Who has the best deals on No1Mk3 furniture?

[frankenstein]

I inherited an SMLE No1Mk3 with cracked / split wood. After a teardown, the wood has been glued once already in all cases, and split again.

In your experience, who has the best deals on good / like new wood?

(As if that weren't enough, I have to drill out my nosecap. The horizontal screw snapped off during disassembly. Maybe I just need a new nosecap/screw.)

Thanks in advance for your help!

Clay

[JB White]

Clay,

There are quite a lot of variables to be addressed before we send you off shopping.
What type of MkIII...from where...what is the history/pedigree...what type of wood will you need?
Are you sure it needs replacment and cannot be repaired in any way? Sometimes more value is lost by replacement (cost of parts and loss of collectibility) than a much less costly repair...if done correctly.
Have you ever fitted SMLE timber before?
Also, what caused the crack? Hate to see you spend money and time only to have it happen yet again.

If you have the ability to post photos then I strongly suggest you do so that we might see what you need. It's really the only way we can steer you right and not to simply brush you off by saying "go here...."
If you can't post pics due to being unfamiliar with the process, we'll gladly help you there too.

Cheers,

JB

PS. Welcome to the board!

[mack]

Try Gorilla brand glue and a series of small woodworker's clamps before you buy an unknown replacement stock that will devalue your rifle. Gorilla will glue almost any wood out there that isn't grease and oil soaked to its core. Some of the Indian (Southern Asia) wood won't glue if grease soaked.

Work backwards, i.e., glue the breaks in the order in which they came and be patient. You may spend upwards of a week gluing and waiting as each section must be glued on a solid and successful predecessor. Each is gluing toward a larger and more complete piece, so don't try to reglue the entire stock in one evening.

If all else fails, pins may be inserted to strengthen the finished piece, but Gorilla will handle most stress up to full auto fire without concern, so don't go to the brass rod and screws first thing. Then check eBay as a last resort.

[JB White]

Mack,

As A carpenter I learned to hate Gorilla Glue with a passion. Yes, it works to stick wood together but it's extremely short term compared to TiteBond or two part epoxies. You'll never find GG in my shop again...EVER. It's failure rate under stress is much too high, and it's more of a mess to work with at times too.

[dave]

Just for the record, 'furniture' refers to the bits and parts attached to a stock (yes metal parts) not the wood itself. Sorry ---I had to say it!

[JB White]

Just for the record, 'furniture' refers to the bits and parts attached to a stock (yes metal parts) not the wood itself. Sorry ---I had to say it!

Dave, it does in American English but these are British rifles. The terminology is therefore English English.

[dave]

Yes but we are not English, now are we? We speak Amer. english. The term dates back to the flintlock area and before and I think it was used here and abroad.

[JB White]

Sure Dave, but this is a British rifle board frequented by members from the UK & Commonwealth. In fact, this particular board wouldn't even exist on this site if it hadn't been for the request of an Aussie over a decade ago when the Gun and Knife site went down. Using the English terms helps keep things in perspective across all the boards.

[Alan De Enfield]

Surely the terminology used must be relevant to the 'item' under discussion (stripper clips and chargers come to mind) Unless we all use the same then there will be problems and misidentification.
With the complex UK 'numbering system' with models, marks and 'stars' it is very easy to get confused between a No3 Mk1 and a No1 Mk3 (for example)

The devil is in the detail and we should all pay attention to the detail and correct terminology

[dave]

OK, so the Brits use "furniture" to mean the stock of the rifle? Is that correct? One of you English members please answer.

[Alan De Enfield]

OK, so the Brits use "furniture" to mean the stock of the rifle? Is that correct? One of you English members please answer.

Furniture = all the woodwork (Then there is butt, forearm, handguards etc as individual parts)

I'd suggest that bands, screws (metalwork) etc are 'hardware'

[Guamsst]

Gorilla glue is trash in my opinion. I will not use it anymore....period. It's too foamy and just does not hold up in the long term. So far, plain elmers wood glue has done wonders for me but i feel I have just been lucky. I agree with JB a good epoxy is probably your best bet.

[Guamsst]

Furniture means wood to me. In America we say chair when we talk about a wooden chair but METAL chair when talking about a non wooden chair. To me furniture means wood. But then, I have had a fondness for Enfields for a while.

[dave]

Furniture = all the woodwork (Then there is butt, forearm, handguards etc as individual parts)

I'd suggest that bands, screws (metalwork) etc are 'hardware'

That makes sense, thank you. I guess Patton was correct, a common people separated by different language! My family, for the most part came from England but its a long time ago!

