Long Sad Story Of Bubba'ed No.4 Mk.I (T), with Questions!

[pzjgr]

Hey guys, I'm a new guy here, found the board while researching some No.4 Mk.I (T) threads on Gunboards....I'll save the blah, blah, blah of my interests for the intro board, but I wanted to get this posted here...

Anyway, just got a new project yesterday from a friend who found it languishing in a small hole in the wall gun shop in Erie, PA....

It is a No.4 Mk I (T) sniper that some no good, SOB Bubba turdhead got a hold of. Chopped the forearm into sporter style, sanded the crap out of it, added bubba swivel... took off the cheek piece, sanded the crap out of the butt, filled the cheekpiece holes....you could still see the remnants of the scope number on top of the butt where it goes into the socket . No handguards....so wood was trashed, and useless.

Then the no good SOB tossed the rear sight, and removed the front pad, and drilled the top of the chamber, and dovetailed and drilled the charger bridge to add his piece of crap bubba mount so he could mount his piece of crap bubba scope!!!!

I can't believe some moron did this to an original sniper!!!!!

OK, so what I have is a correct BSA Shirley 1944 receiver and barrel, barrel is s/n'ed and matches the receiver, great bore too....left butt socket marked TR, left receiver side marked T, S on right side as it should be...did not look for the mark by the bolt raceway, just found out about it today while looking at "T" threads, but will check....matching bolt, original trigger guard assembly, complete, and mag.

We worked a deal, he had a recent import with crappy bore but otherwise nice 1943 Long Branch that used to be mine, and a real crapper Maltby that had been bubba'ed with a chopped barrel and put in a synthetic monte carlo stock. He owed me some trade, so....I stripped the Long Branch which had all Long Branch parts except the bolt (mismatched)...kept the nice wood set, bands, rear sight parts, small parts needed for the "T", etc....

Took the crapper bubba, stripped it, put the Long Branch barreled action in the synthetic stock, put it back together....(He wouldn't be able to sell it with the crappy maltby bubba in it)

Now he has a bubba special to sell (he'll be at the Syracuse show this weekend...by the way, he also has a primo 1921 Lithgow of mine he took in a trade, it'll be out on his table if any of you are going, its a nice, all matching gun if you need one!), and I've got the T with nice parts to re-assemble into a complete rifle....plus a donor action to try and get a new charger bridge out of.

So my plan....use the screws that were in the bubba mount to fill the drilled holes, along with some JB Weld to lock them in good, and fill any small spots...cut off the crew heads, carefully file smooth.....also would like to try to replace charger bridge...but need advice for that. I am thinking I can cut slots in the blind screws holding the bubba'ed charger bridge, back them out, then remove the bridge. The cut slots into the screws of the donor action bridge, remove and use it to replace the "T" bridge...then I would have to fill in the slots with JB Weld....but since the rifles were painted anyway (and there is still remnants of the black paint on the "T") I figured once done, I would repaint the whole thing with Moly-coat, or some other good bake on high temp finish, that would cover up the bubba holes....

I have the rear sight from the LB, I plan on dremeling off the peep, and filing smooth, I looked at his complete unmessed with "T" and the rear sight certainly wasn't perfect where they milled off the peep, so the dremel and file ought to replicate that pretty well...

I will have to find a new front pad and screws, and a new cheek piece...then a repro mount, and something close to a No.32 scope until someone does a repro, or I get very lucky and find a real one....

I do not have a "T", and could not let this one stay the way it is...it might not be perfect, but it is a real one, and will have to do until I might stumble on a real, complete one that I can actually afford! The price was very right, basically it didn't cost me anything...the only cash I will have to lay out is for the cheekpiece, the front pad and the scope and mount at some point.

I will get some pics tonight, and keep a running comentary on the project if you guys are interested...but right now my big question is the best way to replace that charger bridge, and any other suggestions you guys might have (besides pony up and buy a complete rig!)

Oh, and just as an aside, my buddy sells floor covering wholesale all over WNY and Western PA, so he is always out selling during the week, and hitting the small local joints....its a good job...earlier this summer he was out in the Rochester area, and scored a complete "T" rig, with transit chest, scope and mount, box for scope, basically just missing some small accessories...his out the door price (it just came in on consignment...) $1000....so they are still out there, and at bargain basement prices if you get REALLY lucky. I still hate him for that one!!! Ther's no way he is parting with it either!

So questions for the guys here....what do you think of my plan, re filling the holes, filing smooth, then painting the gun with a Suncorite substitute? And whats the best way to replace the charger bridge piece? Does my plan of cutting slots to back out the screws seem reasonable, or is there a better way? Anyone have a spare front pad with screws they would part with?

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[No4Mk1(T)]

Well it sounds as though you have thought out your plan fairly carefully. I think your main difficulty will be that charger bridge. First thing you’ll want to verify is whether it’s screwed or welded in. If cutting slots in the top of said screws doesn’t work it may be necessary to drill them out completely and potentially re-threading the holes for larger screws.
If you know a skilled tig welder you may want to consider having him weld over bubba’s screw holes after recessing the mounting screws in there holes. Repro pads are available but I can’t remember who has them…Sarco I think. As an aside I think I may have tried to swap the Long Branch for a set of Brit. made parts instead of using Canadian marked parts for your re-store but I’m a bit of a Long Branch snob to be honest.
Please do post photos and keep us up to date.

