No.1 MkIII with cast bullets

[Ray1946]

Some time ago I purchased a Lithgow No.1 MkIII*. The barrel on the inside is perfect. All the numbers match and the head-space looks pretty good. The question I have is the technique for bedding this about the same as the No.4? Aside from the plunger at the end of the barrel and the bayonet lug, the breeching at the other end looks about the same. Has anyone out there done any target bedding for this old soldier? I have seen several of the Parker-Hale sights offered for it. Has anyone seen one of the Williams sights for this rifle? What cast bullet seems to work the best?.................Ray

[Boz330]

Depends on whether you throat is eroded from Cordite ammo. You need to slug it to see. Mine was and the normal sized 303 boolits would turn sideways en-route. I got an oversize mold from CBE and that shows a lot of promise. The mold is 235gr and .316 and the 2 best powders so far are 2400 and 4759 with 5744 close behind. The best groups that I have gotten so far are just over 2MOA. I have the PH5A target sight on mine. I paid as much for the sight as I did for the rifle but it is an outstanding sight.

Bob

[3006guns]

I have several Enfields but have never tackled the bedding issue. If you check on Gunboards however, there is an entire section devoted to them along with stickeys on how to bed for best accuracy.

[docone31]

I bedded down my Lithgow useing the three point bedding on the forestock.
I had to. Useing paper patches the barrel got hot and went wild! The POA moved all over the place at 100yds.
Now, with paper, it is a tack driver! I use the Lee 303B mold, 180gn. With paper, it is one of my favourite rifles.
A real sweet heart.

[Ray1946]

Thanks much for the info! I took mine apart 2 months ago and was really surprised at the amount of hard dried cosmoline all over the entire rifle. I sprayed it down with WD-40 hoping this will soften the stuff. The stock is going to be a real challenge. The metal seems to be parkerized a fairly uniform dark grey. I am very pleased with the rifle, but will definately check the groove diameter.
I checked on Ebay and was shocked at the price of the Parker-Hale sights. I think I only paid $79.00 for the rifle and it looks like a good sight will be at least $200.00 plus! Nine or ten years I bought 3 of the micrometer sights for my No.4 from Sarco, these work really well.....................

[legend]

outstanding information,i will use !!


thank you.

[dualsport]

Wow.Thanks for the goldmine. I'm getting me some raw linseed oil.

[3006guns]

I stumbled across this thread and it's a dandy! I've always been mystified about the Enfield's bedding requirements and this really clears it up. Should be a sticky!

[smokemjoe]

Do the glass bedding in steps, If you do it all at once you may never get it apart, I done a story on it in a back issue of the Fouling Short, It really makes them shoot better.

[Calamity Jake]

Someone make this a STICKY. Please

[rayzer]

Thank you verey much, for the verey informative posts, bigedp51. Do you have anymore info for making Lee Enfields shoot better? I copied youre posts, and saved them in microsoft word. Great info.

[JeffinNZ]

ED: Question for you. My No4 Mk2 is glass bedded (I am a shooter, not a collector) around the receiver, knox form. It has a pressure point top and bottom under the barrel band and downward pressure on the barrel at muzzle (yes, I know it should but upwards but 'she' likes downward). No contact between the rear of the stock and the socket. Ther rifle shoots sub 2 MOA with cast loads. When I bedded the end of the stock to contact the socket accuracy went south in a big way. How so?

[docone31]

Wow, those last two videos definately showed what my Enfield did with paper patched castings! Definately.
I started first finding the size. That took some doing. I thought I knew it, I did not.
At any rate, I settled on .314. Very accurate for the first five rounds, then the POA started moving around. It was like I had spaghetti in the stock! I ended up lucky if I hit the berm at 100yds! 20min of berm was great for the day!
I bedded the forestock useing the three point bedding. I was careful of the poundage, the set, etc.. Upon firing it, I could string five in a single hole, then do it again. I had to wait as the barrel really got hot with paper patched loads. Really hot. I can see why they had full wood on the barrel, I am glad I made mine full wood. It not only looks great, but it serves a purpose.
It is a 1942 Lithgow. I love it. With paper it is far more accurate than with Milsurp.
A great rifle, once the barrel is settled down. I kept the two stage trigger. Comfortable once a person gets used to it.
Those are great videos. I love it.

[docone31]

Bedding is a snap.
Get a second fore end, and do it on that. Then when you find out how simple it is, do it on the one the rifle will wear.
It really is easy.

[dualsport]

Several people have asked if I would bed their Enfields for them.

Answer: NO

I'm not an armourer or a gunsmith and YOU will learn more if you do it yourself.
You are now your Enfields best friend and armourer.

Sorry I did not answer your emails, I'm in the middle of upgrading my computer and changing over to the Linux operating system and my mail isn't set up correctly yet.
(I can receive but can't send)

You're right.

[JeffinNZ]

Ed: I wouldn't be too hard on the "online experts". At the end of the day if an Enfield is bedded any which way and really shoots afterwards then all is well. I respect the traditional approach for enthusiasts but a lot of us are shooters and not collectors if you see what I mean.

The next LE I buy (like I need another rifle) I will most certainly go traditional but I have no regrets about epoxy bedding my SMLE and No4 MkII.