[IditarodJoe]

Well . . . first, the phrase is ". . . are one people separated by a common language". I myself believe it was first used by Winston Churchill although it's been attributed to everybody and his aunt Gussie, with many try to attribute it to George Barnard Shaw while admitting he only made a generally similar comment and never actually used those words. :icon_scratch:

I've always used the term "furniture to refer to the metal bits that attach to the stock, but I obviously have been wrong because dictionary.com/World English Dictionary (whatever that is) defines it as "the wooden parts of a rifle", and if it's on the internet it MUST be true. :icon_rolleyes:

[frankenstein]

The rifle was built at RSAF Enfield in 1917, and the wood is a darker reddish-brown, even on the underside. These cracks have been glued once already. The wood is pretty beat up. I think the rifle needs new(er) wood.

[JB White]

The rifle was built at RSAF Enfield in 1917, and the wood is a darker reddish-brown, even on the underside. These cracks have been glued once already. The wood is pretty beat up. I think the rifle needs new(er) wood.

That may be corrected if properly done. Once again, photos would help immensely in steering you in the right direction. We have no way of knowing whether your rifle is wearing original wood, WW2 replacement, early Ishapore walnut replacement, later RFI post-'51 timber..or something else. There are simply too many variables involved. You must also keep in mind that there are no drop-in replacements. New wood MUST be fitted. Used wood..you may get lucky but odds are you'll need to scrape, chisel, and/or shim or replace wood at the draws to get it shooting right.

With photos, you might be better off replacing than repairing depending upon overall condition. We can't see therefore we don't have a clue. What may be 'beat up' to one person is valueable history to the next. (actually most if you want to maintain resale value)

[dogtag]

Well, I'm English and as far as I'm concerned "furniture" is
something you sit on.
As for the rifle, I have only one, therefore I'm not qualified to offer an opinion.

[Vi Shooter]

When I was a boy some of the real old-timers referred to horse tack as "furniture." The idea was that "furniture" was something you added to make something that was already useful even more useful.

An empty house is useful as a shelter. Putting "furniture" in it makes it more useful.

A rifle without a stock is not generally very useful, so the stock is essential to the rifle's usefulness and is not, therefore, "furniture."

The English word is derived from French and Middle English words that mean "to supply" or "furnish." Hence the word should only be used for add-ons that make something more usable, not for the essentials that are necessary for basic use.

Just my 20 Mills,
Vi

[JB White]

Good feedback but brings up the subject of perspective. Fireams are lock, stock and barrel and the terminology is older than we are. Therefore a firearm is useless without a stock of sorts. Anything added to make it more useful like a patchbox, thimbles, rear sight etc are the things which make it more useful than before.

Not arguing. Simply bringing up what someone else eventually will and getting it out there first. ;)

[Clark Howard]

To answer your question, I would start with Springfield Sporters. Sportsman's Guide has had SMLE wood. Get a copy of Shotgun News. Try Gun Parts Corp.

[jgaynor]

Gorilla Glue's chief claim to fame is that it is highly waterproof. If you decide to use it follow the label directions precisely and APPLY SPARINGLY!!.. When setting the glue foams up and tends to push the joint open. Also work your clamping strategy out in advance.
A moreforgiving product like the widely available Titebond or Elmers should be satisfactory for most gun work and a lot easier to use.

One final note if using GG wear disposable rubber gloves. Any glue left on your fingers has to wear off ( 2 to 3 weeks) - nasty brown stains. :)

[maq]

Unfortunately, no one store has everything you need. You can wait around and pay 250 to 300 dollars for a complete stock set without the metal parts from Ebay. Or, you can start picking up piece by piece from different stores. I have recently restored a No1Mk3 and found a good deal of my metal parts and wood at Sarco. At sarco I found front hand guards and and rear hand guards for 1/4 the price they were on ebay.. they look new. They also had about 2/3 of the metal parts I needed and a really nice Butstock for 19.00. It also looks new. I found a walnut forestock at numerich for 59.00 It is new.(cheapest I could find) Numerich is out of complete stock sets they had for 89.00. Last I used Libertytreecollectors.com. , for some metal parts noone else had ie the nose cap with front and rear screws.. the nosecap nut, i got from sarco. Lots of people have the nose cap. Some have the front screw and nut, but none have the rear screw.

Everyone else seemed to be pretty much out of stock on everything I needed. I just got the last piece in I needed today and will start refinishing the wood to my likeing and cleaning and spot bluing all the parts that need some.. My 1918 No1Mk3* was sporterized and so I had a lot to replace. The rifle was given to me and ended up kinda being a money pit.. But, in the end I'll have a very nice rifle for 1/3 the cost of an already completed rifle. The enfields just have a lot of parts to the stock and metal pieces. I hope this helps someone.. It took me a month or so to figure this out on my own. Maq

[Guamsst]

Try contacting Dave Sandlin "The Enfield Man" at dsandlin@argontech.net

Parts are getting really scarce but he can probably hook you up for a fair price.