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British Army Instructions for Headspacing

NZ L1A1 Collector

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Cartridge space adjustment

10. Having determined that cartridge space is incorrect and can only be adjusted by fitting a new locking shoulder a size is to be selected to bring CHS within the limits of gauge SM 651 (1.6325 in.) and SM 650 (1.638 in.). This will ensure that the rifle will have a maximum life available before a further change of locking shoulder is necessary. The method of selecting the correct size of locking shoulder is as follows:

a. With breech block removed from carrier and placed in the body the amount of longitudinal movement is to be estimated with the gauge SM 663 ( 1.643 in.) in the chamber. This movement indicates the amount the CHS exceeds 1.643 in.

b. For example, assuming the longitudinal movement is very slight and is estimated at 0.001 in. the factors to be considered are:-

(1) Difference between 1.643 in. and 1.638 in. = 0.005 in.

(2) Movement at 'b' above............................... = 0.001 in.

(3) Approximately half the difference between = 0.003 in.
the accepted limits of 1.6325 in. and reject....................(approx)
limit of 1.638 in.

(4) Total headspace wear to be taken up is ....= 0.0009 in.
(1) + (2) + X3) above

c. Remove existing locking shoulder as detailed in paragraphs 12 and 13, measure it with a micrometre or the gauge shown in Fig 1, then select a replacement locking shoulder 0.009 in. larger, in the standard or oversize range as required. It is advisable, though locking shoulders are numbered, to verify the dimension as-wear may have taken place on the existing shoulder and this must be considered on the change. A list of locking shoulders in the standard and oversized range is shown in Table 1.

d. Replace the selected locking shoulder as detailed in paragraphs 17 - 21.

e. When a correct cartridge space has been obtained ensure that the breech block and carrier are numbered to the rifle as detailed in S Arm D 117 Mod Instr No 3.

Note: There must be a slight forward movement of the carrier against the tension of the safety sear spring when the action closes over gauge SM 651 (1 6325 in.).

Locking shoulder Replacement


11. Locking shoulders are to be replaced for the following reason:-

(a) To adjust cartridge head space.

(b) To replace fractured or damaged locking shoulders.

(c) To replace loose locking shoulders.


12. Locking shoulders which have been driven out, or in, are liable to fracture in service, therefore it is essential that they must be pressed out, and in to prevent the possibility of fractures. To enable this to be accomplished, a tool for the removal o locking shoulders is shown Fi g 4002. A fixture and tool for the assembly of locking shoulders is shown in Fig 4003, 4004, 4005 and 4006. In Fig 4007 is shown the method of resizing the locking shoulder hole using a tungsten carbide ball, anvil and gauge plain cylindrical L22Al.

13. To remove the locking shoulder place the large plate over the body and position by the locating pins, ensuring that the slot is aligned with the head of the locking shoulder. Hold the plate with the body of the rifle in a large vice and place the second part of the tool on the outer jaw. Lead the stud of the tool on to the end of the locking shoulder as the vice is tightened and press the head through the plate. Remove locking shoulder.

14. The range of locking shoulders are issued in two fitting sizes, 'standard' and 'oversized'. The oversized are identified with a letter 'Y' stamped on the large head and are to be used when the locking shoulder hole in the body is found to be oversized.

15. With the locking shoulder removed determine whether a 'standard size' or 'oversized' locking shoulder ('Y') is required by gauging the hole as required by S Arm D 118 Table 2 Serial 4.

16. Should an 'oversized' locking shoulder (Y) be required the tungsten carbide ball is to be forced through the locking shoulder using the anvil and vice as shown in Fig 4007. The ball is to be forced completely through from either side or partly through from both sides ensuring that it goes past the 'halfway' from each side. The 'GO' end is to be accepted, the NO GO' is to be rejected.

17. To reassemble the 'normal' or 'oversized' (Y) locking shoulders, the rifle body must be placed in the fixture (Fig 4003); ease the two steadying screws at the top of the fixture and the clamping screw at the rear. Slide the body over the guide block ribs in the fixture, depressing the spring locating plunger to allow it to pass, until the rear reaches the stopping block. The plunger will automatically enter the hole for the locking shoulder under the influence of its spring. Screw the steadying screws lightly down on the body to align and prevent distortion and tighten the clamping screw at the rear of the fixture.

