Even a blind hog...

[KCSO]

I decided that to really tame the recoil on the Gibbs rifle I need a better stock than the sanded down military stock the gun comes with. I didn't want to invest a lot so I ordered a butt stock from Boyds, plain grain VIP. I figured that from the last couple of stocks I had gotten I would get a piece of plain walnut that I could match into the existing forend with little work.

I got a stock that is figured walnut with flame grain over 65% of the stock, hard walnut. The butt stock is wonderful, but it kinda looks like a nickle on a goats a$$. Now I have to order up a figured forestock to go with it. I'll bet I have to pay extra to get a fore stock to match.

[NVcurmudgeon]

KCSO, look at it this way. You got a free upgrade on the buttstock, and you now need the figured forearm, the cheaper part. And you will have a beautiful rifle, a definite win-win situation! Please post pictures when you are done.

[KCSO]

NV
As a LONG time 303 man I can tell you from experience how hard it is to get a 303 fore end tuned for good shooting. The amazing luck I had is getting a gun from the box that groups this good was one of the reasons I didn't order a new forestock to start with. Yes I will eventually put on a matching forestock. Even though I face the risk of lousing up the accuracy, and the extra work of inletting a 303 barrel channel to a 45 caliber tube. I wasn't worried about the butt stock as they are simple to do, glass bed and tighten to 60 inch pounds.

[Four Fingers of Death]

What the target shooters did when we were shooting these was to screw the foreend to the stock to improve rigdigity. Take the mag out and you will see the wood at the rear of the mag well. We used to drill through this and attach a screw either side to draw the forend onto the butt stock. Tightened things up nicely. The original armourers used to set the forend up with an amount of upward pressure on the Knox form (5-6 lbs from memory, easy now with glass bedding), which from memory is just rearward of the band. Also you can improve the performance of the Singer sight by judiciously tightening the slide on the sight body using a vice and a steady hand. Then remove the detent which rides in the slide and allows adjustment up and down the frame and drill it out and thread it from the other side. Replace detent, spring and fit grub screw. Use grub screw to tighten up the click adjustment on the sight. This should all assist with accuracy.

[KCSO]

Did you use to own my #4? I have a #4 that came from South Africa and it is set up just like that. The pressure point under the knox form is done with a white coloured epoxy??? In 1972 I had a #4 all set up for the Canadian matches with a Parker Hale rear sight and all the tricks. That gun would consistantly put 10 rounds into 1 1/2" at 100 yards with match ammo. Do you ever get to Steve Redgwell's site?

[NVcurmudgeon]

KCSO, my No. 4 has a forearm that is tight aft and loose forward, without any glassing. After reading Steve Redgewell's "The Accurate Lee-Enfield" I think my 1943 Fazakerly was tuned by somebody who knew what he was doing. For more, see BruceB's post of yesterday on another thread. Bruce knows a lot of No. 4 Canadian tuning tricks.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Did you use to own my #4? I have a #4 that came from South Africa and it is set up just like that. The pressure point under the knox form is done with a white coloured epoxy??? In 1972 I had a #4 all set up for the Canadian matches with a Parker Hale rear sight and all the tricks. That gun would consistantly put 10 rounds into 1 1/2" at 100 yards with match ammo. Do you ever get to Steve Redgwell's site?

The set up that I mentioned was pretty common throughout the British Commonwealth as the 'full bore' competitors used No4s for a lot of years.

have a look at the action, usually on the LHS, but not always and if there are any holes drilled in it, it may have been used as a target rifle (better sights fitted to a side plate). Good luck with it.