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View Full Version : SMLE part: safety detent pin?



gunwonk
01-25-2016, 07:38 PM
Not sure what to call this part, but I need a couple of them. :-)

The story begins with the safety not staying put, on my Ishapore 2A1. Everybody knows it would be a Bad Thing if you put the safety on, and it came undone by itself. Well. it's not that great either, if you're in the middle of a rapid fire string, and the safety goes ON by itself. Bottom line: needs fixing.

I've replaced all the obvious parts, with little or no change, and now I'm down to this: the No1 MkIII (and Ishapore 2A1) safety lever locks, in each position, onto what looks like a bump on the side of the receiver. (Two bumps: rear one "safe", front one "fire".) On my rifle, these bumps were worn down so far that the recess on the inside of the safety lever would barely engage, not enough to stay put under the slightest disturbance.

Turns out the "bumps" are actually the heads of two pins that press into corresponding holes in the side of the receiver. here's a pic of the SMLE safety, with most of the parts in place except one of the pins (and the retaining screw) removed. (There should be a bump instead of that little hole on the right.)
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Here's a pic of the safety lock recess with all parts removed, but one of the pins stuck back in halfway, so you can see how they would make the engagement bumps.
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Here's the safety lock recess with all parts absent (w/ two holes instead of the bumps).
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And here's a pic of the inside receiver wall opposite all the above, showing the two through holes, for driving out the old pins from inside, when necessary to replace them. (A large paper clip is about the right diameter, but you have to be careful that it doesn't bend.)
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Here's a pic indicating that the pin body diameter is about .0675".
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Here's a pic indicating that the pin overall length is around .29". (Body length looks like about 1/4".)
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And here's a closeup of the pin, showing the head. I'm assuming the head on a new one would be bigger and rounder.
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So my question is: a) what do you call this pin? And b) where can I get 2 good ones?

Thanks!

Der Gebirgsjager
01-25-2016, 10:28 PM
I don't see it listed as a separate part by Gun Parts Corp. You'll probably need to call one of the parts vendors and chat with a real, live person and explain the problem. They may have to punch a pair of them out of an old receiver. Were the problem mine, I would see if perhaps just a pin of suitable diameter would work as a stop gap measure--but I've got a drawer full of misc. pins. What might work as a substitute would be a small size finishing nail. They have a head on them, and if the shaft was the right size you could file/polish the head to be functional. While you're working on the problem you might also examine the notches for the pins in the safety locking lever for excessive wear. Good luck--I'm sure you can turn up some replacements or suitably improvise a fix.

gunwonk
01-27-2016, 11:42 PM
I was rather hoping one of the Enfield super experts would turn up, and say it was the same pin as something else on the rifle, but I'm beginning to think it's not. I will try phoning (or online chat) with one or more of the parts vendors, and see what happens.

Meanwhile, my junkpile has yielded a few small finishing nails of about the right size. Even a couple of matched pairs. :)

Yes, the old safety lock lever was worn exactly as you say. (I suspect the Ishapore 2A's were not fired much, but were paraded & drilled a lot, and the safety levers saw a lot of action.) So I installed a new safety lever, which didn't fix the problem. Hence this post.

Der Gebirgsjager
01-28-2016, 01:10 AM
Well, I understand that it sounded like a strange answer. There are no other similar pins on the rifle in question. Some times improvised repairs can be better than the original equipment. Are you familiar with the German P-38/P-1 series of pistols? They have a dual recoil spring system, and each spring has a plunger, metal in the P38 but plastic in the P-1. My like-new P-1's left side plunger's head wore out and permitted the spring to ride forward and jam the pistol. I found a couple of large carpenter nails that had shafts that fit well inside the spring coils, cut them off to about 1/2 inch, and then ground and polished the heads down to where they would fit into the springs' channels. Then I cold blued them. Worked just great, and I'm sure will never wear out. Happy shooting!