I think ive boaught a bit of a pig in a poke :(

[ssj]

So the Long Branch gun I bought on the basis of its excellent barrel and matching bolt has some issues.

a) The matching bolt isnt, looks like the old number was polished off and a new number stamped on...not so hot. Whats worse using marking blue I can see only one lug touches...not good at all. So I'm considering returning it....

but worse it wont feed very well...and seems to jamb.



b) When I move the bolt forward the front of the small bolt lug hits the seer and that's it, it wont feed. I inserted my no4 mk2 bolt and that fouls the seer as well, so the seer is rising too high? is that fixable?

This has a new stock fitted by the previous owner, its a mk1* so is it the stock is badly fitted?

by this I mean the trigger guard and hence trigger is in the wrong position?

On my mk2 no issues....so a new seer? The pin and seer hole dont seem worn, I cant feel much if any movement there....

regards

Information

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[Patrick Chadwick]

The matching bolt isnt, looks like the old number was polished off and a new number stamped on...hot.

If the rifle was sold as matching, this alone would be a good reason to return it. Peter Laidler may wish to comment, but polishing off a number is not typical arsenal practice, and an arsenal-fitted replacement would certainly have had proper contact for both locking lugs.

Whats worse using marking blue I can see only one lug touches...

And this would be a good reason to return it as being unsafe to use i.e. not fit for the intended purpose (as a rifle suitable for shooting).

If the seller was a licensed dealer you should have no problem. And a licensed dealer, by virtue of having a licence, is a knowledgeable person who cannot wiggle out of his responsibility by saying he sold it on commission. With a private person you are likely to have a lot of prevarication of the "I haven't got a clue and am therefore not responsible" kind. Be firm. If the seller made such a claim, he is responsible, and IMHO you are in a strong position.

[ssj]

hmmm,

What Ive found is the trigger guard is bent, or was bent 2mm (I have straightened it) , this takes the trigger pin's centre line downward slightly causing it to rest on the seer and pull the seer down enough to mostly clear the bolt lug. Once I straightened it then it wont allow the bolt to feed at all. At the moment Im stumped as to what to fix/replace, well except the seer.

To return it I bought it on the basis of it being matching bolt and "Overall, this is excellent". The barrel is excellent, so if its a simple part replace like the seer I might live with it.

I'll wait on Peter if this is actually a sign the receiver is worn out or something then I'll ask to return and get a refund. We have a consumer guarantee act here that says it has to be fit for purpose...so I have a legal line.

:/

[Peter Laidler]

If the bolt is renumbered, set up correctlt and CHS's with the rifle, then it should be fine.

If the sear appears to rise too far, then there was a repair for it. But only once! I detail this in another thread somewhere. But as I said, it was only sanctioned once and then scrap.
The other scenario that fits your bill is that the bolt runs too low in the body. That I'm afraid means that the body is well and truly, what we call iun Armourers technical language, 'shagged' There was only ever one relaxation in this and that was for certain L42's in order to conserve dwindling stocks but I won't go into that here.

Sorry to spoil your Sunday but it looks like it's bad news SSJ!

[ssj]

Thats OK, I will go back to the seller and request I return it and get a refund. I have the consumer guarantee act here that says fit for purpose. The person also sells quite a few parts so its hard to believe he's without knowledge.

Hmm I cant see the bolt runs low as I cant push the bolt up with my fingers...

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edit
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ie a worn receiver...

I'll go back and see what he says.

[Kiwi]

Wow, that bites! Was your purchase through trademe? I've bought a fair few .303 rifles in the last two years on tradme and had a few similar experiences (although I've recently had the opposite and got an all matching no.5 mk1 when it was stated by the seller as a mis-match). Refining my purchases now and generally only stick to a few well know sellers who trust. Hope you can get your money back!

[ssj]

Yeah TM...it was described as "Overall, this is excellent". Same here I try and stick to ppl with a good reputation, the seller is 100%.

Im just writing an email now, I have the consumer guarantee act I hope, fit for purpose. Im not sure how easy its going to be to get the $s back, but he/she does have 100% positive feedback though, so we'll see what transpires, might just be an oops and it gets sorted OK.

Bugger......

[Peter Laidler]

We used to have a specially calibrated 'BOLT, gauge, Inspectors' that was the final arbiter. You have to slightly oil this bolt and press down on the body of it as the lower/left lug passes over the sear nose. If it touches or binds in any way then that's it.

You could try another sear and sear axis pin if you want.......

Remove the bolt and look at the sear stop part of the body. This is the inner ledge that stops the sear rotating upwards. If it has already been doctored due to the body being worn, you'll see a chisel like stake mark across the ledge that will form a slight distortion to the ledge and therefore slightly lower the ledge and therefore the sear nose. But, as I said, this can only be undertaken once.

Why only once.....? Simple. It's told the examiner that the body has already been deemed worn once and this is the second time so it's the chop!

On a DP rifle you'd ignore this and just keep doing it as it is of no real consequence. Same as a worn magazine stop face. Just another of the many things that condemn a No4 that noone takes into account when they linish out the old DP markings

[rgg_7]

If the forend has been replaced the sear may be hanging up on the wood. I'd remove the forend and check for any witness marks. if you have out of the stock reassemble the with the triggerguard and front collar. check for function. You can use your MK2 for comparison....difference may be obvious. Sounds like a nice long Branch especially barrel condition. Ron

[Peter Laidler]

Surely Ron, if the sear was hanging up so to speak, the sear wouldn't be going high enough to engage the left/small locking lug on itsway forward. SSJ's sear seems to be rising TOO high, therefore not hanging up and fouling the bolt slightly. Sitting with a SKN action my lap now........ have I missed something here.........?