A new piece of scrap metal

[nzl1a1collector]

Here's a little piece of scrap metal I managed to pick up recently.........

Information

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[browningautorifle]

The FN magazine well goes onto the piece with the Allan screws in the bottom picture...and the receiver goes between the two thumb screws...

[Peter Laidler]

Then that horizontal bar drops down from the top, into the slots that drop vertically just ahead of the rearmost horizontal thumbscrews.
But what does that horizontal bar do?
And is it clamped downwards by the two vertical thumbscrews that might engage into the blocks on the horizontal bar?
What's the significance of the tethered allen key

It cannot be a slave jig for firing because the recoil would simply rotate the body away!

Alignment jig for holding body rigid whilke collimating SUIT sights? What a palava when you can do the same using an old No4 type aiming rest.

And then.....................

[skiprat]

The thumb screws look like they came from a L7 GPMG bipod.

[nzl1a1collector]

[skiprat]

Will it be a milling jig for reshaping the locking lug after it has been built up with weld.

The jig looks like it would not take a full rifle ( the angle of the magazine) and would this angle be correct for the body lug.

[Peter Laidler]

Yep....., I think that you've sort of, nearly, almost, could, might have hit the nail on the head Skippy. But where would that horizontal bar go and do? It's far too far to the rear to be anything to do with the body/TMH axis pin. Could it locate through the change lever hole?

It's been rumoured that Kev the Kiwi is offering an all expenses paid holiday to NZ for the winner

[skiprat]

I could do with a trip down under......
I think the bar would just pull down on the top of the receiver. And the two thumb screws would secure the receiver at the rear. With the allen key and plate pulling the receiver down onto the magazine

As the locking lug would be rebuilt with utectic weld I think it would have to be ground to size on a surface grinder, so less cutting force to try and rip the receiver from the jig.

[nzl1a1collector]

You are correct Skiprat, its a Jig for building up the Body Locking Lug.

The bar seems to just push against the underside of the Body and lateral play is stopped by the use of the side locking screws...... made from GPMG Bipod screws

[Peter Laidler]

Brilliant........ great detective work. Enjoy your holiday Skippy and send us all a card. I have a funny feeling in my bones (unless Skippy and Tankie can confirm differently...) that in UK service this repair was carried out as an outside contract basis as opposed to in-house at our Base workshops. All the details were in the latter EMER's.

Worn body locking lugs were becoming an increasing problem towards the end of its life and I know that previous to that plenty were ZF'd and scrapped because of it. That was OK when there were still vast stockpiles but towards the end, when even production of spares had ceased at EFD and the 'new' rifle was still years away it became important to salvage/rebuild worn bodies.

Great brain teasing last couple of threads chaps!