No4t l42 loose for pad

[RobD]

I had a front pad come loose on my L42A1 but not on the two No 4 (T)s I've had - so can I ask: is the shearing stress / recoil from 7.62 ammo in an L42 greater than .303 in a 4(T)?
Rob

[Brian Dick]

The short answer is yes. The higher pressure round caused many front pads to shoot loose. That 3 lb scope and bracket trying to move forward under recoil will do it.

[Warren]

The original Longbranch rifles did not have the pads soldered on.
They were just screwed and that was it.
The British wined, moaned, bitched and ****ed about it and numerous letters went back and forth between Canada and the UK over this.
Canada finally got its act together and started soldering the pads on.
Also, the sealing problem with the early Canadian rifles has been easy to see.
I just overhauled a couple of untouched very early REL scopes and the seals were ALA a 1920 plumbing job.
The seals were oil/grease impregnated cotton # 8 string and to the best of my knowledge, when opening up the scopes, they had never been touched before.
There you have the other half of the story.

[Lee Enfield]

Strangely the LB rears always seem to have been soldered - but I have seen several early LB fronts which did not show solder.

I have had to re solder the front pad on my 71L .303

[Warren]

The letter does not specify if it is both or just one.
Just the British bitching about " the pads not being soldered and the screws coming loose."
I will see if I can find the letter and post it.
Unfortunately I lost a huge pile info when several memory stick files became corrupted with the dreaded red X
If I find the letter or can open it without having to find it again in over 12,000 microfiche plates I have, I will send you a copy direct as well as post it.
The 32TP were never soldered, but had the addition of the dowel pins.
Those that were soldered were done post manufacture and most likely in the UK

[Roger Payne]

Hi Warren. Forgive me but I'm not quite clear - were none of the LB rifles' pads soldered from 'new' or were the later rifles soldered in the factory as part of the T conversion process? I may have misunderstood your earlier posting.

I've only had about half a dozen LB 4T's apart (those from the batch) & they all showed signs of both pads being soldered........but then again they were all rifles that had seen UK service. Several had also been suncorited over the original blued finish.

Oddly enough I soldered a set of pads back onto a BSA 44 4T only last night. Managed to do it with very gentle use of heat & spared the suncorite, too. The screws will just need a blob.....

[Surpmil]

I've wondered in the past about these complaints over the sealing of early R.E.L. scopes.

The reason I wonder if that I've yet to see any UK made MkI scope that had any sealing at all.

I would guess that whatever R.E.L. put in was an attempt to improve on the non-existent sealing of the original design.

Probably such implied criticism of the original design was unappreciated.

Would be nice to see those letters Warren; do you recall the approximate dates?