Thread: A wee project for myself

Originally Posted by Chilli_Dog

Maybe these are trade secrets but there is no harm in asking,
how do you bore out the receiver for the barrel to pass through?
and how do you shorten the bolt, cut a chunk out and weld or cut and tap? Presumably since you were after a No4 you re taped the bolt, if so how do you clock the thread?

I have made special tooling to bore out the receiver by hand. You can't do it in a lathe because of the skinny tool needed and the interrupted cut. I anneal the bolt body and hacksaw to the appropriate length, square it off and tap it out. The SMLE Mk III's I use for the De Lisles have an Enfield bastard thread so I had to make the taps for that. The No4 has UNF threads so 7/16" UNF is correct for the bolt head. Once the bolt is threaded then I file fit it until the bolt head registers correctly. Obviously the barrel cannot be finished until the bolt has been done correctly.