Pakistan Ordnance Factory

[Brian Dick]

I know that the woodwork for the Pakistani Mk.1 and Mk.2 rifles is Turkish walnut. It's beautiful stuff too. I've got a set hidden in case a beater Mk.2 ever comes my way with nice metal. Did you SLR afficinados know that the woodwork on the Canadian C1 and C1A1 rifle was Turkish walnut. I bet not! I have blanks here for the pistol grips and buttstocks that came straight from CAL when the remaining inventory was auctioned off in the 70's.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

The trick in all this "old stuff" is that the method of production was essentially unchanged from the mid 19th century.

There was no multi-axis CNC capability, hence almost every cut was made on a dedicated machine set up for that particular process. Hence one of the most fascinating documents to get your paws on is a "process book".

As an example, the bolt for an M-1 Garand rifle had over 80 separate "processes" from initial forging to surface coating. Almost every one of these was done on a separate machine or bank of machines.

Each process also had a set of "Go-No Go" gauges, so the amount of gauging and tooling for an entire rifle was immense. Check out the photo of components and gauging in Ian Skennerton's book for an idea of the scale of work involved.

Changing from a Mk1 to a Mk4 body was feasible, but would have required a lot of new fixtures, tools and gauges.

[Peter Laidler]

Many shooters seem to think that the trigger block that converts a Mk1 or 1/1 to a Mk1/2 or 1/3 is pre machined and brazed on. NOT SO. It was brazed on as a solid block then machined in situ. All measurements were subsequently taken from the sear axis pin hole and angles from the lower face of the body

[me2]

That makes sense. A finished part could shift slightly while being brazed onto the action body.

[mnmkeller]

I recently got a mk2 forend with multiple FR steps as well as what I think are lamda stamps. There is also a P over 5P just below the metal nose cap.