In contrast, the Carcano I bought in December has had NOTHING done to it and shoots like a house of fire.

[Multigunner]

Sometimes glass bedding is the only option, when solvents an petroleum based oils penetrate the end grain and sit for decades oil perishing can destroy the wood in just the places where strength is most needed.
Wood can also shrink, probably the major cause of lack of contact at the action strap, or unequal bearing.

I obtained a new condition EFD fore end.
I'd have almost certainly have had to glass bed a used forend, but was able to fit this new wood without resort to glass, glues or shims.

When I've had the oportunity to do some long range shooting I may try out a few of the bedding tricks of Sweets, Fultons, and Other professionals.
Since I lucked into an excellent PH5A with six position apeture and sunshade, I might as well wring the last smidgeon of accuracy from this old warhorse.

With the No.4 bedding is relatively easy, just bed at front and rear of the action body, about 1 1/2 inches bedded at either end with the center left free of contact.
Free floating the barrel works well but should upwards press be desired simple narrow shims can be glued in about 8-9 inches ahead of the knox form, experimenting with various thicknesses of shim till you are satisfied with the pressure.
A bit of bedding or a slim trapezoidal triangular shim under the center of the knox form is suggested in some bedding instructions , with no contact at the sides of the knox form.
Some Canadian shooters mounted pieces of hardwood dowel rods in holes drilled on either side of the rear of the fore end to maintain equal bearing on the sides of the action body. Ugly but it worked. Wooden shims made from veneer peeled from junked paneling or discarded furniture works well enough.
Wood and cardboard shims alone can help if you aren't interested in going all out, and can be removed or shifted to a different spot easily.

Occasionally you may find that theres a tad of room to settle the action body deeper into the fore end, tightening everything up and moving the rear end back against the action strap if there was a gap,without adding material other than at the trigger guard and that may require only a simple shim cut from a matchbook cover.

[303Guy]

Welcome aboard bigedp51.:drinks:

Ummm .... , bigedp51, we don't normally come down on our fellow members like that here. Most folks here have a huge store of experience an knowledge and are generally intelligent folks who are willing and able to share their knowledge and make for very interesting 'conversations' about our favourite hobby. I would hazard to say that we all learn from each other in some way or the other - sometimetimes we take some convincing.:mrgreen: But hey, we're all human! I look forward to your contributions.:drinks:

[JeffinNZ]

Ed: where have your posts gone??????

I don't understand your hostility. You'll find that you will be very welcome here on Boolits if you are more restrained. Failing that, see you round.....

[bigedp51]

I spent too much time, money and effort tracking down 95% of the Enfield books and manuals you see today. Seven years ago you couldn't find a Enfield book or manual on the Internet, and then I spent too much time proving I wasn't violating Canadian copyright laws with the Canadian No.4 manuals. I spent far too much time fighting with another faction of people that wanted these manuals to disappear because the answers they were handing out weren't the same answers in the Enfield manuals.

I spent far too much time scanning these books and manuals and then converting them into Adobe .pdf format. I spent far too much time and effort taking photos of bedding procedures to have a clown tell people to use matchbook covers and cardboard to bed the Enfield rifle.

The first time I asked about bedding the Enfield rifle the answer I got was to used matchbook covers and cardboard, and I knew there must be a better way.

The simple fact is the person I'm referring to reads other peoples postings and goes around passing this information and knowledge off as his own. This same person has trashed three Enfield forums, and called a well known British Armourer and author on the Enfield rifle a liar.

This same clown came into another forum I had a Enfield manual sticky in, handing out a link from my comcast.net file storage locker to Jim Sweets “Competitive Rifle Shooting” book (http://comcast/~ehorton/sweet.pdf). This same clown doesn't understand his name isn't Ed Horton and what is in my Comcast file storage locker does NOT belong to him.

The link to the Jim Sweet book was removed from my manual sticky because I was asked by the authors daughter to remove it because she had decided to extend the copyright and put this book back in print. And this clown shows up starting trouble in the very forum I have a Enfield manual sticky handing out a link with my name in it to a copyrighted book.

Below is the link at Milsurps and what was stated there.
http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=871

UPDATE: Although this book was original published over 50 years ago in 1954, we have been advised that it may once again be commercially available again in print format from the author's daughter, Linda Sweet. She indicates her father died in 1992 and therefore under our Canadian laws, copyright passes to his estate and is valid for 50 years following his death. Therefore, we have temporarily suspended the download of this library article, while we check its copyright and public domain status to ensure there's no infringement. We apologize to the membership for any inconvenience during this process.

Note: Original PDF file of complete book provided courtesy of MILSURPS.COM member Ed Horton (click here). Ed respectfully requests that other members contribute anything they might have in return.

And the simple fact is life is too short to be in a forum with a delusional person who is few bricks short of a load.
(Ask him to show you his reloading press and his cast bullets)

I'm going shooting and not worry about it any more, if you want bedding information go to Milsurps and down load it.
I'm not feeding this troll any more.

Here is what someone else said about this same person above.

"While I concur with Ed's posting and appreciate that "Temperflash" has a cognitive disorder that causes him to post an unfortunate mixture of fact and nonsense, this topic is intended as an entry-level class on Lee-Enfield headspace and doesn't really benefit from the distractions."

You people live with him, I have had enough. :groner: