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Yep, a real challenge but having said that, a credit to those who attempt to and actually do it! Makes the thread (Lee Enfield) regarding the repair of a spoiled No4T project look pretty simple by comparison.
Are there specialist/experienced welders who have made body/alignment/space/gap jigs etc etc who could do the welding over a few days so preventing the inevitable distortion? Or is that taboo? Great project.........
Last edited by Peter Laidler; 02-27-2016 at 08:54 AM.
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02-27-2016 08:50 AM
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Have you seen the IMA Bren kits? They have the barrel lock section intact and look like easy welded kits.
Original British WWII Bren .303cal Inglis MkIM Parts Set with Demilled Receiver ima-usa.com
Original British WWII Bren .303cal MkI MkII Parts Set with Demilled Receiver ima-usa.com
Not cheap but could be less work in the long run. The Mk2 would obviously be best for the L4A3
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They both look like Mk1's to me...........
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Yep, they are BOTH MK.I Recievers alright. It's just that the second 'MK.I' has a MK.II Barrel. that is the only difference.
BOTH Recievers are Defo MK.I 
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Guys,
There are some MGS demilled Mk I (no MK II's) receivers available for $70. This makes welding in a MKI socket section an attractive option. They probably can be re-profiled to match the MK II. The real problem is the L4 barrel. Sarco is supposed to be supplying a US made barrel, but so far their supplier is behind schedule and none have showed up as yet. They have quoted $100 for the barrel with the kit. IMO this would be quite a buy for a specialized barrel with interrupted threads.
I would like to have a L4 but doubt I'll "pull the trigger on a kit" till I see usable L4 barrels.
Joe
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Joe, it makes me weep....... I only wish I'd known you when I was overseeing the slow backloading for disposal/destruction of the remaining L4's when the LSW/SA80 was finally replacing them all. The guns were returned not even to CES and the spares were simply put into containers marked as 'classified scrap'. Magazines............ You could have built a bridge across the Atlantic with them!
Regarding barrels, it seems to me that the old Mk2 .303 barrels* have sooooooo much meat on them and are already exterior profiled that it seems absurd that nobody is boring out, heating up and shrinking in place a rifled insert. Nothing else would be required to retain it, being radial and over that length so the gas port can be drilled using the old already aligned port that's still present!. It is then simply a matter of chambering to suit.
A 'new' barrel for the price of the labour and an insert
* simply machined/shortened to L4 exterior spec if you really want perfection. The L4 barrel had to be shortened slightly in order to keep the linear position of the gas port and retain the existing gas plugs and generally retain the gas operability..... Boyles law and all that!
Last edited by Peter Laidler; 02-28-2016 at 08:17 AM.
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Thank You to Peter Laidler For This Useful Post:
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Hadn't even noticed they were both Mk1s. Woops.
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If anyone is in need of a L4 rear sight and mag let me know before they go on ebay, been having a spring clean.... thought I'd got rid of the last ones a few years ago, seems I kept a few bits back, surprising what you find when your looking for something else......
Sight and Mag now SOLD
Last edited by bigduke6; 03-02-2016 at 11:05 AM.
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Well!
Fiiiiiinally got this thing done!
Ended up with a South African (I think) 308 barrel that required a 303 bolt with the 7.62 extractor to work. 8mm extractor wouldn't work (may check this again)--thought it was supposed to?
Anyhow, it greedily gobbles up all of the ammunition that gets in the mag well! Thank you all for your replies to the thread!
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The 792 extractor should work - as should the 792 breech block and locking shoulders(?) because some of ours were actually marked as 792 and this reiterared in the EMER's
If your extractors aren't working for some reason, check that the extractor stay is operating correctly on the ramp in the piston extension. This ramp is designed to lock the extractor hard to the breech block as it lowers, then grips the round megga tight, tweaks it out from its tapered lock in the chamber and hooks it out
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