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Got my No1Mk3

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baltimoreed View Drop Down
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    Posted: June 14 2021 at 9:09pm
Got my No1Mk3* sporter last week. No surprises. Was busy all weekend with my first time selling at a local gun show so today I started tinkering with it. The bolt was very sticky, old grease I think. The fore stock is toast and will need to be replaced along with the missing front and rear handguards. It’s been slimmed so much that the bbl band cut out is totally gone. On the bolt I had to use a nut driver and a brass hammer to remove the firing pin lock screw. Trying to remove the firing pin, made my first tool out of ss tubing, naturally the pins on my tool bent so tomorrow I’ll get a 6mm extended socket to make a tool out of. The bolt/firing pin is soaking overnight with penetrating oil out in my shop. This build is going to need a lot of work and parts I think. Basically everything from the action to the muzzle except sights and inner bbl band. Before I buy anything on line I’m going to drag feet and see what parts I can find locally and at the big Show of Shows gunshow in Louisville next month. Pictures when I have something interesting done. 

 
Got the forestock off. The insides of it look great, darn shame bubba wrecked the outside. If he had left it alone behind the bbl band I might have been able to do a duffel cut repair. The action was a little dirty but not bad, no severe rust. Bbl, action and sight have the same number, sn 79719. 
‘Give’em he!!, Pike’
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bear43 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 15 2021 at 12:28pm
When you go to remove the striker, try turning it in first, then backing it out. Sometimes that can help to dislodge it.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote baltimoreed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 15 2021 at 1:21pm
With JD’s helpful ‘firing pin tool’ thread I used a $4.00 6mm craftsman socket and built a tool that along with soaking the firing pin with penetrating oil overnight got it to unscrew. Everything looked good, cleaned it all up and snipped about 1/4 inch off the mainspring. Fired two of my CCI LRP handloads just fine but they won’t chamber from the mag. I think that the extractor has the case rim in a bad bind jamming it against the opposite side of the recvr. How tight are these supposed to be? I need pliers to get mine to even budge. 
‘Give’em he!!, Pike’
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shamu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 15 2021 at 2:20pm
That's actually perfectly normal!
Believe it or not the Lee Enfield ejector screw doesn't eject the case at all. Tension & friction against the receiver side wall does.
Factory specs are 4~7Lbs at the extractor.
Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bear43 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 15 2021 at 2:52pm
Why did you cut the striker spring?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote baltimoreed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 15 2021 at 3:46pm
To reduce the force needed to close the bolt. I understand that I’m cocking on closing but I’m not shooting military ball ammo only my reloads. CCI primers are supposed to be the hardest commercial primers out there and with the shorter spring I’m getting a good primer ignition. I’ve reduced my firing pin springs on my Krag and Springfield builds with no problems. But I swear my rifle can’t be right with the feeding or extraction. This is how far my extractor is pushing the brass to the left. I have polished the spring on a fine stone and the flats of the extractor so everything moves with less friction. 
‘Give’em he!!, Pike’
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote britrifles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 15 2021 at 5:25pm
That looks right.  As Shamu said, this is how the empty case is ejected from the action.  The case rim drags on the left side of the receiver.  And that flips the case out.  The ejector screw is only needed to eject a loaded cartridge. 

I would remove the extractor and spring and give it a good clean, including the recess in the bolt head.  May be gummed up.

I don’t think shortening the main spring will be of any benefit.  You want the spring to act quickly.  Less pressure on the striker will slow it down. 


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Honkytonk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 15 2021 at 7:59pm
You might have to tweak the magazine lips (they hold the rounds in the magazine) to get the rounds to feed smoothly. Also, ensure your magazine is all the way up or the bolt face won't pick up the round.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote baltimoreed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 16 2021 at 6:36am
My best shooting bud and self taught smith always says ‘file on the cheapest part first’ so I did some filing and dremeling on the extractor hook after cleaning and polishing the spring and flat sides of the extractor hook [where the screw goes through]. Initially it was frozen so tight that the bolt got stuck trying to chamber a round and I had to use my hammer to open it back up. Now it feeds from the mag and extracts. I just fired 10 rds off my deck [without the fore end]. Hit my 40 yd cas steel too. All extracted and ejected ok. I did have the striker not fall all the way twice and had to recock it to fire the round. Might have been caused by the guard’s front screw not properly bottomed out in the [removed] fore end. 

