A question for BasraBoy

[BobC]

Hello
I read in another post that you beded your No.4t clone with epoxy at the action. Just to clear this up for me. Is the barrel free floated the whole length?
I am going to bed my Long Branch no.4 with epoxy and was thinking about free flouting the barrel the full length except for at the Knox form. I can always add a pad at the end of the forearm later if it doesn't work.
By the way don't tell them over at Milsurps.com that you used epoxy to bed an Enfield. They are apt to come after you with pitch forks.

 

[BasraBoy]

Re: A question for BasraBoy

LOL! Bob, yes we used epoxy on the action.

Why?

Holland & Holland bedded the original No4T but using what my smith called the "traditional method"....using some sort of way to mark the pressure points with engineer's blue and then removing small amounts of wood at a time with a sharp chisel until the wood was profiled/smoothed just so.

Paul was trained to do bed rifles that way as an armourer in R.E.M.E but....(a) it takes a lot of work....(b) it is therefore pretty expensive.

Modern materials are easier and quicker to work with...so we did it that way.

It's not really "textbook" for the purists over on milsurps.com but they weren't paying the bills

But the rifle shoots just great so I'm not complaining!!

Paul just bedded the action, the barrel is left as standard. and bears against the stock at the normal points for a No4.

In his notes on the build on his website he cautions against bedding the barrel as it could interfere with the pressure points and adversely affect accuracy.

Interestingly, having been taught to bed rifles in what he describes as "the hard way", once he was out in the field with his unit, he was issued with two-pack epoxy to bed rifles!!

Hope this helps.....

Bring on the pitchforks, scythes and flaming torches......

 

[VJJPunisher]

Re: A question for BasraBoy

you shall be chased down by flaming somethings, not sure bout torches though

 

[RemmyMaxhit]

Re: A question for BasraBoy

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BasraBoy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">....Paul just bedded the action, the barrel is left as standard. and bears against the stock at the normal points for a No4...</div></div>

I was going to bed mine until I saw that id have to mill out the inner diameter of the ends of the forestock and upper forward handguard metal so that there would be no contact on the end of the barrel. Doing that would alter the rifle's appearance.

I have to think that the loose contact between the end of the barrel and the wood is going to cause some accuracy degradation?

Through Milsurps, I found a PDF of a document from the 50's or 60's regarding accurizing upgrades. They used to bed the action, then use cork strips between the barrel and the wood at the middle band, and at the end of the barrel.

Just bedding the action with the rest of the wood flopping around the barrel seems not to accomplish much if anything. Am I wrong?

 

[BasraBoy]

Re: A question for BasraBoy

All I can say is that, as far as I know the original No4T was only bedded at the action.

I don't interpret paul's opinion as saying don't do it...or it can't be done...just you need to be really careful if you should try to bed any further.

As for the Barrel "flopping around" the No4 barrel is not floated. The fore-end of the stock should exert upward force on the barrel - that is a fundamental of the design (I'd assume to manage harmonics??). Enfields that are not set up for this have poor accuracy.

My rifle is sub MOA capable. Which for a 70+ year old battle rifle is as good as I think it can gets.

I've never really "shot for groups" but this is a 100m test target I shot when checking the clicks on the scope (1 MOA clicks) just after I got the rifle: