SMLE mkIII* upper rear hand guard repair

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Jbird45

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I recently purchased a 1917 SMLE mkIII* and the rear upper handguard has a few cracks and one of the fingers has a clean break. This piece is held onto the barrel by spring clips and i was extremely careful taking it off, but it takes a lot of force. The cracks and break were in the piece when i bought it, but i would like to preserve everything and prevent them from getting worse.

I am an avid woodworker, but i have more knowledge of dovetails and tenons than I do about rifle stocks.

Is epoxy probably my best bet for an adhesive here? Or would wood glue or gorilla glue be a better choice.

Or am I better off leaving this to a gunsmith.

Any and all opinions are welcomed. Thanks!

I unfortunately dont have any pictures at this time. I will take some tonight.
 
Well it's been 17 minutes and no answer so far, so: everybody who hasn't responded yet, but will, will advise epoxy. Most, I bet, would use one of the bedding kits available from Brownell's, or equivalent. One advantage to these is that they come with stains. You can stain your glue mixture black so that when the crack repair shows, which it will, it'll be black and fit right in with the natural grain.
 
Yes, bow-maker's epoxy, or bedding epoxy....I second the motion. I might avoid any hardware store in a tube(s) epoxy. Being a woodworker, I would think you more than have it covered. I'm a big fan of the SMLE, what make is it? I have a 1917 dated rifle, in addition to 1914, 1916 and 1918. (or at least that's what my memory says.) But a 1917 for sure.

I've always been impressed with the quality and workmanship of stock repair I've seen on old surplus rifles, made back in the day when they were in service. I know I could never do such work. You shouldn't have any problem. Good luck. The sun never sets on the SMLE. And of course put some grease on that handguard clip that clips on the barrel. It will help a little bit when you take it off again. (if)
 
If memory serves correctly, I believe the upper handguard should only be removed when the barrel and action is out of the stock, which makes it more easy to remove without breaking it. ?
 
Yes, bow-maker's epoxy, or bedding epoxy....I second the motion. I might avoid any hardware store in a tube(s) epoxy. Being a woodworker, I would think you more than have it covered. I'm a big fan of the SMLE, what make is it? I have a 1917 dated rifle, in addition to 1914, 1916 and 1918. (or at least that's what my memory says.) But a 1917 for sure.

I've always been impressed with the quality and workmanship of stock repair I've seen on old surplus rifles, made back in the day when they were in service. I know I could never do such work. You shouldn't have any problem. Good luck. The sun never sets on the SMLE. And of course put some grease on that handguard clip that clips on the barrel. It will help a little bit when you take it off again. (if)

I believe its British. It has a crown stamp and 1917 on the receiver. Here is a picture of it. I was told it was varnished, but i am not so sure about that. When i took the stock and handguards off there was no signs of varnish or drips or missed spots. If someone did refinish it, they either did an extremely thorough and professional job, or its still original. Either way, i am not going to mess with it other than fixing the hand guard
 

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I believe its British. It has a crown stamp and 1917 on the receiver. Here is a picture of it. I was told it was varnished, but i am not so sure about that. When i took the stock and handguards off there was no signs of varnish or drips or missed spots. If someone did refinish it, they either did an extremely thorough and professional job, or its still original. Either way, i am not going to mess with it other than fixing the hand guard
Directly beneath the bolt should be the factory code stamp- BSA, RFI, LSA, etc.
 
Oh that is nice. My BSA is in that condition, and it was my first SMLE. The MkIII SMLE is what sparked my interest in old military rifles, from the time I first saw one in a movie. Thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. I still think it's the coolest WWI/WWII rifle of them all. I have a Lithgow with the magazine cut-off. That is a very cool rifle, kind of my favorite, although not in top condition cosmetically. Okay, enjoy. !!
 
I've repaired some bad cracks in an upper handguard on a Carcano by stop-drilling the cracks with the very smallest drill bit I have, filling and coloring the resulting holes, forcing glue into the cracks, then gluing a sheet of paper to the backside / inner side of the handguard to give it some strength and directional stability, and drying and curing with some tension on the result with a form-fitted pipe and rubber bands. Totally winging it, but it worked.
 
Here are some pictures of what i have to work with.
 

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Well, the repair with the broken piece will take some imagination. Aside from perhaps some reinforcement under those cracks, perhaps something along the lines of what Wiscoaster said, would be all I'd do there. I'd just call them "character lines". And they don't really distract. Another option would be to find a replacement, don't think that would be so hard. There used to be a guy that had all those parts. Just think of all the upper handguards that went in the trash or fireplace/stove when people "sporterized" nice SMLES. No.....don't think about that.
 
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