My 1941 Lithgow and some questions.

[Arnie]

I have a 1941 Lithgow No 1 Mk III* that was given an FTR in, I believe, 1955. The barrel is dated June 1955 and MA 55 is lightly stamped on the left side of the butt socket. The right side shows the usual Lithgow, MA 1941 stamping. I've owned the rifle since 1979. It appears a previous owner may have refinished or stained the stock.

Although a joy to behold and possessing a new barrel, it is a poor shooter. It impacts low and as it gets hot, subsequent shots drop right out of the scoring rings in a vertical line on an SR 1 target at 100 yards. Has anyone experienced anything like this? Could someone point me in the right direction as to what might be wrong?

Thinking it might be a possible bedding problem, I have been motivated to take off the stock but can't do so because the little horizontal screw in the nosecap will not budge. It is the only screw on the rifle which is dinged up and if I apply to much pressure I'm afraid the slot will be mangled. I also notice the screw head seems to be on wrong side since most other rifles seem to have the screw head on the opposite side. I took a picture of this area.

My other question concerns the A F stamp on the receiver ring. Does anyone know what this means. I have not been able to find it in my copy of The Lee Enfield story by Skennerton.

Information

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[Peter Laidler]

Before you do ANYTHING else, clean the bore, dry it and test fire it for accuracy (first three rounds into the bank first.......) using the ammo that it was made to shoot and likes best. British (or other Commonwealth) .303" Mk7 ball. That's the only way to test it for accuracy and zero

[Arnie]

I've done that as late as last week. I have some South African A80 7.7 x 56R ammo plus my own 174 and 180 grain Sierra handloads. It always follows the same pattern and has since I've owned it. I also have two No 4's and they group pretty well at 100 yards with the same ammo.

[Thunderbox]

1. Make sure the front trigger guard screw is firm (not gorilla'd...);

2. Take the inner band screw out and make sure there is a small spring in there;

3. Tighten the inner band screw up until you feel it just bite on the spring, and then fire a series of test groups - tightening the inner band screw by 1/4 turn in between each group.

4. If the inner band screw tension makes no difference, then you'll need to take the forend off to have a look inside. The small horizontal screw in the nosecap is facing the correct way - its just been staked in place. You will have to persuade it to come out...

[Peter Laidler]

Try some Radway Green or Woolwich (RG or RL). With the best will in the world, South African 7.7 ain't calibrated to UK Military spec.

[Demo]

You don't have to take the nosecap off to remove the forend.

The A^F stamp has been discussed a number of times and the general opinion is that it stands for Air Force. The other possibility is Australian Forces. I've also heard from a number of very seasoned collectors that some rifles that went through the Australian Air Force were indeed varnished. I don't know if this is true but I've owned a couple and seen many more that have a wood finish identical to yours.

[Arnie]

Thunderbox, The trigger guard screw is firm. I managed to get the middle band screw out and there was a spring inside. When I put it back in I can't feel it bite. It only seems to be loose or tight. I backed it out a turn and will try again at the range tightening it up as I shoot. That nosecap screw isn't coming out. Its not in good shape and I hold a degree in screw head mangling!! Thanks for the advise.

Peter, I have no sources of the ammo you mention. Only my hand loads. I use 43 Grains of RE 15 and either the 174 or 180 Sierra bullets. Do you think ammo is the problem?

Demo, can you detail the method of removing the forestock without removing the nosecap?

---------- Post added at 04:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:37 PM ----------

Demo, just read the rest of your post. Thanks for the info re the A F stamp and the stock finish. It is really a good looking rifle.

[Andrew from Perth]

I can't add to anything the expert armourers, but I have a 1941 Lithgow, serial no. 60299, so I feel a kindred spirit. Mine was also refurbished in 1955, new barrel with a brass shim between action and barrel.

Is your rifle consistently grouping?

[Arnie]

Thanks for your reply Andrew. Our serial numbers are pretty close together. Interesting that the rifles end up thousands of miles apart (I'm in eastern Pennsylvania, USA) and the owners can communicate with each other electronically.

Anyway, this rifle doesn't group well for me. As I stated it starts shooting low (at first I thought it was a simple matter of the front sight being to high) but then drops subsequent shots even lower until you wind up with a verticle line of holes. The windage seems to be OK, though. Its interesting that you mention your rifle has a brass shim between action and barrel. It strikes me that that shim would be visible in front of the receiver ring, right? My rifle doesn't seem to have a shim.

[Son]

Arnie... are you using the sling when shooting?

It is not uncommon for any rifle to wander a bit in elevation as the barrel warms up. As Peter suggested, put at least three into the backstop before you even aim at the paper. In fact try five. Then shoot a group, do what you must to get it on paper, take your aim at the top edge of the target, careful to keep the same horizontal point of aim.

Then use a sandbag rest under the front swivel, and not your sling... see where it shoots in comparison.

I have a '42 Lithgow 55FTR that was in the grease when I got it. It shoots around MOA all day from cold to hot. If I use a "hasty" hold with the sling it strings vertically four or five inches in a group, well low of the previous POI.