Tightening up the Draws

[Doco Overboard]

So while collecting parts for another project I wound up with an extra SMLE uncut fore-end that could use some doctoring and be fitted to a rifle and be made serviceable again.
The problem with a lot of these rifles is becuase of age and poor disassembly methods the recoil surfaces at the stock rear take a beating, turn to mush and so on and so forth till they become so loose major stock splitting occurs or they just wont shoot worth damn.

Fitting in a new set of "draws" is not hard to do doesn't take very long to accomplish with common tools, a little patience and some scrap hardwood.

The first part is understanding how the system works. The LE rifles have whats known as sear lugs which support the trigger sear and bents and are located directly above the trigger. They are slightly angled with a taper that becomes wider towards the top of them and act as recoil surfaces becuase the LE action has no real recoil surface in the front of the action to speak of like traditionally found on Mauser style actions.

The second thing to know is that the angle of the lugs are slightly different than that what is found at the stock rear where it meets the front of the wrist socket. If you could draw a line from the sear lugs and the front of the wrist socket it would have to be extended well "way" above the top of the action before they became parallel. I know, what were they thinking right?

The idea is, and its a good one, is that becuase the two angles are different recoil becomes distributed to front flat surface of the wrist socket reducing vibrations and effectively using the thrust of recoil to eliminate it and continue to tighten the timber and metal parts together instead of letting them dance around becoming loose over time.

But anyhow, now that were through all that,this beater fore-end should be good for another 100 years and maybe a world war or two.
Full disclaimer though, when chiseling out the punky wood instead of using wood glue as the agent to secure the new recoil surfaces and hard ass walnut wood cut from a junk Krag sporter stock. I used acra gel instead. I know, some hard ass old school armorer somewhere probably just puked on his sofa but Im not worried about that today. We got old growth timber here more than likely that we want to keep in the game from here on out.

Pare the wood out of the way keeping it flat but at the same time maintaining a small protrusion form the existing stock sides that will be used to maintain the bedding for the rear of the receiver. Make sure to go far enough in width though to be able to drill and drive some hardwood pegs directly down through the patch to stake it to the bedding you just made. We'll use wood glue for that when the time comes and use four instead of two for belt and suspenders approach.

Make a nice patch but be sure to form it with the grain the right way, so when we go to bed a very small chisel will just skim off the wood nice and smooth like a ducks bottom instead of gouging the opposing surfaces of the lugs all to hell and having a devil of a time making that fore-end snap home like a fly swatter on your patio table.
And we'll work off all that excess glass for a neat and tidy job.
Dont forget to clamp, close as you can get for longevity.

Another way to peg the patch to the fore end is to drill transversly right through the stock and dowel with wood glue. Then make off the ends of the dowel from the exterior sides, or make pegs out of hardwood fit right down through the top. The no4 stock wood in the firts picture (top) is expertly done. The one on the bottom is from an Indian no 1 stock and has a Dutchman made at the rear of the stock to tie it all together that is very well done but I sawed the front of that one off for my other rifle project.

 

[Doco Overboard]

So here we go....some more.
Once the path is set up, level it to remaining sidewalls. Cut- chisel out the center section roughly to get your bearings for fitting together. You will be able to see in there as the fitting progresses to observe better.

Soot up the sear lugs and begin to make off the front of the patch until the action body begins to settle into place.
Go slowly here and dont be tempted to take too much of the top of the draws becuase as the body settles downwards, its going to move forward very slightly tight up against the rear of the stock at the butt socket.
Remember, the angle of the sear lugs and the angle of the front face of the butt socket are not the same, they will act as a wedge when properly accomplished.

What happens is that if too much of the patch is removed initially to make progress too quickly at the top, only half the sear lugs will be bearing due to the lost contact with that occurring at the bottom.

Tightly as she goes with frequent sooting and repeated fitting until the underside of the body at rear lands on the top of the patch. Use a mallet to bang it all together becuase it will be stuck fast just like you want. Never try to pull the front of the stock tip downwards to free it from the action and barrel, the leverage will just compress the draws and weaken them. You want to have to strike the fore end at the rear of the action on either side with a mallet to drive them apart. Everything else is just second best as to a properly stocked up piece.

You see also, if there is a gap created at the top of the draws that is overlooked, they are what levers the body barrel juncture and Knox-form downwards into their bearing points forward of the magazine well.
While simultaneously creating tension at the stock tip as well on the barrel underside at front.
When were all done, we'll peg them solidly in place so they wont move left or right, front or back, or up and down.

At some point when making clearance for the FC bits, we'll clean everything up nice and square so it doesn't look like a bomb went off in there too.

 

[Doco Overboard]

So once you had the opportunity to carefully shave you sear lug bearings and can spot good contact and tight overall fit for the fore-end you can move on to the last few steps.

Drill some holes making sure you carry slightly to the outboard sides of the slots for the trigger bent sear what ever you want to call it. You want to make sure you hit parent wood without drilling all the way through it. But, because its difficult to get glue down towards the bottom of the hole maybe drilling through could be an option for you? I just dont do it mostly becuase of fear of splitting out at the bottom and Ive never seen it done that way.
(more on this later)

I spot drill them to a smaller size the follow up with an 1/8 drill bit.
Make sure you dont get any extra glue floating around on you and run a sharp file over your pegs to get some extra purchase. Chuck up your dowel in a battery operated drill motor and hold a file or sand cloth to them to get them just right so they're tight when driven in. Leave them long so you can work them over you may get some breakage if the grain runs out the end and you apply to much pressure.

Drive them suckers in with a very small ball peen hammer till the mushroom in place at the top. With the wet glue all over the place hit the tops of them with a file to fill in the top of the hole nice and smooth them smooth with your chisel.

Ok ,now the later part.
If you use a pair of dykes or end cutters to snip your dowels off, cut them at a very slight angle so when they're being pounded in place the wedge shaped end will penetrate the punky wood underneath and help to hold them fast. And maybe even mushroom out a touch for an extra measure of strength. If you let the glue drip in and work it down some you'll set it squirt up and out of the hole. Normally you would want a relief hole so the glue can be pumped through on some types of repairs but I dont think that's entirely necessary here.

Put the FCG parts back into the sear lug and trail fit to make sure you have clearance for the sear itself, and that it clears the rear of the patch as the rifle is being assembled.
On a no 1, the bolt catch spring once assembled to the body on the right side may need some additional clearance added in so it doesn't bind on the area just behind the charger bridge. You can see this area in the last picture, top bearing, half moon shaped area. it will need pared out right up to the line of glass.

 

[Doco Overboard]

Another clipazine maybe and it would be dead center maybe with a steadier hand and better eye.
Walked them right on up without a whole lot of effort.
This is one of those Osterriech struck rifles.
Its a good shooter with the bearings tighter than a crabs ass and a lot of life left in it.

 

[BFMIN]

Nice description of the process.