Small Piece Broken Off Stock Repair?

[hamholfarm]

Hello,

I finally completely disassembled my Lee Enfield No. 1 Mk III* dated 1915. When I removed the barreled assembly, a small piece of wood dropped out. Upon close examination, I do not believe it broke as I was disassembling the rifle. The broken edges of the piece in question appear to be as dark and oil stained as the area it came from. My question is how to repair this? Will wood glue hold fast to the oily surfaces? I did clean the piece as best I could with mineral spirits as well as the area on the stock. Or should I use a different type of adhesive? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I will post my story as well as more pics as I would like to know more about where this rifle may have been.
Thanks,

Chip

The first pic is of the broken off piece
The second pic is where the piece belongs
The third pic is the piece sitting in its proper position - but not glued in

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Peter Laidler]

Your fore-end has already been repaired once by an Armourer as shown by the patch. It is called a a drawer patch for reasons that I won't go into - again!

There is a repair for this and it DOES NOT entail just gluing the old bit back! To do it ptoperly, a previous thread details how to do it correctly and in a way that it'll last for another 90 years. I am sure someone will resurrect the thread. Fairly easy to do if you are a half decent user of basic hand tools. Zillions of forumers here have done this repair successfully

But I wouldn't mind betting that the bit broke off because you pulled the body and barrel out of the fore-end wrongly. Good luck

[hamholfarm]

Thanks for the reply Peter,

I did follow the pictorial thread when disassembling!

I'll try searching for the drawer repair thread

If anyone knows the correct title, post number, or direct link I would appreciate the help

Thanks again,

Chip

[hamholfarm]

Now that I am on my computer and not my phone, I can type a more thorough response.

Quote:
"But I wouldn't mind betting that the bit broke off because you pulled the body and barrel out of the fore-end wrongly."

Well Peter, you would have lost that bet!

I followed the disassembly instructions found here: Collecting and Shooting the Enfield No. 1 Mk III - Rifle Disassembly/Reassembly

The barreled assembly came off the stock quite easily. I did not have to apply any force, there was no binding, and I was very gentle. I followed the instructions, but I did not have to use a hammer and piece of wood, a rubber coated screwdriver handle was all that was needed. As I stated in my OP, the mating edges of both the broken piece and the stock were saturated in oil - they were not freshly broken surfaces, they had been that way for a long, long time. The pictures do not show the oil because I cleaned both pieces with mineral spirits prior to photographing.

Sometime in the past someone else had to have placed the broken piece back into the stock prior to reassembling.


Yes, I asked about glue or another adhesive, but I also stated: "Any advice would be greatly appreciated." I asked prior to doing anything so as to not hack it up.


This rifle has not been disassembled in over 40 years - I am positive because I have been the owner! yeah yeah bad me

My grandfather (Mother's Father) was the previous owner. He gave it to me as a Christmas gift in 1973. It was his only firearm and he told me he had only shot it a couple of times. I seriously doubt he took it apart as he was not a firearm enthusiast. He told me he purchased it from an Army-Navy store. It was in a large wooden barrel with many other rifles with a sign stating $5! Wish he had grabbed a bunch more! I don't know the date he purchased the rifle, he told me he had had it for "a while". Considering he was in his late 70's when he gave it to me, I consider "a while" to have meant more than 5 - 10 years to him. As I said above, I will post more info and pictures to try to determine some history on this rifle.

Thanks all for reading,

Chip

[Peter Laidler]

"I did follow the pictorial thread when disassembling"! Yep........, that's the trouble. Following the usual rubbish written by enthusiasts instead of the CORRECT way, the way Armourers have been doing it for over 100 years. Modern aero spec adhesives are far superior to the old hot animal glue we used to use then. Especially if you also use hardwood cross pegs to reinforce it all

Anyway, that's only my opinion, based on one or two years of experience. Albeit very limited experience and years I have to add!

[hamholfarm]

Peter,

I have tried searching the forums for "drawer patch" and have not been able to find a thread with this in the title.

Would you be able to direct me to the proper thread?

Thank you,

Chip

[gsimmons]

Try looking through Peters list of articles on repairing/fitting fore-end.

[hamholfarm]

Peter,

I know your going to read this - would you please direct me to the appropriate thread or post?!

You have almost 7,300 posts! I have tried searching - I cant read them all!

Thank you,

Chip

[Dad]

Like gsimmons said.
Why not click on the link at the bottom of Peter's post.
"Index of Peter Laidler's series of formal Knowledge Library articles and selected archived posts ... (click here)"
and the scroll down to the 14th article titled "Worn draws in your No1, 4 or 5 fore-end .... "

D.

[JGaynor]

Not sure but i think this may be the article you are seeking. Refers to worn draws. I would give you my worn drawers but i am wearing them at the moment
Milsurps Knowledge Library - Worn draws in your No1, 4 or 5 fore-end .... (by Peter Laidler)