Enfield shopping advice.

Art3 said:

Well....I came home with a big freakin' screw driver from Home Depot ($9 and Made in USA, what's not to like about that?) and the buttstock came off without a problem. That left me with a bunch of wood pieces that needed delicate and careful degreasing and a pile of metal pieces that were just begging for...other methods...

So now I'm waiting for the wife to come home. I'm going to meet her at the door and say, "My Love, just remember that you love me, despite what you may see, step in, or smell in this house. Something happened today involving my rifle, the bathtub and a whole lot of hot water and paper towels that is never going to happen again."

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it may be time to invest in an automotive parts cleaner.

Go back to Ho Depot and look for wall paper trays. They're plastic, cheap and long enough to hold a SMLE stock or forestock. I also use them for rinsing and oiling barreled actions after parkerizing. @ roughly $5 and stackable, every WESCOG member needs at least a couple of these in the basement. No more using the bathtub!

Good luck with your damn Enfield, Art 3. Of course you know the story of "Art 2" buying an unissued one from Ye Old Hunter half a century ago for $25.00, then sending it back because it was too short, and regretting it ever since growing up to the point of not even looking at them at shows.
But, we know who has an unissued bayonet (once used for chopping weeds, a bit) in a leather scabbard, somewhere around this place. Hopefully I'll find it before you have to do an estate inventory. By the way, a word of warning: do not fill a feed sack with straw, hang it from a swing set, and charge it with a rifle and bayonet. The bayonet will stick into the sack, the sack will swing up around the top of the swing set, pulling up on the rifle, whereupon the user will fall over backwards and the rifle will then drop from the sack, which is still up over the top of the swing set. It will fall butt first rather that bayonet first. Even missing the head, it is still painful when the rifle and bayonet fall across ones prone body. If you must do a bayonet drill, anchor the sack top AND bottom.

A few updates:
Years ago I bought an SKS that was was well preserved. My dad told me that the gunk on it wasn't real cosmoline. It had to be some kind of mere grease, because it was coming off too easily. I realize now, having met what must be true cosmoline, he was right. This stuff is tenacious! I tried the bathtub technique based on my successful Springfield un-greasing experience. That was also done at my parents house, where the hot water was maybe a little hotter than it should be (I remember as a child melting candles under the tap...and crayons? They got absolutely liquified!).

Apparently where I live now, the hot water only reaches 120F...I learned from the internet that cosmoline melts at about 135F...and the barreled action was already submerged in the tub by the time I figured that out Soooo....I was already committed to this course of action. What could I do? Gotta get that water up to 136ish...so I started boiling pot after pot of water and pouring it in the tub as quickly as I could. Both my infrared thermometer and the floating blobs of cosmoline indicated that it was working! Too bad the bathtub stopper was not holding 100%

When the wife came home, I met her at the door and told her pretty much exactly what I said I would. Sometimes she kinda loses her mind over some of my endearable (that's endearing AND adorable) messes. She took this one pretty well. She simply asked, upon seeing the boiling pots on the stove, "you aren't makin' meth, are you?" I'm not sure the mess in the tub (and between the tub and stove) was worth it...but I'd say I got about 90% of the cosmoline off. Next time, I'll buy a wallpaper tray

I didn't want to use any chemicals on the wood, for two main reasons. First, I didn't want to strip it all the way down and have to refinish it. Secondly, we heat with a woodstove, and my gun cleaning area is right next to it. I've managed to not blow myself up with CLP and Ballistol, but I really think mineral spirits or the like would be pushing my luck. So, I used this hinderance to my advantage and hung the forend next to the woodstove, wiping the cosmoline as it sweated out. Between wipings, I carefully heated the buttstock and handguards with the low setting of a heat gun. I figured, as long as I could hold the pieces in my hand as I heated them, they shouldn't get hurt. This was after handling the boiling water and 150 degree barrel...so I burned the crap out of my hands that night.

There is still a lot of cosmoline in that stock, but I think I achieved my goal of being able to handle it without getting sticky. Part of the forend came out a little lighter than I wanted...which is odd because it certainly seemed like it was being heated evenly. For some reason, the handguards stayed dark. I guess they were saturated from both the inside and out? This summer, I'll give the trashbag sauna technique a go. For now, I'm content.

