Need help Centering SMLE barrel (trigger guard issue?)

[CanadianLanBoy]

Hello all, I have dang near got my SMLE back to mil spec, but I am having issues getting the barrel to center in the forend.

I have ensured there is no wood pressing the side of the reciever, and have re done the draws to no effect.

I noticed in the mag well the trigger guard is pressing against the magazine catch. Could this be forcing the barrel out of center? What should my course of action be to remedy this.

I appreciate the time taken to read my post, have a good day

(Pictures Below are the mag well showing the contact, and the off center inner band spring)

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[CanadianLanBoy]

Here is the pic of the off center barrel.

[hayboy]

Hi, I'm sure others with more expertise than me will reply in due course, however my first question would be what's it like without the nose cap on?
Does it lie OK in the barrel channel without it and it's the cap pulling it over, or is it off centre before you put the cap on?

Jon

[CanadianLanBoy]

Hi, I'm sure others with more expertise than me will reply in due course, however my first question would be what's it like without the nose cap on?
Does it lie OK in the barrel channel without it and it's the cap pulling it over, or is it off centre before you put the cap on?

Jon

It is off center before the cap is installed.

[IanD]

Where did the wood come from? It's possible that the channel is off centre, in an issue rifle, that would probably get ignored.

[Surpmil]

One has to remember that warping/warpage is not that uncommon, and it wouldn't be the first time that "seconds" or slightly defective pieces were set aside at a factory or after issue, and then found their way onto the surplus market later.

Once you're sure it's the stock and not whether the barreled action is sitting square and level in the stock, then there's various tricks for reducing warpage: "reverse over-bending" (my term AFAIK), steam boxes etc. etc .

[Bruce_in_Oz]

The other thing is that all of the gizmo effects on the barrel work on a vertical plane.

The inner band and its spring pull the barre straight down.

The spring and plunger ticked away above the rear of teh nosecap push the barrel UP.

The barrel aperture in the nosecao pushes the barrel DOWN slightly..

and all of this was designed to tune the barrel (and fore-end) to the issue ammo.

If the barrel is clear of the fore-end, pretty much everywhere but at the Knox form, and the fore-end id STRAIGHT, especially where the nose-cap fits, it should all work as advertised, with Mk Vll balll.......First problem, right there.

The "flitch", (the raw, long-term seasoned chunk of wood used to make the fore-end), is SUPPOSED to be "quarter-sawn" from the log of walnut, beech, coachwood, etc. If the flitch is not so derived and appropriately "cured" before machining, all bets are off. This is the provenance problem I see with aftermarket furniture.

Even the REAL stuff can have problems as it comes out of its wrapper after seventy years.

I have a couple of "new" No4 for4e-ends that are not quite as "true" as one would expect. No idea about how they were stored during the decades before I got them Bear in mind that NOBODY expected all these rifles would be getting resuscitated by hobbyists this far down the track. One solution is decidedly non-purist. Rout out the fore-end to a relatively thin shell (except where those critical plungers and springs), fit and then laminate in resin and carbon-fibre mat. I've seen this done on conventional sporters to good effect. As per that tree in a forest: If a SMLE fore-end has fibre reinforcement and you can't see it, is it really there?

If you are entertaining such thoughts about the family heirloom Mk 1, think carefully!

[CanadianLanBoy]

The other thing is that all of the gizmo effects on the barrel work on a vertical plane.

The inner band and its spring pull the barre straight down.


The spring and plunger ticked away above the rear of teh nosecap push the barrel UP.

The barrel aperture in the nosecao pushes the barrel DOWN slightly..

and all of this was designed to tune the barrel (and fore-end) to the issue ammo.

If the barrel is clear of the fore-end, pretty much everywhere but at the Knox form, and the fore-end id STRAIGHT, especially where the nose-cap fits, it should all work as advertised, with Mk Vll balll.......First problem, right there.

The "flitch", (the raw, long-term seasoned chunk of wood used to make the fore-end), is SUPPOSED to be "quarter-sawn" from the log of walnut, beech, coachwood, etc. If the flitch is not so derived and appropriately "cured" before machining, all bets are off. This is the provenance problem I see with aftermarket furniture.

Even the REAL stuff can have problems as it comes out of its wrapper after seventy years.

I have a couple of "new" No4 for4e-ends that are not quite as "true" as one would expect. No idea about how they were stored during the decades before I got them Bear in mind that NOBODY expected all these rifles would be getting resuscitated by hobbyists this far down the track. One solution is decidedly non-purist. Rout out the fore-end to a relatively thin shell (except where those critical plungers and springs), fit and then laminate in resin and carbon-fibre mat. I've seen this done on conventional sporters to good effect. As per that tree in a forest: If a SMLE fore-end has fibre reinforcement and you can't see it, is it really there?

If you are entertaining such thoughts about the family heirloom Mk 1, think carefully!

I appreciate the response oz,

My wood is original, unissued Lithgow wood, given to me by an Enfield enthusiast.

One thing in your post concerns me, you say the barrel should only touch the wood at the Knox form? I read on multiple posts in this and other forums the barrel must bear on the wood from a little behind the inner band and for the rest of the channel infront of the inner band. As the barrel had no down pressure applied this is why I went through the effort of fabricating a washer for the spring in this rifle, as of now the barrel contacts the bottom of the channel as described above.

[browningautorifle]

Now you have two threads running on this one so stand by for lots of contradiction and so on...

[RobD]

Can I ask whether the wood is actually pressing on the barrel - or is it just the asymmetry you are asking about? If not actually pressing on the barrel, personally, I would ignore the assymetry shown in your photo.