18. Enter the locking shoulder in the assembly slot guide the leading end into the locking shoulder hole in the body and push it down as far as it will go. Insert the press tool in the assembly slot with the flat on its upper surface to the front. Position the fixture under a press and exert sufficient pressure on the tool to force the locking shoulder down until the lug is fully engaged in its recess.

19. Remove the tool, release the steadying and clamping screws and-remove the body from the fixture.

Note: The body cannot be removed unless the shoulder is correctly seated in the body. If difficulty is experienced, retighten the steadying and clamping screws, replace the press tool and force the shoulder fully home.

20. Reassemble breech block to carrier and retest CHS. Interference between breech block and locking shoulder as the breech block moves forward is permitted, as long as the height of the locking shoulder above the inner bottom surface of the body does not exceed 0.011 in.

21. When an oversized locking shoulder is fitted a letter 'Y' is to be stamped on the body as shown in Fig 4007 using 5/64 in. steel stamps.


Thats all there is too it :) I hope this helps and dosen't confuse the issue.
 

Brian in MN

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12. Locking shoulders which have been driven out, or in, are liable to fracture in service, therefore it is essential that they must be pressed out, and in to prevent the possibility of fractures.


Lord knows none of us Yanks have ever done either of these things, Kevin. :uhoh:
 

NZ L1A1 Collector

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gezzzzzzzz can't you guys dremmel up a hydrolic press to push the locking shoulders in? :wink: (Maybe a hyprolic bottle jack would surfice?)

I hope that the Math section at the start of it will help sovle the problems "What is the correct Headspace/locking shoulder needed?"

This therory should work the same for 'Metrics' and it won't matter if your using civi GO NO-GO gauges just subsitute the gauge sizes in para 10-b.-(1) with the Go and NO-GO gauges you are using. Then work out the rest of the Math from there.
 

joanroco

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Just a plain old vise will work.

Stick the receiver and the locking shoulder in a vise padded with two thick pieces of wood and slowly squeeze them together. Correct alignment by gently tapping the locking shoulder.

If necessary, drill a hole into the wood at the indentation made by the locking shoulder and stick in a machine screw the same width as the piece of wood to squeeze the locking shoulder in place.

To remove, do the same thing but use a longer machine screw in the hole in the wood padding, put it on the other side of the receiver so it lines up with the locking shoulder, drill a hole in the other piece of wood large enough to accept the locking shoulder, and slowly squeeze it all together. When you're done, the locking shoulder will be pushed out by the machine screw into the hole drilled into the wood padding.

This has worked very well for me,
I use this technique instead of a hammer for AR roll pins
and when I'm having trouble with pins that hold springs and other components that usually require a slave pin.
 

rwwje

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From the British manual as cited above, the Brit L1A1's go, no go, and field reject gauge dimensions are 1.6325", 1.638", and 1.643", respectively.
 

Jen

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I highly recommend a 2ton vs the 1ton arbor press..

I pressed the shoulders out of the receiver stubs left post tornado, and well.. the 1ton arbor press just wasn't up to the job. 2 ton works great. :D
 

cabinetman

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What?? No Hammer?

Did you know that Ferrari mechanics aren't allowed to have hammers in their tool boxes? I wonder it that was true at FN?

Thanks for the great post. Not confusing but certainly mind boggling!


Rome
 

tpad365

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Kevin,
Any chance of you posting the size charts mentioned in your original posting?I for one would like to see this for my referance.
also would like to see the diagram for the press fixtures.I have a creative machinist friend who might be willing to give it a shot,but I need diagrams.
 
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Blag

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I notice the instructions call for a mid-range headspace, between the acceptable limits.

"(3) Approximately half the difference between
the accepted limits of 1.6325 in. and reject
limit of 1.638 in. = 0.003 in (approx)"
 

shootist87122

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Blag - thanks,

I'm trying to find out if they used round "pin gauges" like we do or some other method/tool for the initial LS selection on a new rifle, and what the procedures were. Nothing specific is mentioned in the Stevens book and nothing shows up on any searches.
 

Blag

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shootist87122 said:
I'm trying to find out if they used round "pin gauges" like we do or some other method/tool for the initial LS selection on a new rifle, and what the procedures were.
I doubt the factories used pin gauges, since that would be too time consuming and labor intensive in a mass production setting. I strongly suspect they used some sort of fixture and a special gauge. But I don't actually know.

