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Posted: 4/21/2012 9:45:07 AM EDT
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I need to disassemble and thoroughly clean and de-cosmoline my old SMLE. Problem is the wood is soaked to the bone with cosmo and I'm afraid of destroying it while dissembling the rifle. Screw heads that are visible in the wood are covered by cosmo and I don't want to strip out the holes. Basically, I need to see a how-to on disassembling the rifle. Any tips? Thank you in advance, Eric |
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The old Surplusrifles.com site had full disassembly on the site for the #3 and #4 Lee Enfield rifles.
The site died but there's an archive of it available. Problem is, all the rifle disassembly sections are buried down at the bottom of the page as "Somefile" sections. All I can figure out is that you have to open each one to find the rifle you want. This is complicated because there's no way to tell which one's you've already looked at. In any case, if you can find the Lee Enfield sections it's good photo info on complete stripping: http://www.sportsmanmaps.com/surplusrifle/index.html |
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Okay, here goes.
1) Remove the magazine. Pull the bolt to the rear. Push up from the bottom of the bolt head to remove it from the track. Pull the bolt out of the receiver and set it aside. 2) Remove both nosecap screws. There is one on the side and one on the bottom. Place them in a bag or some other safe place. Remove the nosecap by pulling forward and up. 3) Remove the barrel band screw and sling swivel. Place them with the nosecap screws. Remove the front hand guard and set it aside. 4) Gently flip the rear sight leaf up and forward. Using a flat head screw driver, gently pry up from the back of the rear hand guard until it pulls away from the barrel. Using your fingers, lift it the rest of the way off and set it aside. 5) Remove the first of the two large screws on the underside of the forestock. The second is for the rear sight protector and need not be messed with. 6) Remove the side screw from the trigger guard, and then the front. Pull the trigger and trigger guard away. 7) From the back, push down on the forestock and remove it. You are done. There is normally no need to remove the butt. If you do, however, always remove the forestock first. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Remove the forearm first.
DO NOT try to unscrew the buttstock bolt until you have completely removed the forearm! You will split the forearm if you do this. I'll run thru it but its been a loooong time since I broke a No.1 down. 
Clear the weapon. Remove bolt and magazine. Remove the front forearm/swivel band screw, gently spread the swivel band open enough to remove it. It has a hinge and will open up. Remove the top barrel/forearm cover piece. You may have to loosen the nose cap to get the end of the top piece out of the nosepiece. Loosen the nosecap/bayo mount screws(2) and remove it by sliding it forward off the muzzle. You may have to lightly tap it with a mallet to get it to move. Note: There is a spring under the nosecap. It will be pushing downward on the nosecap. Remove the trigger guard. The trigger may be wedged against the sear so be careful removing it. Loosen and remove the forearm screw that attaches to the barrel ring. This is located between the mag well and swivel band. Don't mess with the screw directly below the rear sight protective ears. You can remove this later. Now slide the forearm DOWNWARD away from the barrel/action. If there is a lot of cosmo gumming things up you will have to wriggle it off. Carefully remove the small rear barrel cover/top piece between the action and rear sight. Its held on by a couple of spring clamps so all you need to do is pull it up and off. Now you can unscrew the buttstock bolt. Make a note of the position of the bolt slot. You'll want to return it to that position on reassembly. Access the bolt head thru the buttplate with a long flat head screwdriver. Sometimes there is a leather washer down on the buttstock bolt head. Make a hook out of a clothes hanger to snag and remove the leather washer. |
| If you are worried about buggering the screws. The first thing you should do is buy a set of hollow ground gunsmithing screwdrivers. It will not be cheap, do not get suckered into buying a cheap set. Spend the money and they will last forever. Then make sure the screw driver fits each screw before removing. Otherwise the other guys got it right! You will need a bolt dissasembly tool if you wish to dissasemble the bolt, easy enought to buy online. Hope this helps. |
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