New Member from Virginia

Greetings everyone.  New to the forum.  I'm the recent recipient (temporarily) of an Ishapore No.1 MK3.  It's was bought by my grandfather about 70 years ago and now belongs to my father.  He asked me to look after it and get it into serviceable condition and clean it up and I'll return it to him in a few months.  

I've been watching a number of videos about the rifle and have some experience working on some of my older rifles so I'm looking forward to helping my dad with this project.

Aside from a complete disassembly and de-lousing, my initial priorities are going to be replacing a broken extractor spring (already ordered) and sorting out the head space.  The bolt closes on a Forster field gauge.  I put one round through it with modern S&B ammo and was greeted with a shiny ring just above the rim (but no bulging).  Assuming that will be the "fun" part to deal with.  :)

I was intrigued enough by the rifle that I bought a couple of newer variants for myself (very lightly used No4 MK2).  I guess I should also invest in some reloading dies for 303 British.  

As soon as I have a few moments, I'll get started with some questions and hope to participate in the forums.

Best,

 

Yep, I have a disassembly manual and I watched a couple of videos like this one:

It's all broken down now and I'm cleaning her up.

Thanks!

Welcome to the forum.

I would not dismiss this.   The bolt should NOT close on a field gage. The “shiny ring” above the case head is an indication that the web of the case is severely strained and close to fracture. This should not happen with a new case, but something expected only after many reloads with a chamber that is within headspace limits. 

While it is not necessarily unsafe to fire, it needs attention. For the time being, don’t bother with reloading the fired cases, they are probably already near the point of case head separation. 

ARGHHHHH!

He missed a very important step.

PLEASE tell me you didn't "lever" the forend off by pulling the front down to free the wood from the action!

Making sure you insert & remove the wood parallel to the barrel.

Releasing a sticky one by pulling down on the tip crushes the wood in "The Draws" ruining the bedding.