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  1. #51
    Legacy Member jon_norstog's Avatar
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    Here are some empties. The ones on top are WW factory 180 gr. loads. They chronoed between 2300 and 2400 fps. You can see some primer flattening there.

    Below are some empty elk loads. They were 43.5 gr of AA 4350 behind a 200 Hornady RN. Primers were CCI and Remington. They chrono-ed around or below 2,000 fps. I've gone up to 42 H4350, but where we hunt 65 yards is a long shot.

    I'm not convinced about the accuracy of my brother's cheap Chrono, but it detects a 10-20 fps variability in my black powder loads.


    Attachment 111122

    jn

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    A Collector's View - The SMLE Short Magazine Lee Enfield 1903-1989. It is 300 8.5x11 inch pages with 1,000+ photo’s, most in color, and each book is serial-numbered.  Covering the SMLE from 1903 to the end of production in India in 1989 it looks at how each model differs and manufacturer differences from a collecting point of view along with the major accessories that could be attached to the rifle. For the record this is not a moneymaker, I hope just to break even, eventually, at $80/book plus shipping.  In the USA shipping is $5.00 for media mail.  I will accept PayPal, Zelle, MO and good old checks (and cash if you want to stop by for a tour!).  CLICK BANNER to send me a PM for International pricing and shipping. Manufacturer of various vintage rifle scopes for the 1903 such as our M73G4 (reproduction of the Weaver 330C) and Malcolm 8X Gen II (Unertl reproduction). Several of our scopes are used in the CMP Vintage Sniper competition on top of 1903 rifles. Brian Dick ... BDL Ltd. - Specializing in British and Commonwealth weapons Specializing in premium ammunition and reloading components. Your source for the finest in High Power Competition Gear. Here at T-bones Shipwrighting we specialise in vintage service rifle: re-barrelling, bedding, repairs, modifications and accurizing. We also provide importation services for firearms, parts and weapons, for both private or commercial businesses.
     

  3. #52
    Legacy Member jon_norstog's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by butlersrangers View Post
    "Jon" - Could you comment more about the "Remington-Lee you use to hunt with".

    I am assuming it was in .30-40 and with the forward 'locking-lugs' you felt the action strong enough for near .308 loads?

    Was your Remington-Lee a factory sporter or a cut-down military configuration.

    I have seen a number of cut-down model 1899 Remington-Lee rifles, that were from the Michigan National Guard contract. The stocks are often split at the side of the wrist, behind the action.
    Butler, this gun was definitely a cut-down military rifle. I bought it at Ron Petersen's shop on Central in Albuquerque. There was something wrong with the chamber - someone had got in there with a drill to "improve" the round, maybe. I badgered Ron into satisfying his guarantee and he sent it off the the Bedeaux Arquebusiers to make it right. They turned the barrel and cut a new, tight chamber, got the heads[pace perfect and blued it. It turned out to be a beautiful gun, much lighter than the Kragicon, and one that came to the shoulder very easily. I liked the detachable magazine, too, made the gun easy to unload, no chasing your shells in the snow and mud. Would have been a great hunting rifle if Lee had designed in a safety you could work with the gun at your shoulder.

    I "lent" the rifle and a couple boxes of ammo to a kid, son of a lady friend, and told him he could use it as long as he wants. I advised him to take a stand so he could pull back the striker when he saw an animal. He still has the gun. His mom has a .308 which is what he will probably use for elk.

    Attachment 111123Attachment 111124

    The 30-40 and the .308 have almost identical case capacities which is why I tried the .308 loads. I never used max loads and paid attention to signs of pressure. I decided if I want to shoot a .308, just buy one, there's plenty of them out there.

    jn

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  6. #53
    Legacy Member butlersrangers's Avatar
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    Jon - That is a nice looking Remington- Lee 'Hunting' rifle that you own.

    Did someone improvise a recoil-lug & Stock 'cross-bolt' to protect the wood from splitting?

    The numbers and survival rate of 'smokeless' Remington-Lee rifles is small. From observation, I find the design to have a fair number of vulnerable parts and weaknesses.

    The Remington design never got the development and improvement that perfected arms made at National Armories, like the Lee-Enfield and Kragicon.

    I am in the process of restoring a Michigan National Guard model 1899 Remington-Lee rifle with a rather nice stock, that is free of cracks and splits - (2nd picture).

    The first attached photo is another 'cut-down' rifle with typical stock damage.

    Attachment 111127Attachment 111128

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  8. #54
    Legacy Member jon_norstog's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by butlersrangers View Post
    Jon - That is a nice looking Remington- Lee 'Hunting' rifle that you own.

    Did someone improvise a recoil-lug & Stock 'cross-bolt' to protect the wood from splitting?

    The numbers and survival rate of 'smokeless' Remington-Lee rifles is small. From observation, I find the design to have a fair number of vulnerable parts and weaknesses.

    The Remington design never got the development and improvement that perfected arms made at National Armories, like the Lee-Enfield and Kragicon.

    I am in the process of restoring a Michigan National Guard model 1899 Remington-Lee rifle with a rather nice stock, that is free of cracks and splits - (2nd picture).

    The first attached photo is another 'cut-down' rifle with typical stock damage.

    Attachment 111127Attachment 111128
    There was no cross-bolt or recoil lug. The gun was probably fired very little. It had no serial number, just a 3-digit number stamped in the wood of the stock. Maybe it was part of an order that fell through.

