Accurising my No1 MkIII*
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Category: Enfields
Forum Name: Enfield Gunsmithing
Forum Description: Submit any how-to's or other gunsmithing suggestions here.
URL: http://www.enfield-rifles.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7008
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Topic: Accurising my No1 MkIII*
Posted By: Zed
Subject: Accurising my No1 MkIII*
Date Posted: August 25 2014 at 4:11am
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During the vacation I managed to get out to the range and also into the shed! I took the No4 Mk1/2 and the No1MkIII* to Versaille range for a test at 200 metres. It was obvious the No1 still needs some time spent on it despite having a new barrel. The wood has also been replaced and I believe this is where the problem lies. On stripping and examining the rifle I found that the draws were not in contact on one side and the barrel was basically laying on the left side of the wood. There was also a gap at the wrist of about 14 thou. The nose cap also seemed to apply pressure to the muzzle at about the 10 O'clock position. I trimmed very slightly the draws and made 2 brass shims out of a .303 case, which is about 12 thou thick, and made a shim between the wrist and fore-end from a beer can (2,5thou). This squared up the barrel alignment. I also cleaned up the barrel channel to add a little clearance at the sides and shaved a bit off the wood for the nose cap to fit without interrupting the barrel fit. It seems the up pressure on the barrel is still a bit light at about 2 lbs, and I will be looking at that in the next stage. A range test before and after on our 50m range, using ammo from the same box (PRVI) shows an substantial improvement. From a 3"x3" group to 2"x1". I also found that the rear sight moves forward under recoil; going from 200 yds to 450 after a couple of rounds, which threw me off a bit until I realised. Not sure why it's doing that; possibly weak spring? ------------- It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice! |
Replies:
Posted By: Shamu
Date Posted: August 25 2014 at 5:15am
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Bedding is SO critical on the 2-piece stocks of the Enfields. 1-piece ones are a bit more forgiving simply because the rear end stabilizes the front end to an extent. Soda/beer can aluminum is my favorite bedding shim simply because it is so thin & easy to work trimming with scissors & foldable for multiple layers that don't belly at the bend. I've fond that centered pressure is more critical than weight of pressure anything other than dead vertical is a problem. ------------- Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force) |
Posted By: muffett.2008
Date Posted: August 25 2014 at 6:26pm
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Shorten your Main screw spacer by a fraction, this will increase the pressure.
The rear sight.....make sure the threads for the fine adjuster are clean on the side of the sight, unscrew the slide cap and check the spring ......clean before reassembly. |
Posted By: Sarge
Date Posted: August 25 2014 at 7:37pm
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Movement of the rear sight could be a combination of three factors:- 1) The grooved right side of the rear-sight bar is so worn, that the ratchet wheel cannot keep purchase. 2) The ratchet wheel has worn or broken teeth, and cannot keep purchase. 3) Weak or broken slider spring. All of the above should be examined after stripping the rear-sight to its component parts. Replace as necessary, then clean / lightly oil before assembly. Test after assembly... rectify if required. ------------- This is MY rifle, there are many like, but this one... is MINE! |
Posted By: Zed
Date Posted: August 25 2014 at 8:08pm
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I have taken the slide off and sprayed it with 3in1 oil and cleaned some crap out of it. I have not stripped it fully yet as I did not have a suitable circlip plier for the 2 holes in the button (I assume thats how it comes off). The threads and ratchet wheel appear good condition so if the clean doesn't change the problem it will need a spring. For the up pressure I was considering testing shims under the front trigger guard with a hole big enough for the spacer to go through; to increase the "crush" slightly. The spacer does appear to be a bit too long; only about a milimeter below the surface of the wood. As I don't have a spare spacer I thought it best to shim for testing. Once the up pressure is correct, should I bed the gap between the lower part of the receiver where the main scew thread is and the fore end. There seems to be a gap; I was thinking that this may need doing along with a pad under the knox form. Which is to be the next stage. At present the rifle shoots reasonably with the PRVI Partisan rounds which chrono at about 2370 fps. When I tried some hand loads that chrono at around 2450 + fps, the group got worse, as well as the sight moving with the faster loads. Think I will try to work a hand load for around the 2370 fps and see if it likes it better. This barrel has only had about 50 rounds through it so I assume it will settle down a bit. The load 38.8 grains of Tubal 3000 is faster in this barrel (2500fps) than 39.3 grains in the No4 rifle (2450fps) Is that because the chamber is tighter? or the new barrel is raising the pressure? The No4 rifle barrel is good condition refusing a .305 gauge at the muzzle Thanks for the input. Zed. ------------- It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice! |
Posted By: Sarge
Date Posted: August 25 2014 at 8:21pm
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With changing loads to suit various FPS.. your pressure problem could be caused by this = worse grouping. Check the specifications of the fitted barrel, then don't go outside them. ------------- This is MY rifle, there are many like, but this one... is MINE! |
Posted By: Shamu
Date Posted: August 25 2014 at 9:52pm
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Try the shims, that's a non destructive method so you can just dd more/thicker, or remove to get it "just right" ------------- Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force) |
Posted By: Zed
Date Posted: August 26 2014 at 2:49am
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The barrel is a standard SMLE barrel not a new manufacture, just not fitted until now; and as I've just started out with this rifle, I decided to use some lighter loads than what I have for the No4 rifle. It appears that these loads are too hot for this No1 so I will make up some lighter ones and see where it leads. The Vectan Tubal 3000 load data states maximum load of 41 grains for .303 British. I find that to be very high because even in the No4 rifle I am already at 2440fps with 174gr Sierra's at 39.4 grains and over the 2440 fps with 38,8 grains in the No1 rifle. Unfortunately we do not have a great selection of powder to try in France so I'll stick with this for the moment and look for an alternative if it doesn't come together. Saying that; it is an accurate powder in the No4! ------------- It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice! |
Posted By: Shamu
Date Posted: August 26 2014 at 5:47am
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I've found that older bulkier powders make a big difference. My No4 Mk2 does 1 1/2" @ 100yds with IMR 3031, but switching to H335 was a complete disaster. Shot to shot variation jumped, groups doubled or tripled in size & so on. I found a single base stick powder at about 85% capacity running the 150 Gr at 2450, or Sierra 174 Gr at 2250 was darn near perfect. ------------- Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force) |
Posted By: Homer
Date Posted: August 26 2014 at 6:20am
| Zed best to increase the shim thickness at the draws and remove the shim from between forend and but socket. |
Posted By: Zed
Date Posted: September 07 2014 at 6:52am
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Well thank you guys for all the advice. I have removed the wrist shim and made larger shims for the draws, fitting one at a time to gauge the contact area prior to assembly; it is now a very snug fit. I made some shims for under the trigger guard at the main screw to add a little extra pressure as the spacer was flush. Also fitted a new spring to the plunger in the nose cap. After attending to the wood to barrel clearance etc, it's made quite an improvement. I was very happy with the test yesterday. Before and after photos  Before, new barrel fitted but wood was poorly fitted.Test at 50 metres Prone with front bag rest and PRVI ammo, not good!  50 metres, prone with front bag rest. PRVI ammo. Better! As this is my first proper work on fitting up the fore end I'm quite happy with the progress. I'll probably leave it like that for a bit and just sort out the front sight adjustment and then get used to shooting it. I need to see what it'll do at proper ranges now. ------------- It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice! |