Once the cosmoline on the bolt was replaced with good grease, I got to feel that legendary Lee action. I do kinda see what all the hype is about I picked up some snap caps so I could dry fire it. Once the creep is taken up, the trigger, while heavy, is very crisp. I also bought a set of headspace gauges. The rifle was sold to me as being checked...but I knew I wouldn't really have peace of mind until I saw it for myself.

Go gauge closed just fine. Of course, why wouldn't it? I probably wasted my money on that one...but, again, peace of mind. I don't like suspense, so I went right to Field, and let out a big sigh of relief when it didn't close. Then, for braggin' rights, I tried the NoGo. It came within two hairs of closing when I felt it...so close that I'm sure I could have forced it all the way (obviously, I know better)...but it was definitely NOT 100% closed. That made me very happy

So now, I just need to get around to shootin' the darn thing!

Oddway Otts said:

Good luck with your damn Enfield, Art 3. Of course you know the story of "Art 2" buying an unissued one from Ye Old Hunter half a century ago for $25.00, then sending it back because it was too short, and regretting it ever since growing up to the point of not even looking at them at shows.
But, we know who has an unissued bayonet (once used for chopping weeds, a bit) in a leather scabbard, somewhere around this place. Hopefully I'll find it before you have to do an estate inventory. By the way, a word of warning: do not fill a feed sack with straw, hang it from a swing set, and charge it with a rifle and bayonet. The bayonet will stick into the sack, the sack will swing up around the top of the swing set, pulling up on the rifle, whereupon the user will fall over backwards and the rifle will then drop from the sack, which is still up over the top of the swing set. It will fall butt first rather that bayonet first. Even missing the head, it is still painful when the rifle and bayonet fall across ones prone body. If you must do a bayonet drill, anchor the sack top AND bottom.

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From what I've learned now, I'm sure your Damn Enfield had the shorter buttstock on it (they are interchancheable in several lengths). Mine has the long one. The length of pull is almost as long as my M1917, so it fits me very well. I know based on the Mk3 trying to kill you, as well as not wanting to pay more than $25 for another one has taken that model off your wishlist, but I believe the No. 4's also have replaceable buttstocks. Maybe you could look at them? I know where to find a set of .303 headspace gauges

It's good to see you figured out how to use the smilies. I'll try to stop by sometime to show you how to do signatures...and maybe show you a rifle. No bayonet drill though

Now you know why I strip bolts when checking HS. That feel is so important and the FP spring or extractor can make it difficult to tell if the bolt is or isn't closing all the way. It's not so obvious many times.

We went to the range on Friday, and she didn't blow up All of our hits were on paper...barely. At 100 yds windage was consistently about six inches right. I guess that's just a matter of drifting the front sight, correct? Elevation was really low. I worked my way up the rear sight to 400 yds and it was still a couple inches low. (accuracywise, I was pretty happy as I made a 2-3 inch wide vertical string up the right side of the target). I was using PPU 174 grain fmj ammo, which should duplicate the military load, right?

I should try different ammo before I go messing with sights...what do I need to know about .303 Brit? I understand a lot of surplus is corrosive. Since I don't plan on shooting thousands of rounds, I'm willing to pay a little more to not deal with corrosive ammo.

Thanks.

They made different front sights at different heights to adjust zero. They are numbered on the top of the base. I think you would need a shorter one.

I think the PPu is very close to standard military loadings but I could be wrong and have done no experimenting with it.

Forgot to mention, since you disassembled the rifle, make certain all of the screws are fully tightened as well and try to shoot again.

Clovis said:

Forgot to mention, since you disassembled the rifle, make certain all of the screws are fully tightened as well and try to shoot again.

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Good advice, esp. check the king screw for tightness and make sure the bushing for it isn't missing. The king screw is the screw in front of the magazine. If it's loose or the bushing for it is missing then Lord knows where the POI will be.
If all looks well then yes, you'll have to drift the front sight to get your windage corrected. The early SMLEs had adjustable windage rear sights but those when away with the MKIII* along with a few other bits as cost and time savings.
If you're really serious then poke about the web for Parker Hale, BSA, AJ Parker, Mues or other manuf. target sights like this one.

Thanks for all the help, everyone!

That's quite a fancy sight, Mawkie! But, I want to keep this rifle GI Plain.

I've had a few interesting developments in checking screw tightness. The king screw was plenty tight. I just re-read Mawkie's post and realized that I forgot to check for a bushing. I guess that's part of my homework tomorrow.

