SMLE No4 Mk1*

[Garys]

I ordered a US Savage made SMLE over the weekend. Mr. UPS dropped off the rifle early this afternoon and I eagerly opened the box. It's a pretty nice rifle, definitely in good condition. Some blueing worn off at the muzzle, a couple of what look like rust spots on the trigger guard, but over looks to be in good shape.

It does however need to be completely stripped down and cleaned up. It's covered from head to toe (or is it muzzle to butt plate?) in thick brown Cosmoline. In fact, some of what I originally thought was rust turned out to be dried up Cosmoline. I spent 20 minutes cleaning the bolt head and extractor alone.

As you can see from the picture, I'm most of the way there. I was even able to get the butt stock off using the rachet and a couple of extensions. I did find that the directions a www.Surplusrifle.com are for the Mk1, not the Mk1*. The only real difference is in bolt removal, and once I figured that out, it was easy.

I've found that Simple Green does a great job dissolving Cosmoline. I've got to get more, but it really cuts through the crap. I poured some into a container and have been soaking parts in it. It also cleans the stuff off of the wood without hurting the stain. Orange Glo cleans up any residue and shines the stock up really nice.

Has anyone taken the bolt on one of these apart? Apparently there is a special spanner to remove the striker pin. Has anyone used anything else to do this or should I just buy the tool?

Thanks,

Gary

 

[SKS Ray]

Has anyone taken the bolt on one of these apart? Apparently there is a special spanner to remove the striker pin. Has anyone used anything else to do this or should I just buy the tool?

Thanks,

Gary

Yes I have, yes there is, and yes because I broke 2 bolt disasembly tools already.

1/4" drive, 1/4" Craftsman socket, cut as you see with a Dremel tool and file, then smoothed with a wire wheel. Looking down on the hex pattern of the socket you'll see where to cut to make the teeth out of the strongest part of the socket wall. Some sockets are designed diferent and need some metal shaved off the thickness in order to fit inside the bolt.
BTW, Some Enfield bolts are so frozen in place that all you can do is soak em down again and again and dry them out with high powered compressed air. (Pays to work in an auto body shop and be around tools)
And any surface rust can be cleaned up with some Break Free and 00 steel wool.

 

[Garys]

Thanks. I might give this a try, or I might just buy the tool. Depends on how ambitious I feel. The bolt will be going into the bowl o' Simple Green. Which is actually Brown right now. I have to pick up another bottle in the morning. I've made some decent progress on getting the gun clean and have even started to put it back together. That's gone pretty well so far, actually. The set of small punches that I've used about once in the 20 years I've had them got quite the work out today.

I still have to do the barrel, but I need some supplies, which means that I'll be going to the Holbrook show as well. I'll be wearing a Red Sox sweat shirt, if you should happen to see me.

I'll be looking for ammo as well, but that will probably be the mission for the next Marlboro show.

Gary

 

[SKS Ray]

I'll be heading to the show soon, still clearing the head from last night.
I wouldn't soak the bolt in simple green, after all it is a water based product. For soaking parts I use Ed's Red. Its a homemade cleaner that has: 1 quart of ATF Transmission fluid, 1 quart of acetone, 1 quart of mineral spirits, 1 quart kerosene. Do some reading on it on the internet. Theres chemicals in there that work on fouling, rust removal, etc.
I keep mine in a gallon gas jug and when I want to soak parts I use a 5 gallon paint bucket with snap on/off lid.
I've tried soaking parts in just about everything except Marvel Mystery Oil. Now I have some ideas for old stuck bolts.

 

[Garys]

We were in and out before 1100. I got some cleaning stuff that was low on. Nothing big, just stuff that I didn't want to wait for delivery on. No bargains at all. There were a couple of dealers with MilSurps, but they were high. I was explaining to my friend what each piece was and what I could buy them for. The Russian stuff was identical to what I can buy, but prices were 3 times higher. I'll drone on more on the Gun Show forum.

As to Ed's Red, I've read about it. I know Brownell's it in small bottles. I don't know if I want to take the time to buy and mix all that stuff, I might just buy a bottle. Lazy I guess.

 

[SKS Ray]

We were in and out before 1100. I got some cleaning stuff that was low on. Nothing big, just stuff that I didn't want to wait for delivery on. No bargains at all. There were a couple of dealers with MilSurps, but they were high. I was explaining to my friend what each piece was and what I could buy them for. The Russian stuff was identical to what I can buy, but prices were 3 times higher. I'll drone on more on the Gun Show forum.

As to Ed's Red, I've read about it. I know Brownell's it in small bottles. I don't know if I want to take the time to buy and mix all that stuff, I might just buy a bottle. Lazy I guess.

