Enfield bolt wont go in

T

The Black Prince

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Apr 5, 2022
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Behind enemy lines (Southern California)
I purchased an Enfield NO4 MK1 from my brother some years back, and was never able to get the bolt in. Since then I have purchased another operable rifle, but have always wanted to figure what was going on with the first one. I live in Southern California and haven't been able to find a gunsmith for it. Any thoughts would be appreciated
 
Can you tell where it is hanging up? Make sure the safety when off,(forward) that the piece that rotates up is flush with the bottom of the receiver. Did you specify when you bought another bolt it was for a No. 4 MKI and not an earlier model?
 
Have you tried removing the bolt head and seeing if the body of the bolt will fit. If it does get a new bolt head.
 
Don't know about an Enfield, but is the bolt set to go on with the bolt handle raised?

My 03 must have the 2 part bolt handle in the raised position to go in, and the mag follower pushed down with a thumb to slide in then turn the bolt down.

Is the bolt configured in the bolt handle raised position?
 
Last edited:
The Black Prince said:
I believe that's a feature of the MKII, the bolt wont even go through past where the sight is.
Thank you all for your suggestions, I will do some more work to figure this out and research some of the resources mentioned.
Click to expand...

Yes, the war time rifles had a notch, front right receiver rail, for the bolt head to turn into.

ej5lMv2.jpg

Here is my suggestion, remove the firing pin, spring, and bolt head, and see if you can insert the bolt and turn it down. If you can, then put the bolt head on, see if it drops into the notch, and you can turn the bolt down.

If the resistance to cam down is there without bolt head, cocking piece, firing pin, then some dimension is off for locking lug distance. Do not file on the receiver seats! Fitting a Lee Enfield bolt actually was a trial and error process as the armorer removed lug material, and made sure both lugs bore equally on the receiver seats. Headspace was a matter of different bolt heads.

Anyway, something is off.
 
It can be confusing how the bolt head rotation and handle are oriented for insertion/assembly. The bolt head needs to be NOT all the way screwed down against the bolt when you attempt to insert the bolt. It looks like it should be that way but if you do that the bolt will be rotated half a turn too far to the left and won't go into the receiver. If that makes sense. You say you have another operable enfield; have you removed/reinstalled the bolt on that one? If not, learn how to do it and pay close attention to how you align the bolt and bolt head. You probably have already done all of this.
 
1KPerDay said:
It can be confusing how the bolt head rotation and handle are oriented for insertion/assembly. The bolt head needs to be NOT all the way screwed down against the bolt when you attempt to insert the bolt. It looks like it should be that way but if you do that the bolt will be rotated half a turn too far to the left and won't go into the receiver. If that makes sense. You say you have another operable enfield; have you removed/reinstalled the bolt on that one? If not, learn how to do it and pay close attention to how you align the bolt and bolt head. You probably have already done all of this.
Click to expand...
This is where I was gonna go. If you don't know how these guns work exactly, don't have a sample, etc. it can be confusing and seem like it's broken, etc. Always bugged me that it's "not quite tightened down" :)

Unfortunately, like most videos explaining anything (auto repair, knife sharpening, cooking techniques...), all examples I can find are filmed from miles away instead of being close up enough to show off what you ned to know. And... sorry, I purged a lot of my collection so despite once owning several Lee-Enfields, have zero now to take my own photo/video of.

Bunch of this gun, and others of this era, are like this, like working on items that follow the rules of four dimensional space (try re-installing the safety lever without a model to work off!). Only precisely understanding what is happening lets it work, then it works fine.
 
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shoobe01 said:
This is where I was gonna go. If you don't know how the gun works, don't have a sample, etc. it can be confusing and seem like it's broken, etc.
Unfortunately, like most videos, all examples I can find are miles away instead of being close up enough to show it off. And... sorry, I purged a lot of my collection so despite once owning several Lee-Enfields, have zero now to take my own photo/video of.
Click to expand...
That's what I've run into on videos as well, I did find a really good close up one, but it was an MKII and had the little button.
 
Springfield had heaviest bolt lift because it is cock on opening. I believe the Enfield is cock on close. Can the resistance be that?
 
That could very well be what the OP is experiencing. If he isn't used to a cock on closing action that would pose an issue that doesn't exist. Enfield's, and some Mauser actions are cock on close actions.
 
Is there any indication that the rear of the receiver was put in a vice and the receiver crushed in. That would reduce inside clearance, causing your problem. You could measure the inside of the opening and compare it to the working enfield and also measure the diameter of the bolts.

Mauser fan said:
That could very well be what the OP is experiencing. If he isn't used to a cock on closing action that would pose an issue that doesn't exist. Enfield's, and some Mauser actions are cock on close actions.
Click to expand...
The op can not get the bolt in far enough to even to begin to cock.
 
Zygodactyl said:
Is there any indication that the rear of the receiver was put in a vice and the receiver crushed in. That would reduce inside clearance, causing your problem. You could measure the inside of the opening and compare it to the working enfield and also measure the diameter of the bolts.


The op can not get the bolt in far enough to even to begin to cock.
Click to expand...
I'll check that when I get home this afternoon.
 
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