Morris tube in a SMLE, Part Deux.

[BFMIN]

The way, way high pattern from My 14 Beezer SMLE with the Morris .22 RF conversion was caused by barrel tension!
I finally go to the range & started by firing a 3 round group just as it was set before It was still massively high.
Next I started taking tension off the muzzle nut 1/4 turn at a time stopping to fire another 3-round group. There was a slight difference then suddenly after about 1 1/4 turn its dropped drastically. I spent the next hour or so tweaking tension for the best zero. After that once it seemed I was done & re-zeroed the AGP 9W sight for that set of circumstances.

I think I can get even more with maybe different ammo I was doing the rough work with Remington Thunderbolt which I have a lot of, & not shooting in a 15MPH wind gusting to 25!

Either way I'm not too embarrassed to have shot a 25 Yd, 10-round slightly under 2 3/4" group from a 110 year old, sleeved SMLE with a 104 year old folding sight using 73 year old eyeballs!

 

[mawkie]

Cool! You never see Morris tubes, ever. Crazy rare. I wonder if most went the same way as Pederson Devices when the dedicated SMLE .22 trainers came onto the scene.

 

[Clovis]

I'm trying to educate myself about this. I think I have seen this tube system requires a separate bolt and firing pin to access the rimfire of the .22. Is that correct? Where would you find something like this system?

 

[BFMIN]

Yes, you're correct. I thought the pictures had all posted but I guess not , sorry.
I just re-posted them above. It came as a kit, barrel/tube, bolt & bolt head & dummy magazine.
You don't use the magazine its a single-shot, but the empty shell makes a neat "brass catcher"
I have both the .303 & the .22RF bolts & heads so I can switch back & forth if I'm crazy enough. That's them laying next to the rifle in the pic above
I know of one person who was a machinist who modded a center-fire bolt head & fabricated the 2-piece firing pin needed.
The neat thing is its really quiet when firing standard velocity ammo as long as its just subsonic. That varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. No need for specialty ammo.
I measured the firing report with a phone app dB meter it averaged 18 dB over ambient! The sound of striking the chipboard target backing was louder than the firing report!

 

[BFMIN]

Cool! You never see Morris tubes, ever. Crazy rare. I wonder if most went the same way as Pederson Devices when the dedicated SMLE .22 trainers came onto the scene.

Almost certainly. .22 Trainers were a big thing in the U.K. even when I was a Sproglet!
It was incredibly cheap, the ranges were easy to build & get Home Office Certification for & you could teach an absolute new to the game shooter probably 90% of the Riflery skills they would need before upgrading to a "real center-fire" at longer ranges.
People nowadays in the U.K. would have a heart attack if they knew how many 25ys indoor ranges there were in their home town.

 

[BFMIN]

OK, this is strange.
I re-posted the missing images & saw them after I made the post.
Now they're vanished again?
* sigh * re-posting here.

 

[Clovis]

OK, this is strange.
I re-posted the missing images & saw them after I made the post.
Now they're vanished again?
* sigh * re-posting here.
View attachment 464762 View attachment 464763 View attachment 464764

Computers will get you every time. Thanks for the pics. I think I saw this tube system for sale back in the '90s maybe in Shotgun News or at a show but had other stuff going on that kept me from really needing one at the time.

 

[BFMIN]

They were advertised a couple of months ago at Sarco I think?
They'd tripled in price & were going for the price of a decent new .22RF rifle!
Mine came from e-bay IIRC some years back.