I'm pretty sure the 91/30 I picked up from the show is an ex Dragoon. It was right before heading into the major dealer areas, same places where I saw it last time on a revolving rack. $129 to my asking price of $100 OTD.
Ed's Red is so cheap to make, at about $15 a gallon, you can't afford not to make some.
http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews/edred/index.asp
Note: Jamie Mangrum makes it seem like you are mixing plutonium with the safety gear etc. Its not as bad as it sounds and as for acetone... hell, its in finger nail polish remover and women all over the world use it every day.

 

[Garys]

He does make it seem like rocket science, but it's a pretty clear article.

I always get a kick out of those poison warnings that tell you to call a doctor. Like you could actually get ahold of a primary care doctor in an emergency. <G>

But I digress.

A friend of mine that's a long gun owner, dealer, etc., suggested a heat gun for getting the cosmoline out of the stocks. Coincidentally I bought one last week for short money, so I might try it.

Gary

 

[Nickle]

I also recommend AGAINST using Simple Green. Kerosene does the job. If you insist on using Simple Green, make sure and soak the parts in some sort of lube (or Kerosene) after.

 

[Garys]

I lubed everything with Breakfree afterwards. Also, unlike a lot of basements mine is extremely dry because the furnace is down there and the whole thing is open. Parts dry extremely fast.

When I stripped the rifle down, I really stripped it down. Every removable screw or pin was removed and every removable part was removed. Each was dried by hand using old T shirts, cleaning patches, or Q tips. Each pin, screw, bolt, and piece was then cleaned and lubed with Break Free, which I also ran through the barrel several times.

I'll also keep an eye on the rifle for the first hint of surface rust and go over everything again.

I think I covered everything, but I do appreciate your advice. I'm learning an awful lot by stripping these rifles AND from the members of this forum.

Gary

 

[SKS Ray]

You have done well young Jedi.

 

[Garys]

Thank you, master!

Gary

 

[JonJ]

How's it all coming out? What kind of condition is it in?
I dropped and order in the mail for one today.

 

[Garys]

It's back together, but with two what I hope are minor problems.

1) It won't feed Snap Cap rounds from the magazine. I don't know if this is related to the weight of the rounds or not.

2) Every third cycling of the action the cocking piece at the back of the bolt moves right just enough to keep the bolt from closing all the way. I'm not sure if I put it back together correctly or not although I can't find anything obviously wrong.

Once I get these two things sorted out, I'll take some pictures.

Gary

 

[SKS Ray]

Snap Caps are sometimes bad for testing out action. I've got some AZoom ones (thinks thats the company name) in 7.5x55 Swiss and they won't extract in any of my Swiss rifles even though they all fire and function flawlessly.
As for the every 3rd cycling thing, i'd take the bolt out and retrace your steps using SurplusRifle.com's info on bolt reassembly.

 

[Garys]

Snap Caps are sometimes bad for testing out action. I've got some AZoom ones (thinks thats the company name) in 7.5x55 Swiss and they won't extract in any of my Swiss rifles even though they all fire and function flawlessly.

Those are in fact the ones that I'm using. They worked fine in the K31 and M38, but not in the Enfield. Just to be clear, I bought the proper ones for each caliber. <G> That's what I'm hoping it is. I'll have to look at Marlboro for some real .303 ammo.

As for the every 3rd cycling thing, i'd take the bolt out and retrace your steps using SurplusRifle.com's info on bolt reassembly.

That's my plan. I shouldn't have tried to put this thing back together last night when I was super tired. I was just so excited that the striker came out so easy and everything cleaned up so well. I'll take it all apart tonight and follow the directions exactly.

Gary

 

[SKS Ray]

What you need to be on the lookout for is this.

Its Greek made ammo and its non corrosive. I found these boxes at the last Marlboro show, and the seller had more.
M&Ms in Plymouth had it on Enfield stripper clips in bandoliers until I showed up and bought it all. They may have some loose boxes of it though. Look for the HXP head stamp.

 

[Garys]

Very good, thank you. I'll write that down and bring the paper with me to Marlboro.

BTW, I took the bolt apart and put it back together again... correctly this time. I'm not sure exactly what I did wrong, although the DUH! moment was when I realized why the threaded end of the striker is notched out and what that screw is for. Everything is tight, cycles properly, and the Snap Caps now feed properly. The action is really, really smooth.

As an added bonus no extra pieces left over.

I still have to strip the bolt on the M38 and get that cleaned up. Then I'll have TWO MilSurps that are ready to go but don't have any ammo for.

I have ammo for the K31, but haven't stripped and cleaned it yet. I'm not sure why but for some reason, maybe the straight pull bolt, stripping this intimidates me just a bit. I'll get over it though.

Gary