No 4 (T) loose cheek weld

[B & B ARSENAL]

I recently got a 1943 BSA No 4 (T) that has a loose cheek weld. My thoughts are that the prior owner yanked on the cheek weld and may have de-threaded the wood.Attachment 16618

Can anyone help with how to go about repairing this. Any help would be appreciated.

Information

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[Baal]

Off the top of my head, I'd say you'll need to drill out the screw holes to a somewhat larger diameter and plug them with hardwood dowels. Then re-drill the proper size holes again. The repair will be invisible since it sits under the cheek piece. On the bright side, you can use this as an opportunity to ensure the cheek piece is properly positioned to suit you perfectly.

[Peter Laidler]

Yep, Baals got it in one and straight from Mr Rileys 2nd year apprentices lessons at Carlisle. Drill down oversize, glue on a hardwood plug, re-drill with a pilot and screw back down. DO NOT plug the hole with old matchsticks or bits of old wood offcuts.

You can do this with any stripped wood thread

[B & B ARSENAL]

Thanks to the both of you. I will do as you have suggested.

One question, how do you keep the head of the screw from getting buggered up when you screw it back into the butt of the rifle?

Once again, thank you for Peter and Baal for your input.

[Peter Laidler]

Use the right size screwdriver for a) width and b) thickness and run a bit of soap down the length of the screw thread before you screw it in

[Son]

A good suggestion to all who "fiddle". Buy a good set of hollow ground screwdrivers. As Peter said, only use the driver bit that is the correct width and thickness for the slot, dispose of any damaged driver bits.

This starts out expensive- a decent set can cost near $200 in Aus. But think of it this way. Every screw you bugger is going to cost at least $5 to replace, but only if you can get them! Won't take long to "save" the money for the set to pay for itself.

[paulseamus]

Son

I have had trouble trying to locate hollow ground screw drivers in West Aus. I have tried Bunnings, Tool Mart and a few trade tool suppliers and all have looked at me like I am asking for a left handed screwdriver or a can of stripped paint! Can you please suggest a suitable brand to speed up my search.

Thanks

Paul

[Peter Laidler]

Ah, similar problem everywhere Paul. But get a set of good quality standard screwdrivers and ask someone to hollow grind them. What hollow ground basically means is that the tip that actions the screw is parallel - hollow ground - as opposed to tapering outwards where it will tend to attempt to slip out of the slot. Good toolmakers usually make a small jig during their apprenticeships. The screwdriver blade fits into the jig which sets the blade at the correct grinding angle and height for the hollow grind

[tbonesmith]

I think you're going to be looking for something REALLY specialized, I think stalwille do some, but really they're not much better than a set of CGL as even though they're hollow ground, they are not ground for your particular screw head/s. I've got a very good set of CGL screw drivers that are extremely hard and tough, but for just about all the Lee Enfield screws(except the band screws) I'm using screw drivers that I've hollow ground personally on a bench grinder to suit the screw head. I think I've now got a good set for No4's and No1's. I've just used old thrashed blade drivers, and not burned them when grinding, and they've stayed hard enough with one or 2 exceptions.
At the end of the day, I don't think you'll be able to buy a set over the counter that will suit your needs perfectly, and if you could the set would contain about 30+ drivers and would cost an absolute mint. Better mabe buy some old second hand ones, a bench grinder, and a white wheel(silicon carbide I think),

[breakeyp]

If you are not mechanically inclined to do the proper job as outlined above, it is possible to tighten the screw hole the lazy way. Take several flat toothpicks cut to length and put in the hole and run the screw in. That should be sufficient to hold everthing in place as the cheekpiece is normally not subjected to high loads. I wouldn't do it with sling swivel screws.