I've been thinking again about SBRing my Wise Lite Sterling carbine.  It's not a big deal to just lop off the barrel at the barrel nut and have it recrowned, but I want it to look like an L2A3, and that barrel nut is nothing like the front end of an L2A3.

Rereading a lot of online discussions, particularly on Uzi Talk, something struck me.

The Wise Lite barrel is physically nothing like the Sterling barrel for ATF reasons, so I can't just get a real Sterling barrel and swap it in.  Sterling retains the barrel with two cap screws through the front cap of the tube that thread into ears that are part of the barrel.  Wise Lite has that part of the barrel threaded.

What if I created a barrel nut that fit the Wise Lite threads, but instead of turning against the front of the tube, it had two threaded holes for those cap screws?  

Both methods are all about just holding the barrel in place, so I can't see a big issue with this.  But I haven't done anything like this, so I figured I'd bounce the idea off the experienced and creative folks here...

Well that was a lot of silence!  I guess that means nobody has anything they can add to this.

I'm looking at some options on this.  It's "possible," but I'm not sure it's "practical."  And since Wise Lite isn't doing these guns anymore, they're not helpful...

The SBR part of ARFCOM kinda lost some steam after pistol braces became popular. Sorry I don't have anything constructive to add. Good luck OP

I am not familiar with the Wise Lite Sterling so if the is way off, sorry.

Why not machine a barrel nut that has the exterior look you want but the connection you need?

Joat

The Wise Lite barrel nut is a knurled contraption that screws onto the externally threaded barrel.

This is what the real SMG’s front end looks like:


My thought is to create a barrel nut that threads onto the barrel but fits inside the tube, and secure it with something like what’s in the picture.

I short barred mine a few years ago. I cut the barrel off just in front of the threads. Machined a new nut that resembles the original sterling cap. I have pictures and a drawing of the new nut on my computer, but the video card died in it a last week. I hope to have it back up by the middle of next week and i will post them if you are interested in it.
Pretty simple cap to make if you have the lathe skills. The hardest part is the 5/8-24 thread to fit the barrel. If I get the time i will take mine apart and make a few pics tomorrow.

There is a thread on it on uzitalk, but the pictures were hosted with photobucket and are now long gone. User name “Banshee”

http://www.uzitalk.com/forums/showthread.php?82083-Any-Interest-In-Replica-End-Cap-for-Wise-Lite&daysprune=-1

I'd seen that thread on Uzitalk, but the dead picture links kept me from being able to really see where they were going.

My idea of a barrel nut that was secured by an actual Sterling barrel cap came up because Apex Gun Parts has demilled L2A3 front tube sections for a good price.  Since I have zero personal machining capability, it seems like having a real end cap to work with would be "helpful" to whoever I got to do the machining for me.  I'd appreciate your thoughts on this.

Out of curiosity, after removing the barrel nut, how much "oomph" did you have to apply to get the barrel out of the receiver tube?

The offset bayonet mount makes it hard to do with out changing a lot of stuff and spending a lot of money.The thread is what keeps the barrel in place. Like the thread says, the offset doesn’t have enough material for the thread, it will cut out the side.  The rear trunnion keep you from using any type of original barrel setup.  As far as removing barrel it will fall out the rear with a shake once you remove the bolt and muzzle nut.

That looks great.  I’m not going to mount a Lee-Enfield bayonet on mine.  I just don’t want to have to deal with that ratchet barrel nut Wise Lite used.

Edit to add: Strap wrench to tighten the nut?  Any issues with it loosening?

I just hand tighten it, never came loose. My plan was to drill and install a detent pin on the end of the heat shield on the gun and drill dimples in the end cap. I got off on another project and never got back to it. I actually forgot about doing it until i took the gun apart and realized i never finished the detent.

KGB Armament does a proper endcap conversion on Wiselite guns...... there are a few threads over at Uzitalk with pics of their work

http://kgbarms.com/

Have you checked w/ Wise Lite?

Back in the day, they wouldn’t talk about SBRing their Sterling.  Now they don’t seem to acknowledge that they once made these guns…

I’d seen them mentioned, but hadn’t contacted them in the past.  Their web page is really only a contact us form.  I guess I’ll dive in and see what they say.

I have an actual English made MK6, I SBR'd and put threads on the end so I can run a can.  What is the point of an SBR if you can't suppress it.

If I had to go through the effort again, I would have had it built up as an integral via Andrewski.

Well I heard back from KGB, and while they do really, really good work, it's too rich for me.

They actually completely rework the tube to allow it to fit an original Mark IV barrel, which requires a full refinishing of the weapon as well.  The cost is about twice what the carbine cost me - and that's if I supply the Mark IV barrel, AFTER getting the tax stamp.

So now I need to find someone who can trim my barrel and create a not-too-horrible looking barrel nut for me.

I reached out to them back in 2017 for a quote to have the conversion done, and it came back as $700... That was as much as I paid for the rifle, so I never got around to it. Is that still what they're asking?

More like $1300;

The best price I’ve found for a repro MK4 barrel is about $170, so $1310 after getting the stamp.  They basically rework the tube completely, making it a MK4 tube so they can install the MK4 barrel.  That’s why they have to refinish it.

They do great work, but I only spent $600 for the original carbine.  A “close enough” appearing barrel nut is fine for my purposes.  I’m certainly not going to mount a bayonet on it.

That's wild... I went back and checked the original quote I received... $650 with a supplied barrel, and $750 with their barrel. No mention of refinishing, and it was for "converting a mk.6 to a mk.4 lookalike" after I'd inquired about their ability to fix the nose cap post-Form 1.