Enterprise/Lithgow L1A1

[Anzac15]

I picked this up two days ago..have not shot it yet, built on an Enterprise receiver (Irwingdale)
It was priced right, and appears to be in good nick.
Anyone had any problems with these receivers?

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[enbloc8]

I picked this up two days ago..have not shot it yet, built on an Enterprise receiver (Irwingdale)
It was priced right, and appears to be in good nick.
Anyone had any problems with these receivers?

Is there a small "ABNI" stamped in the area of the locking shoulder?

Early Entreprise receivers were made by an aerospace machine shop called ABNI in Buena Park, California. They are identified by either a Buena Park address for Entreprise or the small "ABNI". They seem to be highly regarded, much more so than most of Entreprise's later in-house-made receivers.

[mrclark303]

I picked this up two days ago..have not shot it yet, built on an Enterprise receiver (Irwingdale)
It was priced right, and appears to be in good nick.
Anyone had any problems with these receivers?

Looks good, a little work on the woodwork perhaps, saw cut at the top of the butt etc, is the Enterprise receiver based on an Inch pattern Lithgow cut?

[enbloc8]

Looks good, a little work on the woodwork perhaps, saw cut at the top of the butt etc, is the Enterprise receiver based on an Inch pattern Lithgow cut?

No relief cut under the rear sight...I missed that.

All of the Buena Park/ABNI receivers were Australian pattern. The vast majority of Entreprise's in-house inch receivers were Australian pattern as well...in later years they advertised a British cut version, but by then their reputation was so bad either few were ordered or most buyers never got them.

[mrclark303]

No relief cut under the rear sight...I missed that.

All of the Buena Park/ABNI receivers were Australian pattern. The vast majority of Entreprise's in-house inch receivers were Australian pattern as well...in later years they advertised a British cut version, but by then their reputation was so bad either few were ordered or most buyers never got them.

I didn't know about the relief cut until it was pointed out to me when I rebuilt my Lithgow L1.

When you start looking for it on Lithgows, you see everything from a neat saw cut to looking like a lumberjack had a go at it with a chain saw...

[Peter Laidler]

Remind me.... relief cut where? The only one I can see that's missing is the gap between the top front face of the body and the TMH. That was to prevent the recoil snapping/cracking that bit of wood away. When it did it was a simple fix but the small gap prevented it. DON'T use a hack saw as that'll remove the phosphating. Just remove the butt and file back the wood

[mrclark303]

Remind me.... relief cut where? The only one I can see that's missing is the gap between the top front face of the body and the TMH. That was to prevent the recoil snapping/cracking that bit of wood away. When it did it was a simple fix but the small gap prevented it. DON'T use a hack saw as that'll remove the phosphating. Just remove the butt and file back the wood

That's the one Peter, tell me guys, was that an Australian fix as I don't think I have seen this on British rifles, how about the C1's Jim??

[enbloc8]

That's the one Peter, tell me guys, was that an Australian fix as I don't think I have seen this on British rifles, how about the C1's Jim??

C1s (at least the later C1A1 furniture) may not have had that problem. Early Canadian furniture followed the Australian pattern...the later C1A1 stocks did not have the wood narrow down into that thin section at the top. Looking at mine, they may also have followed British practice and inserted the slip-patches at the factory.

[mrclark303]

C1s (at least the later C1A1 furniture) may not have had that problem. Early Canadianicon furniture followed the Australian pattern...the later C1A1 stocks did not have the wood narrow down into that thin section at the top. Looking at mine, they may also have followed British practice and inserted the slip-patches at the factory.

Interesting stuff. I often wondered about the differences. I am about to start clearing out my workshop and will go through the box of mixed Lithgow/British butts and see how many have been modified. It might make for an interesting comparison thread

[Peter Laidler]

Nope, it was a general fix to cure a problem. They'd inevitably crack rearwards if the TMH was hard up against the butt., Simple to fix. Just remove the butt a couple of pegs dowelled and glued downwards, glue the crack and then filke away so the the wood was clear of the top edge of the TMH. The butt must touch inside the housing of course but it won't split there because it's well supported. Later butts had reinforcing wood inserted downwards from new