Just checked the trigger pull and it’s between 5-5.4 lbs. I haven’t touched anything there. Yet. Question, should pulling the trigger cause the striker to move rearward during the first stage takeup? Or do I have another issue? 
‘Give’em he!!, Pike’
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shamu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 16 2021 at 7:31am
Yes that's also normal.
Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Goosic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 16 2021 at 10:21am
You might consider getting an unmolested main spring and putting it to avoid any further complications as you stated. A small and worthwhile remedy to a, "Heavy Trigger" is to polish the striker face and the sear face that contacts the striker as well as the sear face and trigger 1st and 2nd stage humps that contact each other. Your main spring should have between 16 and 20 lbs of force during let off to ensure proper primer strikes.
Wolff Springs has both 16 and 20 lb springs as a FYI.
Just my two cents here.
The following photo show where to polish the striker, sear, and trigger. Do not over polish the faces of each item. Just a light polish will work. The other photo shows three springs. A 14, 16, and 20 lb spring accordingly. The lighter the spring, the more susceptible you become with having light strikes and the striker falling into a half cock position after trigger release. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Zed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 16 2021 at 11:25am
baltimoreed; what bullets areyou using? Are they your reloads?
In the photo of the bullet on the bolt; it looks like there is a ring for crimping that is well out from the neck. If the bullet overall length is too long; you will get poor feeding. Mag adjustment is also critical.

Regarding shortening the spring; I'm not convinced that it's a good idea. Removing coils from a spring will actually have the effect of increasing the overall rate of the spring. It may also run out of power at the end of it's stroke if too short.
A properly cleaned and lubed bolt assembly will not be difficult to operate.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote baltimoreed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 16 2021 at 1:06pm
Thanks for your imput and interest guys, this is my first Enfield though I did shoot an uncle’s Enfield 40 years ago and only remember that it kicked like a darn mule along with the other milsurp rifles we shot that day. He only believed in ball ammo being a long time highpower competitor. My shoulder was very colorful that evening when I took my shirt off. I’ve been reloading 10 rds at a time and shooting them all afternoon. I’m lucky to live out in the country and can shoot off my deck as long as there’s no one working in the field behind the house.The bullets in the photo are the first ones that I grabbed, just 308s that I had cast. I’ve since used some .310 and .311 bullets. My load is a light one of 10.0 gr of  V-V Tin Star that I also use in my Krags and 03 Springfields [170 gr lead GC bullet] that I run for our short range steel target BAM matches. I’m just trying to get it to feed and function for now. Without a correct fore stock with all the proper bbl springs and nosecap I can’t imagine that it would be very accurate. I reinstalled the thinned fore stock and have had no other trigger issues with the 40 rds I’ve shot. The extractor seems to be doing ok now since I’ve reshaped and polished it. Everything ejects at about 2 o’clock, nothings in a bind. I’ll eventually pick up another spring and firing pin along with the missing parts but I’m getting good primer hits. There is a sn on the bolt that matches the recvr/bbl. Tomorrow I’ll get my bags out and shoot for a 40 yd group just out of curiosity. 
‘Give’em he!!, Pike’
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Goosic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 16 2021 at 6:57pm
Question.
The photo of the bullet. It looks like it is seated too far out.
What is the total overall length of that cartridge?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote baltimoreed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 16 2021 at 7:45pm
They were a little over 3 inches long. Plus the bullets are .308. The extractor wasn’t allowing anything to feed from the magazine so I was loading them singly. The bullets that I’ve been using today are a lot shorter and feed from the mag fine. The extractor is working correctly now after my messing with it. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Honkytonk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 16 2021 at 8:04pm
I took the calipers out, enlarged the top photo until they read 2.21" on the brass, then did an OAL. The top of the nose I'd cut out of the picture, but I would say it's 3.09-3.10"ish... totally unscientific but I was bored!
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