluing in case I disturb something. I've heard of freak rifles and always been dubious of the claims, but to get one for nothing that would have otherwise been dumped in the crusher has changed my opinion. I'll try and post a picture of the original bolt once I figure out the process for photo's.

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    Legacy Member Mt203's Avatar
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    Pictures!

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    Legacy Member AradoAR234's Avatar
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    As soon as I can

    Have to get my son to post the photo's as I can't do it from where I am. Hopefully some pics by next Monday ( still waiting for the stock to arrive )

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    Legacy Member Daan Kemp's Avatar
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    I agree with 'if it ain't broke don't fix it'. Leave that rifle as is, never 'fix' anything, except for judicious cleaning. Don't change the recipe for the cartridges that made the one-hole groups, in fact, stock up on them.

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    Legacy Member AradoAR234's Avatar
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    The replacement stock arrived yesterday, and is in better shape than anticipated. It is virtually identical in every aspect to the original, with a very good matching finish on all four pieces of timber. The discounted price tag was over some "cosmetic" damage, which ended up being the most superficial of scrapes on the underside of the butt, and very simply touched up. The grain is similar to black American walnut, and the hardness is about the same as Queensland Maple. The quality of the inletting is very impressive, and the forend fits snugly around the receiver with no play or binding. I'll assemble the rifle later in the week, and check the muzzle pressure using both the spring tension and shimming to get the correct amount. Hopefully some photos by tomorrow or Thursday.

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    Legacy Member AradoAR234's Avatar
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    Slowly does it

    Still working on putting up pictures......the stock is coming along quite well, although a few minor gremlins arose in the fitting. There are numerous small discrepancies in the machining and inletting i.e high spots around the receiver area, holes drilled 1/16 of an inch off centre, or too shallow, excess timber not trimmed off and so on. While this may sound like a quality control issue, it also means that I can do some precise repairs and alterations to suit my project, without fear of ruining a collectable's value.

    Working with brand new timber also means no oil soaked or crushed bits of wood. What ever shimming I may need will be brass or aluminium instead of the more traditional cardboard or cork which tends to compress over time. It took a couple of hours of patient sanding and inletting to get the fore end to sit properly, but I'm really pleased with the progress. The trigger guard in particular has to be just right to wedge up the fore end so the drawers sit at the correct angle with the recoil lugs and have equal bearing on both sides. Like wise floating the barrel from just in front of the knox form to just past the barrel band and then bedding it correctly up to the nose cap to give the correct upward pressure between 4 and 7 pounds.

    Still undecided on whether to use tung oil on the internal timber, and linseed oilicon on the exterior, but once the rain stops and the weather warms up I should have made my mind up. Just to recap- I'll make this one as close as I can to "as issued" set up the way the original armourers had them, and see what kind of accuracy I get to start with. With brand new stock and as new metal work, the basics are already there, although it may take some seasoning to settle things down. I don't want this thread to draw out, so if it shoots 2MOA as is I'll leave it, and if it doesn't, I'll keep going. Hopefully some photo's soon.

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    Legacy Member Daan Kemp's Avatar
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    Don't knock the traditional methods, they are tried and tested and must be good if they are still working well.

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    Legacy Member 22SqnRAE's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AradoAR234 View Post
    Still undecided on whether to use tung oil on the internal timber, and linseed oilicon
    Go with the original substance: warm raw linseed oilicon, with the stocks dipped in them for 8 hours. (You probably don't need to warm up a bath of oil though...)

    You'll find that in manufacture, the raw oil was used and in service a mix of raw (stays 'wet' longer) and boiled was often used for maintenance. The affect of boiled was often a more shiny, slick finish that was generated form the thicker oil drying on the surface and being polished through constant handling.

    But tung oil was not part of the Australianicon inventory. Might have been for the M1icon Garand, but not the SMLE.
    Last edited by 22SqnRAE; 12-07-2020 at 06:05 AM.
    Trying to save Service history, one rifle at a time...

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    Legacy Member Alan de Enfield's Avatar
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    You cannot really do much better than follow the original instructions to armourers :
    Mine are not the best, but they are not too bad. I can think of lots of Enfields I'd rather have but instead of constantly striving for more, sometimes it's good to be satisfied with what one has...

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