Restored No1 Mk3 1918/30 FTR'53 EFD

[JerryEAL]

My first attempt at bringing one back!
I kept the original buttstock,barrel and receiver from a really sporterized. No bolt. No Magazine. No bolt retaining spring plus all the other little springs and screws that needed to be sourced.(wow) Wood NOS,fitted and I used 6 coats of Hemp Oil the I had for a counter top I was doing. Not sure how it will work out,but it soaks in quick.
I fired 2 rounds after having the headspace checked by a gunsmith and the bolt was difficult to open.
The casing did not want to come out as easy as it should have. I thought maybe the extractor was causing it not to come out straight and rubbed against the chamber wall. Not sure what is going on yet. I replaced bolt spring and extractor and will see when I get out again to shoot!

Can anyone let me know if the once fired brass looks abnormal? Or could the chamber be done.That is likely why it was in the $25 dollar bin.
A few pics plus my collection/addiction that is starting to grow. EAL,45 Longbranch,1916 LSA(cocking piece issues awaiting a firing pin,ordered) 1918/30 FTR. restored.

Information

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[Peter Laidler]

It looks to me like your chamber has been oversized at the neck end. For what? is anyones guess but I'd say shot cartridge of some sort............

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Looking at your cartridge and fired case, I suspect that the chamber has been "polished" (cough, cough) at some time.

The "rings" evident just forward of the rim should NOT be there. It doesn't take much of a score / groove in a chamber to cause "hard" extraction.

The shoulder seems to be a bit further forward than it should be as well; not such a drama given that the case "headspaces" on the rim, not on a "nominal" diameter point on the shoulder, like most rimless, bottleneck types.

The side of the main body of the fired case does not look as straight as it should and there seems to be something odd going on at the shoulder.

Any serious "polishing" to completely remove the offending grooves, etc., may only serve to enlarge the general dimensions of the chamber and stress your (now easily extracted) brass into an early grave.

If it is already a "bitzer", give some thought to finding a "better" barrel from some other unfortunate "sporter" and giving it a nice new home.

[jmoore]

I was thinking that the fired brass looked about average for a SMLE. They seem to run longer in the shoulder area than most of my No.4s. No.3s have yet another average look to 'em after firing. The scored areas do seem to indicate some crusties in the chamber walls, though, but not horrible.

But if the rifle's not doing right, then there's only a few usual culprits. Either chamber or extractor assembly related.