[pzjgr]

I did verify that the charger bridge on both the "T" and the donor receiver are screwed in, you can see the faint round outlines of the screw where they had been ground flush.

I probably would look for British parts at some point, but I figured good wood is hard to find, and a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush....

Although I am a bit PO'ed, I was watching a cheekpiece on ePay, bid on it, and got sniped in the last 10 seconds...probably by a guy wanting to put a fake together and sell it as real on Gunbroker...

Oh, well....

There is also a guy who sells repro pads and mounts on eBay....they look good, and he says they are made by a master machinist copied directly from his originals....I think I will try to snag a set of his....

[pzjgr]

1st Update....well, just ordered an cheek piece from APEX...they have genuine, used, but good condition cheek pieces for sale...$80 plus shipping. Considering I lost a probable repro unfinished cheek piece on eBay for $65, I figured what the heck, I'll give APEX a try. I will let ya'll know how good it is when it arrives, should be here early nexty week.

Got some initial pics, and as soon as I figure out how to load them here, I will get them up...

[303sniper]

Hi All,

Sound like an lot of work restoring that old girl.
There were some mounting pads on Ebay lately, maybe they are still there.
Numrich has some good repro mounts and even an repro cheekpiece for not that much USdollars.
Here is the link I found:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lee-enfield-No4T...QQcmdZViewItem

Good luck with your project and please keep us informed about the progress.....

[Maple_Leaf_Eh]

You have the right idea putting things back the way they were. The pads are out there (I bought a set years ago from Northridge in Los Angeles). Epay has made finding gun parts easier than ever, except you can pay widely varying prices. Anywhere from, 'Are you farkin' nuts?' to 'Whoa! Someone saw that guy coming.'

I would try nondestructive techniques to remove the screws before cutting slots. The suggestion of drilling them out completely actually makes good sense. No chance of damaging the receiver should the tool slip as you labour away like a dentist. BTW, there are drawings for all the No.4T parts elsewhere on this site.

Suncorite is now rated as toxic. The modern equivalent is BBQ paint or high temperature automotive header paint. They work the same way, without giving your grandchildren a third arm ;-)

[pzjgr]

Well, another update....I have put pics of the first update on my post over at Gunboards, but don't have them hosted anywhere, and I haven't resized them small enough for here...

So second update....Ok, she's looking very good....I drilled out the charger bridge screws....I did slot one, damaging the charger bridge, but since it was already toast, it didn't matter...but once slotted, I couldn't get it to turn, so I drilled them out. Charger bridge gone...

Removed the charger bridge from the donor action, same way, drilled out the screws. I made some posts by finding stock the right diameter, so that it would pass through the bridge, and into the receiver holes. I fitted the bridge in the "T" receiver, it fit nice and tight. I put JB Weld into the holes, and mating area, tapped in the bridge, and then tapped in my posts, everything fit good and tight.

I then filled the holes in the receiver top and front part of charger on the left side (in front of the bridge, the bubba had a screw in there)., then put in the screws, and tightened good and tight. I let it set for 2 days to allow the JB Weld to fully cure.

I then went back, and carefully dremeled off the screw heads a little above the receiver, and dremeled off the tops of my pins. I carefully and slowly filed them all down until perfectly flush and smooth, finished with fine emery cloth to polish up. Everything looked good.

I completely cleaned and degreased the receiver, then scraped all the solder residue off the front pad milled out area. I masked this area to keep it bare for when I find a replacement pad. I used a piece of rag to stuff the boltway, and inside the receiver bottom. Then I misted on several light coats of low gloss black 1200 deg high temp engine enamel with ceramic. After this dried, I hung it in my oven from the rack, and baked at 300 deg for 2 hours to cure it good.

After it thoroughly cooled, I burnished it with a soft cotton cloth to knock down the flatness. I now have it all assembled....I am awaiting the genuine cheek piece from Apex, and will attach that when it arrives.

So it now awaits some final tweaking, and a front pad, mount, and scope. Front pad and good repro mount should be fairly easy. The scope will be the bugger....but patience is a virtue, and if I find a complete gun reasonable before that, I can always sell this one.

I will get some pics of it finished as it stands, and at least get them up on gunboards.....

[pzjgr]

Ok guys, she is finally finished....and she is beautiful. Even with the temporary Weaver K2.5 scope on it....please go to the Gunboards Enfield forum to see the pics of all the progress and as she is now....

I am very happy with the finished product, the only thing that would really make it better is a real No. 32 scope....maybe someday if I can save that kind of scratch without spending it first, or if I luck into one....

[Stevo]

Looks great, good work. Does the cat have a Broad Arrow stamp anywhere?

[pzjgr]

And thanks to Badger for adding my pics from gunboards....

The cat sadly isn't broad arrow marked, since he is a Siamese sniper, he is marked with a Tigers head though....