Fun with SMLEs

[Feral Donkey]

Today I found these at a yard sale. The guy is a real gun show gypsy. He had his booth set up in his garage. Gave me the whole bullshit song-and-dance they all give you. He didn't know anything about what he had but he sure was an expert on it. Anyway, I ended up going home and bringing back my 2 war-era Mosin Nagant 91-30s. I'm not going to miss those Soviet clunkers. I bought them for $60 or $90 each 10 years ago and ran a bunch of different ammo through them and never got either one to shoot worth a shit. I traded him the 2 Mosin Nagants for one really nice sporterized SMLE #1mk3 and he gave me the other one for $50. The other one has been hacked on and it looks like someone blew it up with too much pressure. The locking lug on the one side of the bolt is broke right off and so is the bolt handle. That's fine. It has a 5 round magazine, a decent stock, and lots of other parts. Well worth the $50. The good one has a nice sporterizing job done to it. Someone worked the trigger over on it too. This gun was loved. I swabbed the bore out with some Hoppe's #9 and it's shiny and new looking in there. There's just a few really small dark spots just past the throat. Who gives a shit. It's stamped "Enfield 1915" on the stock band and has "AUSTRALIA stamped on the stock, just behind the trigger guard. The hacked one is stamped "Lithgow 1917".

[Feral Donkey]

And here is my one-piece-stock conversion of a #4mk1 Savage that was made for the Canadians, I believe. The gun was half done when I got it for free 12 years ago and it's still a work in progress. I cut and crowned like 5 inches off the barrel and put on a front sight off K31. It shoots really nice. Off sand bags I've shot 3" 100 yard groups with purchased ammo.

[Feral Donkey]

And I have one more really nice #4 Mk1s at the farm that I converted to one piece stock but need to carve a stock for and I have another one of those ISHI wire-wrapped #1mk3s at the farm.

[PAarcher]

Well done Aaron! That 1 piece stock is pretty cool.

[Feral Donkey]

By doing the one piece thing, you end up with a fatter, bulkier rifle and you lose some of the unique feel of a rifle like this. This new thing caries and points like a nice over-under shotgun. I can't wait to shoot it.

[jporter@work]

Did you have to do anything other than remove the piece at the back of the action to convert to the 1 piece stock?

[Feral Donkey]

I didn't do the metal work on this one. My friend's dad did before he died of liver cancer in the 80's. I did another one 10 years ago that I haven't made the stock for yet. It's a lot more complicated that cutting off the stock band. You need to machine up 2 parts and tig them on the back of the receiver. You need a tongue off the back of the receiver and bottom metal so you can get a rear action screw through. Then you have to get the files out and make it all pretty and clean looking. I wish I didn't do that to that the one I haven't finished because that was a clean, stock milsurp when I started with it and those are getting kind of rare.

[jporter@work]

Thanks. I couldn't picture how to do the back of the action without one to look at.

[Feral Donkey]

When I get over to the farm I'll take a few pics of the other one I did myself. It was a little tricky, but not bad.

[Feral Donkey]

I shot the new #1 MK3. The buttstock ergos leave a little to be desired. That's fixable. But it shoots fine. Went to a local gravel pit and danced around a paint can at 50 yards free hand. Nothing too serious.