Enfield on a Diet

[KLR]

I took my $125 pawn shop sporterized Enfield hunting last year and wasn't very happy with how heavy and awkward it was. So I did the following:

Removed charger bridge and rear sight mounts.
Made a lower, smaller, lighter side mount.
Trimmed the front stock.
Cut off an inch of the butt stock and made a recoil pad.
Removed front sight and recut the crown that I discovered was about .030 crooked.

In the spirit of Bubba, I tried to do things as cheaply as possible by hand. A drill press and bench grinder was as hi-tech as I got.

To get a good cheek weld I used an ammo holder with a piece of stiff foam inserted.

I offset the scope about 1/16" to be sure I had enough room for ejection. It ejects perfectly and I have plenty of room to load the mag from the top.

The scope is a Bushnell Trophy XLT 3-9x42 I got on sale with a rebate. Total cost was $54. It was made in the Philippines and is the equal of the Nikon Buckmasters I've used.

Recoil pad was made from a pair of flip flops costing $.98.

Total weight as pictured is 8.05 lbs. That includes the scope which weighs 15.11 oz.

Trigger is crisp and light, bolt throw is smooth and shorter than my short action Savage.

Total cost of everything including rifle and scope is less than $200.

Now I need to find a couple more to convert to 45-70 and 45acp.....

Here are some low-quality cell phone pics:

[RogerDat]

Interesting. Looks like you made a pretty nice hunting rifle there. Love the Bubba fixes such as the cheek and butt pad which anyone might find useful.

What scope mount is that if known? Seems more built in than most after market. The "true" Enfield military scope mounts are worth more than what you have into the gun so far. I don't know those mounts but I do know that the mount in that picture is not looking like the after market ones I have been looking at but appears to fit very well so am interested in adding another possible brand/model to my wish list.

[HollowPoint]

Nice going. Sometimes the bubba'd stuff is more interesting to me than the factory stuff. I did alot of the same things to my
Enfield including cutting down my new barrel to 17-1/2". Even as a shorty Enfield it still weighs a tad over eight pounds. When I install my suppressor it's even heavier still but not as heavy as it was in its factory configuration.

The suppressor sort of balances it out and it makes it a little handier to carry around while I'm out bumming around in the desert.

If lightening the weight of our Enfields means that we've put them on a diet, then having them throw up the bullets we feed them must mean that they are now Anorectic-Enfields.

HollowPoint

[KLR]

What scope mount is that if known?

I built that mount from a piece of 1"x1/8" angle iron. I drilled the holes where needed, ground the profile to fit, and filed/sanded it relatively smooth and used cold blue on it and the bolts.

Thanks for the compliments, guys.

[Bored1]

Nice Job!!!!

[Frank46]

KLR, nice work. There is a thread on doing what you did regarding the use of angle iron as the basis of an inexpensive mount for the scope. In it I suggested using angle iron for the mount and figured I'd get laughed at at best or flamed out at worst. Actually was very suprised at how many folks used the angle iron but was very suprised at the variations on how they used it. Way cheaper than any commercial mount and best part is that there are more than a few different variations. One of these days I'll have to set up a #5 receiver that was extremely pitted but took me an ungodly amount of hours to clean up and I removed the charger bridge and lowered the left sidewall and some bronze angle iron for the mount for a retro look. Frank

[RustyReel]

Nicely done. Got a better pic and more details on the flip-flop recoil pad?? Pad looks good in the pics above but I can't quite figure out how you made it work. Thanks!

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Yes, the angle iron mount can work well, if it is the right kind of angle iron. Some tapers from the angle to the edge, and while there is no real functional harm in that, it looks odd.

It is a good idea to have the mount bearing on the edge of the screw, or a countersunk head. If it doesn't, nothing but friction stops it from sliding longitudinally. Alternatively you can screw it up tight, then drill and possibly ream a precisely matching hole through receiver wall and mount, to take an unthreaded locating pin. With the receiver sights used in competition, when modification to the rifle wasn't allowed, a longer ejector screw was often used as an additional sight mounting screw. Given the choice I would always prefer to drill a hole to the rear of the locking lugs. But with sensibly sized screws, significant loss of strength is unlikely. Similarly removal of metal from the left hand rail is theoretically weakening, but needn't leave you with less metal than the No1 or earlier actions, which are safe with the late service rounds.

[BigEyeBob]

You've done a nice job on that rifle , I wouldn't call it Bubba but semi professional
Fore stock looks good , very much like the splinter fore ends on English sporters .
Some rifles have way too much wood up front for my liking.

[KLR]

BIS - You make some good points. I used countersunk screws to hold the rings but it would be better to use them for the side too. However, I do have the front of the mount bearing on the receiver to help keep it in place during recoil. I'll watch it as I develop loads.