    Among design flaws, besides the unwieldy safety I would include the tiny little extractor which didn't always hold the shell rim so the ejector could do its work. When that happens the spent shell sits there and prevents you from loading a follow-up shot.

    jn

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  10. #55
    Contributing Member ssgross's Avatar
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    finally got around to cleaning up the stock on this. Actually, I had a Winchester 1917 with stock in worse shape than this one to practice on. My main complaint was that 100+ years of grime had developed into it's own varnish...you know the feel...awkwardly slick, deep-dark-blackish brown, no wood grain to be seen. My objective is to preserve all the dings and service life, but look and feel like a rifle in service, carefully maintained by a soldier or marine whose life depends on it, and not like an antique only brought out for show and tell. I thought I would share my process.
    1) Rub down liberally with acetone and a scrubby. Use steel wool for extra grime places. The goal is to lift the grime without sanding. As long as you are not too vigorous, the original sanding was rough enough that the steel wool or green (I used blue cause it's what I had) will not noticeably knock it down.
    2) Realize that you didn't anticipate reddish sludge dripping all over the new white work-from-home crocks you just put on, and put your old boots on and and old towel on the floor and workbench. Lots of sludge. Work the acetone until you see the wood grain come back. Now you have wood, with a surface of dry powdered sludge on the surface because the acetone dries so fast.
    3) Use paper towels (very absorbant) and more acetone. this will get the sludge and residue off. change the paper towel frequently until it doesn't pick up anymore grime.
    4) heat gun on any spots with deeply penetrated oil/grime (e.g. around the wrist, cheek, finger grooves, and scrub some more after it comes to the surface. repeat.
    5) now you have a nice, clean, evenly "pink" and very dry wood. rub your hand over it and feel how the grain was supposed to feel 118 years ago! All the oxidized fatty acids from the original raw linseed oilicon are still in the wood. We only took off the very surface.
    6) Coat liberally with linseed oilicon again. I use 50% mineral spirits and 50% raw linseed oil from the health food section. Watch the original color come right back! The best part, is any "newer" scratches and dings now look original, the acetone dissolved the oxidized pigment and evened it out into these.
    7) hang for an hour, then wipe off any and all excess oil - make sure you get it all. Hang it up in a warm place over night, wipe off any and all residue in the morning. Keep wiping down with a dry cloth until there is no "waxy" residue feel.
    8) reassemble and enjoy. I like to use a thin coat of white lithium grease (nlgi-2) under any wood-metal contact where the sun is likely to never shine again for another 100+ years - under the sling swivel and butt plate for instance. You can find this suggestion by the armorers over in the enfield forum.

    I know enough organic chemistry to know that bleach and oven cleaner (lye) or dishwasher methods (also lye) that other tout may turn out nice short term, but breaks down cell structure and ruins the wood - it won't last another 100 years, not to mention residue left behind will leach out and ruin the metal.
    I have tried many other acceptable methods on other rifles...murphy soap, straight mineral spririts, alcohol. These are fine, but require too much scrubbing for my liking. Not that I'm not afraid of a little elbow grease, but the more required the more likely it will turn out uneven...all those nooks and crannies never get the same elbow grease in the same way as other areas, and faint cartouches and stamps can't take it. Acetone dissolves the grime quick and easy, deep into the wood with only gentle scrubbing, and leaves no residue behind (after you wipe off the dried residue that was down in the wood to begin with). The only elbow grease needed is to break up the surface grime and work it in, not so much and not so prolonged as the other methods.

    Before:
    Attachment 113224Attachment 113225Attachment 113226
    After cleaning:
    Attachment 113227Attachment 113228Attachment 113229
    Wow...there was some faint tiger stripes under all that grime!
    I'll post final re-oiling pics tonight once I'm done with it.

  11. #56
    Contributing Member ssgross's Avatar
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    Final pics...
    Attachment 113236Attachment 113237Attachment 113238
    What? There was wood on the grip all this time?
    Tried to make the lighting the same for accurate comparison. Final color will mellow in the coming weeks as the raw linseed oilicon does its happy thing.
    I'm happy!
    I know there is plenty of disagreement on how to treat these...some think all that grime and sludge is part of its service history and leave it as is. I don't have anything that is not a parts rifle in my collection - if I did I'd likely leave it as is, and set it in the back of the safe or in a case to collect value. Don't think I'd every spend my money on something just to look at though. I collect to get as close as possible to history...I want to know as best I am able what it felt like carrying these rifles up San Juan hill or on patrol in the Philippines. All of its dings and wounds along the way are still there, and my kids and I learned a lot on the way to making it serviceable again.
    Thanks for all your help along the way milsurps team!

  12. #57
    Advisory Panel browningautorifle's Avatar
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    Looks good now, I used to shoot mine too.
    Regards, Jim

  13. #58
    Contributing Member ssgross's Avatar
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    I love shooting it. My son (11) loves shooting it because the recoil is so mild. his favorite to shoot before was a Mosin - I don't know why, probably because they are the most beat up looking things in the safe and he has inherited my heart for neglected history.
    Sad...another rifle finished. I don't think there is anything more to do to it. I am impressed by how it shot considering where it came from.
    Although, the mag. cutoff looks peacock blue. I could blue it properly, and clean up the extractor and re blue / polish it as it may have been, lightly polish the chamber get rid of the surface staining from all the years of wall hanging at VFW. I lied...always something to do.

  14. #59
    Legacy Member jimmymark's Avatar
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    I must say you have maintained it very well.

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    Legacy Member MasterChief's Avatar
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    Respect.

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