The good news is that the rear sight is loose...I know it's not an aperture sight, but the part that would be like the aperture (or buckhorn on an real old-timey rifle...the notch) wiggles a little bit where the screw holds it onto the ladder. I guess maybe it had been held in place by the cosmoline before. I don't think there is enough play to account for the elevation...nor probably allllll of the windage, but it is definitely something to be addressed. And I will address it...as soon as I find a screwdriver to fit it. That slot is long, but sooooo fine! I have precision screwdrivers that fit in, but they are too small to put any torque on it. I have a couple screw drivers around somewhere that I've ground down for just such an issue...I just have to figure out where I stashed them (so they wouldn't get lost)

The bad news...I was checking every screw, and the head of the one that goes across the bayonet lug twisted right off! I barely put any force to it, and it's not like it snapped violently...it just twisted off. The way it broke, it almost looks like pot metal...gray crystals...it just doesn't look like steel. I wonder if it was a junk screw replacement? Also, the threaded end of it is hollow Extracting it is going to be interesting...more homework for tomorrow.

It's funny that Sling Blade mentioned Cabelas. I almost went there over the weekend...almost. On thursday, I went to my local gun shop looking for .303. He didn't have any...so...I ended up walking out with a new rifle

That screw being hollow is common, but you are going to need to get that screw out to take the fore end off, I don't think you will be able to get the rifle apart if that screw is still there. Think I would try an easy out on the hollow end(gently, you don't want to swell the end of the screw) and back it off enough to use pliers or a vise grip on the other end. Maybe that will work.

Success so far. I found my ground screwdriver and tightened the rear sight. My king screw has a bushing and I got the broken screw out (Kroil is freaking amazing!). The front sight is staked pretty much centered and has a "0" stamped on it, but I figure I should shoot it again before I go messing with or replacing it. I see PPU makes a 150 grain .303 that I want to try out.

Do you think there is a chance I might fight a replacement screw at the York gun show this weekend, or should I just try to find one online? Honestly, I've never paid attention to the availability of Enfield parts at shows...but I will now

Springfield Sporters is who I've used for over 25 years. They have EVERYTHING for a No1 MKIII.
And yes, Kroil is freakin amazing. Like duct tape, it should be in every he-man's tool box.

Wow! You aren't kidding about Springfield Sporters! You could build a complete rifle out of a barreled action (or sporter) with what they list. They had my screw for $6, but since they were offering free shipping at $65...I filled my cart with a bunch of other goodies...you know, to save money In addition to replacing a handful of other screws that were chewed up and a front sight, I tossed in a new buttstock for $25.

Art3 said:

Wow! You aren't kidding about Springfield Sporters! You could build a complete rifle out of a barreled action (or sporter) with what they list. They had my screw for $6, but since they were offering free shipping at $65...I filled my cart with a bunch of other goodies...you know, to save money In addition to replacing a handful of other screws that were chewed up and a front sight, I tossed in a new buttstock for $25.

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I've been at their facility a couple of times as it's a reasonable drive from my parent's home in PA. It's huge and they bought about every SMLE that was used in India. After the original owner, Mr Rogers, passed in the 90s they had an auction and sold off some of their inventory. If you were an Enfield lover it was paradise. Sadly most lots were large and geared to wholesalers like Century and Sarco so I walked away with nothing. But I got to look around their facility in the process, better than Disney World. The current owner, Russell, is the son of Mr Rogers. He now has an FFL and is selling firearms yet again but only through their shop front, no shipping. One day I'll have to make the trip up to their place in PA.

My parts arrived yesterday! That's some pretty fast free shipping!

jimbobborg said:

Just going to point out that if you had Springfield money you should have gotten a matching bayonet and sling.

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Today was a day of distractions, so I finally got around to taking this pic

I just couldn't get it all in frame with the bayonet affixed...at least not without showing what a mess my house is I thought this rifle was supposed to be Short


We've gotten our front sight situation squared away and even shot respectably in an Axis vs. Allies match. Her stock is still pretty much how I left it when I quit the de-cosmolining, and I probably won't do much else anyway. She turns 100 sometime this year, and should be honest with her age

She doesn't have a name though. Most of my rifles get one eventually. It just has to come to me and feel right...and for some reason hers hasn't.

I'm jealous. That's a beautiful rifle. I'd love to get my hands on a cheap lithgow