Building a No.4 Enfield

[Rearlugs]

Sounds like the bolt components aren't a good match; thats why you need access to quite a few spares in order to find a matching set.

The barrelled action should be made to sit straight in the forend by adjusting the draws and recoil faces (unless the forend is bent like a banana...).

Having the foresight blade sitting off to one side is usually a sign that the barrel is not indexed correctly. Can be tested either by using the correct breeching-up gauge, or by improvising using something like a sheet of glass and some blocks.


If you want any help adjusting the rifle, I'm just around by Junct6 of the M25.

[Gaz]

Took the freshly rebarrelled rifle to Bisley Zero Range on Sunday. Helpfully, it didnt blow up, neither were there any weird marks on the fired cases. So, putting a replacement barrel on was a success! I did notice a big reduction in recoil as well, which makes me wonder just how close the first barrel was to letting go.

I did have a few heavy strikes and one pierced primer, but I think this is a combination of using S&B ammo (known problem with soft primers, so I'm told) and a long striker protrusion. None of the primers had flattened or filled the pocket at all, although there was a bit of cratering on the heavy strikes. I'll have it gauged and see. Can Enfield strikers be shortened or would I need a replacement? Keen not to replace it if possible, because I don't really want to have to reset the trigger mechanism.

Which reminds me, I also have a slight trigger problem - there's a bit of extra "length" after the second stage before it breaks. I'm going to need a stone and a lot of patience with the trigger ribs, methinx.

This is the muzzle end of the "new" barrel - it is a secondhand one but it groups OK.


Receiver area.


A rather poor full length shot of the rifle.


View down the sights. You can see that the whole thing needs re-bedding. This is a rather big problem because the foresight blade was hard over to the left with the previous barrel. I took a fair amount of material off the rear bearing faces of the fore-end to try and get that barrel sitting square...


Another view of the chamber area.


And a last shot of the rifle itself - complete with my feet at the bottom.

[Gaz]

Just had the rifle apart - Fultons managed to crush the seat for the main bedding screw so the collar around the screw is now stuck in place. I daren't force it out in case I can't get it back in. Unimpressed!

On the plus side, they did give me a rather nice 1955 Fazackerley barrel at no extra cost.

[Gaz]

A photo of the damage. The receiver's upside down with the magazine housing to the right and the barrel to the left. The boss in the middle of the pic is the seat for the front trigger guard screw and it should be perfectly round. Instead there is a dent to the middle, as if a vice or something has been tightened around it. Normally the collar sits freely in the boss - now it's stuck fast.



I'm open to suggestions as to why the collar has a raised lump of material next to the dent. If I was a suspicious man I'd wonder if they hammered it back in to get it to seat properly...

[ovenpaa]

It has obviously been crushed in a vice or similar. All I can suggest is see if you can wind it off carefully with a set of grips. Not good. Or take it back and say HOI!

If you do decide to try and wind it off give me the dimensions and I will make a new one and pop it in the post, it is only a 5 minute job. Hope you don't mind stainless steel tho!

[Gaz]

Carefully removed the collar - by the state of it, it took two or three goes to hammer it back into the crushed boss. I mean, it's not as if I trusted my rifle to a reputable gunsmiths who've been trading since the 19th century...

Thanks for the offer David. I'm off to Bisley tomorrow so I might have a go at them and get them to sort it out, if I trust them not to bugger up something else this time. The boss itself is my main worry - as they've crushed that, no replacement collar will fit until it's been rounded back out.

[ovenpaa]

..and the boss is not going to come off in a rush either. Shout at Fultons (Third time lucky LMAO) and of course get back to me if you need a new one machining.

[Gaz]

Will do! :)

In other news, I'm giving up with the current fore-end. If I take any more wood out of it I might as well just hold the bare metal ... I've lowered the one side which actually is making contact with the receiver by a good 2mm but it's still no closer to bearing in any other area except the draws. I've very gingerly taken one of the draws down (the one on the side where the barrel is pointing away from the fore-end, if that makes sense) with a sharp chisel but then the whole thing began to feel less secure than before I started.

That, along with what two people reckon is a warp in the fore-end, combined with the fact that I'm sure it was machined off-centre to begin with - which somebody else also noticed, entirely unprompted by me - and I've had enough of it.

[Rearlugs]

Will do! :)

In other news, I'm giving up with the current fore-end. If I take any more wood out of it I might as well just hold the bare metal ... I've lowered the one side which actually is making contact with the receiver by a good 2mm but it's still no closer to bearing in any other area except the draws. I've very gingerly taken one of the draws down (the one on the side where the barrel is pointing away from the fore-end, if that makes sense) with a sharp chisel but then the whole thing began to feel less secure than before I started.

That, along with what two people reckon is a warp in the fore-end, combined with the fact that I'm sure it was machined off-centre to begin with - which somebody else also noticed, entirely unprompted by me - and I've had enough of it.

It can take a while to understand how the forends fit to the rifle, and where you have to trim to get it to produce the correct bedding result.

If you need some help, I'm an Enfield RFD just near Junct6 M25 (Oxted); I stock up a lot of No1s and No4s, and have several forends and barrelled actions available to compare with yours.

[huntervixen]

Hi Gaz,

I really can't believe Fulton's, quite astonishing, Gaz go back and treat them to "an interview without coffee"!

They should sort this out, right now. Tell them there are a lot of potential shooting customers here at Fullbore, waiting to see how they deal with this....don't forget we are quite a small shooting community here in the UK and bad news travels fast!!

Good luck mate, John.