LEE-METFORD FOUND AT LAST!! BUT PARTS NOW NEEDED!

HI!

 

I am new to this forum, so Hello to everybody form Milan!

 

I am a long time Lee-Lnfield enthusiast , my favourite Enfield being the SMLE N°1 MKIII.

 

I have just managed to add to my collection a 1891 SPARKBROOK LEE METFORD Mark I* from Euroarms Italy - not in top shape, but I have never seen one in  a better one in many years  - so I went for it.

 

Unfortunately , as you can see in the photos at:

 

this rifle lacks the following 2 parts

 

1 -  the CLEANING ROD
 
2 -  the TOP HANDGUARD (as shown on page 4 of Ian Skennerton SAIS N° 7 booklet : .303 MAGAZINE LEE-METFORD and MAGAZINE LEE-ENFIELD).

 

I am hoping  to get replicas  made in the UK soon enough, but if anybody should also happen to have  originals kicking about I would really be interested !

 

I believe that a Long Lee top handguard and cleaning rod should also be OK.

 

Thanks and regards.

 

Mark

The action looks decent despite the patina.

 

Cleaning rods were often removed when a rifle was used for target shooting, and later on they stopped putting cleaning rods on rifles altogether, using pullthroughs only.

 

The original reason for not keeping a rod with the rifle was to prevent its vibrations on firing from affecting accuracy.

Steel rods were also hard on rifling, in WW1 only a few rods were allowed per company and used only by those best trained in cleaning bores.

They had found that attempting to get all the fouling out without proper solvents and tools usually resulted in worse accuracy than leaving some in there.

 

Use of pull throughs had its own downside and could result in a cordworn bore or chamber if not done carefully.

Original Metford rifling looked like a worn bore when new, some Metfords were rebarreled with Enfield style rifling since the rounded shallow Metford rifling didn't hold up well to Cordite.

 

But I guess you already knew most or all of that.

I would not try to use any relic BP .303 cartridges should you find some. If the compressed pellet has cracked or come apart due to age the powder can detonate explosively and damage the action, this sometimes happened even with fresh ammo that had been shaken up badly when a crate fell, or cartridges rattled around on long rides or wagon trips.

 

There are probably safe handloads using modern powders and cast lead bullets, at a slightly lower velocity.

 

I would definitely not use any modern .303 military spec ammo, especially central and eastern european loads, since these are usually intended for the No.4, P-14, or use in Vickers or BREN guns.

 

I've seen adds for both MkVI and .30-40 Krag loads assembled using fresh propellants and primers and original unfired cases and bullets, but none for the BP .303 yet.

If headspace is tight enough, My No.4 having a new bolt and No.3 bolt head given minimum head gap, it will last for a fair number of reloads but not as long as most other brands. When headspace is at or near maximum acceptable, as with a friend's slaightly worn but servicable SMLE, they didn't last for more than three tries and usually cracked on first reload.

The S&B seems to be loaded to the correct pressure range for the SMLE and No.4, I've seen warnings and posts by users that suggest some loads from further East may not be.

 

In anycase the older rifles aren't rated for the pressures of the MkVII and up.

I recently ran across a entry on sport shooting in Britain in the 1890's, it quoted an English Gunmaker in telling of numerous cases of action bodies cracking through when the older actions were used with Cordite loads, those loads were apparently the MkIV from further criticisms in the text. There'd been a run of very bad ammo released by the Government for use by target shooting at Bisley the year the entry was written, resulting in many damaged rifles, the ammunition was withdrawn under near scandalous conditions.

 

I have read in other places long ago that the proof test cartridges used before WW2 were of a much higher pressure than they should have been, and that actions passing proof sometimes had microscopic cracks not discernable by methods used at the time.

The same gunmaker quoted earlier had also said that many actions were failing proof.

 

This leads me to believe that despite the fact that the action bodies of Metford and LE actions were if anything potentially stronger than the SMLE body, that metalurgy in the transitional period might result in weak or brittle spots that might cause no problems till years later. In anycase its always wise to not exceed the pressure levels of the cartridge an arm is originally intended to use.

And remember that any Metford that still has a decent bore had less than four thousand rounds of Cordite put through it, perhaps none at all, so its survival does not insure that it ever was up to Cordite pressures.

 

There are special powders available which can duplicate the performance of Black Powder, and these are favored by the Cowboy Action Shooters.

Perhaps one day the BP .303 loads will become available, or a modern substitute.

 

The Text I mentioned is the July through December 1899 volume of "The Nineteenth Century".

Again my compliments on aquiring such a fine example of such a rare and historically significant firearm.