RustyReel - To make the recoil pad:

Cut off about an inch of the stock.
Screw a thin piece of wood to the buttstock. I used the two hole locations that held the original aluminum butt plate.
Sand wood to match buttstock.
Remove thin piece of wood and glue two pieces of flip-flop to it. I used superglue. I sanded the texture off the flip-flop before gluing to each other and the wood plate. Trim flip-flop to match wood plate. I used a serrated bread knife.
Use a .22 shell to cut a plug out of the flip-flops at the screw locations.
Attach to buttstock.
Use a palm sander to sand to match butt stock.
Apply Tru-oil to buttstock.




Thanks again for the compliments, guys.

[RogerDat]

I bookmarked this one. I have an Enfield already sportorized and have been giving it the eye thinking of how I might make some improvements.

[HangFireW8]

BIS - You make some good points. I used countersunk screws to hold the rings but it would be better to use them for the side too. However, I do have the front of the mount bearing on the receiver to help keep it in place during recoil. I'll watch it as I develop loads.

RustyReel - To make the recoil pad:

Cut off about an inch of the stock.
Screw a thin piece of wood to the buttstock. I used the two hole locations that held the original aluminum butt plate.
Sand wood to match buttstock.
Remove thin piece of wood and glue two pieces of flip-flop to it. I used superglue. I sanded the texture off the flip-flop before gluing to each other and the wood plate. Trim flip-flop to match wood plate. I used a serrated bread knife.
Use a .22 shell to cut a plug out of the flip-flops at the screw locations.
Attach to buttstock.
Use a palm sander to sand to match butt stock.
Apply Tru-oil to buttstock.




Thanks again for the compliments, guys.

Nice job on the flip flop buttpad!

Here's a tip to avoid holes where the screws go. Cut a slit just as long as the screwdriver shaft is wide. Lube the screwdriver and push through the rubber to turn the screws. Degrease and you'll hardly notice the slits.

[RustyReel]

BIS - You make some good points. I used countersunk screws to hold the rings but it would be better to use them for the side too. However, I do have the front of the mount bearing on the receiver to help keep it in place during recoil. I'll watch it as I develop loads.

RustyReel - To make the recoil pad:

Cut off about an inch of the stock.
Screw a thin piece of wood to the buttstock. I used the two hole locations that held the original aluminum butt plate.
Sand wood to match buttstock.
Remove thin piece of wood and glue two pieces of flip-flop to it. I used superglue. I sanded the texture off the flip-flop before gluing to each other and the wood plate. Trim flip-flop to match wood plate. I used a serrated bread knife.
Use a .22 shell to cut a plug out of the flip-flops at the screw locations.
Attach to buttstock.
Use a palm sander to sand to match butt stock.
Apply Tru-oil to buttstock.




Thanks again for the compliments, guys.

NICE! Gotta remember that one as I can never seem to find the correct recoil pad for my "bubba" projects.

[EMC45]

That is a very nice looking rifle. Shoot good?

[KLR]

Shoot good?

I've only put two boxes of ammo through it, but it looks like it will be a 1.5 moa shooter. The only time I shot it at 100 yds it put 4 into 1.4". A few groups at my 55 yd backdoor range went from 1.1" to .6".
I now have dies, brass, and a box of Hornady 150gr SP bullets, so load development will begin as soon as it warms up.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Very nice job! I am curious what size bolts/screws were used in afixing the scope mount to the reciever? If you used a minimum of tools in the work done, what did you use to determine the crown was off and what was used to recrown the barrel? I also am tool challenged and have another `pawn shop beauty No4Mk1` that I want to do this work to.Robert

[KLR]

Robert - I used 1/4-28 bolts to attach the scope mount.

I checked the crown with a combination square. I used a file to get it flat and then some valve lapping compound on a carriage bolt to finish the crown. I think. I may have used a large ball bearing instead of the carriage bolt. I forget which it was, but I've had good luck with both methods.

[W.R.Buchanan]

KLR: That gun has progressed nicely since last year, and your final iteration is a pretty good looking gun.

My only suggestion is to get a couple of Button Head Bolts for the scope mount so you don't inadvertently gouge your hand on the hex bolts.

You done good on the Flip Flop Butt Pad too. If I could find Flops that thick out here I'd probably wear them during the summer here. I wear $40 flops as that's all the Surf Shops here sell.

Randy

[KLR]

KLR: That gun has progressed nicely since last year, and your final iteration is a pretty good looking gun.

My only suggestion is to get a couple of Button Head Bolts for the scope mount so you don't inadvertently gouge your hand on the hex bolts.

You done good on the Flip Flop Butt Pad too. If I could find Flops that thick out here I'd probably wear them during the summer here. I wear $40 flops as that's all the Surf Shops here sell.

Randy

Thanks.

Agree on the button heads, but this was what was on hand at the time. I'll check next time I'm in the hardware store.

The flip-flops are two 1/2" layers superglued together.

[Duster340]

Neat rifle klr. Nice job.