NZ LEC Carbine

[smle addict]

I'm not real versed in the martini rifles, but you might be able to substitute a front sight from a martini-metford or martini-enfield artillery carbine. That, in itself, might be a hard search, but there were certainly more martini carbines made than the 1500 NZ pattern MLE carbines.

I was poking around on gunbroker, and pulled this pic from a martini henry artillery carbine. Wrong caliber, but the sight looks very similiar.

Not sure this was much help, but best of luck with the resto!

[Roy]

Yes the ME carbine has the same front sight. Indeed some NZ carbines have been observed with ME carbine barrels matched and all, EFD was using up obsolete stock and selling it to the colonies just before beginning manufacture of the new short rifle.

[mrclark303]

I would be tempted to put a torch onto that front sight ramp and melt all that braise that is on there.

More than once some heat and a wire brush revealed the original barley corn underneath the 'augmentaion' on a carbine I was debubbaring.

You never know. It just looks to me that the protective ears might still be in there

I would have to agree, looks like the original is lurking under there to me..

Great find by the way!

[tatou]

Thanks,
yes i've been told and read it is the same sight. Roy also confirms this in a previous post.
I'm keeping an eye out for the sight and a Martini-Enfield barrel, you never know and i like to keep my options open.
I wasn't looking for any rifle in particular to restore but now i have 4 on the bench, when it rains it pours. The winter will be busy.

I'm not real versed in the martini rifles, but you might be able to substitute a front sight from a martini-metford or martini-enfield artillery carbine. That, in itself, might be a hard search, but there were certainly more martini carbines made than the 1500 NZ pattern MLE carbines.

I was poking around on gunbroker, and pulled this pic from a martini henry artillery carbine. Wrong caliber, but the sight looks very similiar.

Not sure this was much help, but best of luck with the resto!

[tatou]

I tried a regular propane plumbing torch to the brazing last night with no success… i guess i need something with a bit of more heat.
It did clean the sides of any brass black that was on there. Now we can clearly see the outline of the original sight.
Looks like the sides were filed flush…
I'll try to grind some of the excess brass and use another torch to see if the barley corn is still intact.
I might still be able to reshape the ears into something presentable…. will see.
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I would have to agree, looks like the original is lurking under there to me..

Great find by the way!

Originally Posted by englishman_ca


I would be tempted to put a torch onto that front sight ramp and melt all that braise that is on there.

More than once some heat and a wire brush revealed the original barley corn underneath the 'augmentaion' on a carbine I was debubbaring.

You never know. It just looks to me that the protective ears might still be in there




I would have to agree, looks like the original is lurking under there to me..

Great find by the way!

[englishman_ca]

You will need something hotter than a propane torch to melt the brass.

The sight ramp is braised onto the barrel. So caution when heating up hot enough to melt brass.
If a concern, heat sink the barrel by sitting the muzzle tip in a water bath.

Oxy acetylene torch and a steel wire brush.

I bet Bubba just put a great big blob of brass on the ramp and then filed it back down to shape.
The barleycorn is under there.

[tatou]

Yeah i kinda figured that out today lol
Even with a couple of small torches the brass didn't even get soft at all...
I have a small set of oxy torch… i'll get a couple of bottles of fuel this weekend and see what damage i can do (metal is NOT my fav. medium to work with).
In the mean time i decided to take a different approach and grind off as much of the brass as i could.
I figured the less brass there is left to remove, the less heat i'll need and less chances i have to melt the solder that's holding the ramp to the barrel.
It's coming along rater nicely i think. There's hope.
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You will need something hotter than a propane torch to melt the brass.

The sight ramp is braised onto the barrel. So caution when heating up hot enough to melt brass.
If a concern, heat sink the barrel by sitting the muzzle tip in a water bath.

Oxy acetylene torch and a steel wire brush.

I bet Bubba just put a great big blob of brass on the ramp and then filed it back down to shape.
The barleycorn is under there.

[tatou]

Well after burning through a 1.4 oz bottle of oxygen (not to mention the mao/pro fuel) and spilling a couple of pans of water on myself (used to heat sink the barrel) this is the result.
While i'm pleasantly surprised of the end result and pleased considering what i started with but i am not entirely satisfied since the sides of the sight were grinded off at some point…. my ocd for detail just can't accept it lol
I'm thinking either weld or small flat bar stock could be soldered on each side and the distinctive look, re machined by careful grinding and filing.
That will have to wait though… for now i'm cool with the look.
Thanks to everyone's advices and especially to Roy for allowing me to post in his tread (i never meant to hijack it)
Any further post about this restoration will be made in a new tread.
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[Roy]

Nice save! Most of the NZ carbines ive seen have had the sight butchered in some way, they must have been really bad to use. Some very judicious welding or soldering on some new bits and then another filing session to 'fix' what someone must have been very happy with to get the aim point down to a manageable 100 yards or so.

[tatou]

Thank, yes while searching for pictures online of what it used to look like i have noticed a lot of them were altered one way or another.
And after aiming the fixed sight i can see why some did not like it… it's quite tiny and not the best sight to use (or maybe i just getting too old for iron sights…)

Nice save! Most of the NZ carbines ive seen have had the sight butchered in some way, they must have been really bad to use. Some very judicious welding or soldering on some new bits and then another filing session to 'fix' what someone must have been very happy with to get the aim point down to a manageable 100 yards or so.