One of these days we've got to get our own secret agent inside IMBEL, to get us this "classified information." Find a James Bond type, give him a license to FAL, and send him down there.

:shades: :fal:
 

G_FAL

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shootist87122 said:
Blag - thanks,

I'm trying to find out if they used round "pin gauges" like we do or some other method/tool for the initial LS selection on a new rifle, and what the procedures were. Nothing specific is mentioned in the Stevens book and nothing shows up on any searches.
The Australians used 2 graduated rods to set the headspacing.
I don't know if the British used the same tools , but they might have been similar. I will try to describe them as best as I can.
The 2 rods are identical with one rod being numbered 1 through 8, and the other rod numbered 8 through 15.
This corresponds to the Ausssie numbering system for their locking shoulders.
The rod had a round knurled handle appearing to be about 1" diameter by 4" to 5" long.
The top of the rod is flat and numbered for the corresponding locking shoulder with lines separating the individual numbers, the spacing for each is appears to be about 1" to 1-1/2" wide.
The front of the rod is ground flat to the angle of the locking shoulder with the thickness at each number matching the correspondingly numbered locking shoulder.

Note, all sizes I have stated above are guestimates based on looking at a picture of the tool in the Australian 7.62mm Rifles Technical Brochure.
This brochure can be obtained from Cinders (?) on eBay , or a reprint is offered by TAPCO. Truly an excelent reference manual.
 

shootist87122

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G_FAL said:


The Australians used 2 graduated rods to set the headspacing.
I don't know if the British used the same tools , but they might have been similar. I will try to describe them as best as I can.
The 2 rods are identical with one rod being numbered 1 through 8, and the other rod numbered 8 through 15.
This corresponds to the Ausssie numbering system for their locking shoulders.
The rod had a round knurled handle appearing to be about 1" diameter by 4" to 5" long.
The top of the rod is flat and numbered for the corresponding locking shoulder with lines separating the individual numbers, the spacing for each is appears to be about 1" to 1-1/2" wide.
The front of the rod is ground flat to the angle of the locking shoulder with the thickness at each number matching the correspondingly numbered locking shoulder.

Note, all sizes I have stated above are guestimates based on looking at a picture of the tool in the Australian 7.62mm Rifles Technical Brochure.
This brochure can be obtained from Cinders (?) on eBay , or a reprint is offered by TAPCO. Truly an excelent reference manual.
G_FAL,
:bow:Thanks - exactly what I was looking for.:bow:
 

mauser_chet

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Yikes, I just put in a shoulder with a ball peen hammer before readin this

Yikes, I just put in a shoulder with a ball peen hammer the other day before reading this. Shouild it be discarded and replaced with the vice method? How common are fractures? Is it likely that tapping with a hammer is causing more stress on shoulder than the nato round that is going to absolutely slam that shoulder each time I send one down the barrel? If so how can that be? I was giving it a slight tap with a pretty small hammer. That nato hammer is like about a 10 pound sledge weilded by a gorrilla isn't it? I am a little confused by this fracture thing.

Thanks,

Chet
 

NZ L1A1 Collector

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Here's what the Locking Shoulder Selection Gauges look like that G_FAL describes. They are the pair of aluminium handled rods on the right hand side under the trigger tester.

The worry about the hammering of locking shoulders in/out is the concern that someone may use a second hand locking shoulder in a rifle, thus it gets a 3rd hammering which is defiantly not a good thing to have happen.

The details given here are for ANY L1A1 rifle regardless of if it's a new or absolutely flogged rifle they all have to confirm to the specifications stated in the first post.
 

G_FAL

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1. ?
2. ?
3.Trigger pull gauge
4. ?
5.Locking shoulder gauge for locking shoulder sizes 1 thru 8
6.Locking shoulder gauge for locking shoulder sizes 8 thru 15
7.Broken shell extractor ?
8.Headspace gauges - go,no-go,field
9.Extractor removal/installation tool
10.Flash hider removal/installation tool
11.Throat erosion /muzzle wear gauge
12.Combo tool , British Mk I
13.Combo tool , New Zealand
14.Gas block cleaner/scraper
15.Wood block used to support receiver when removing/installing locking shoulders.
16.Locking shoulder alignment tool - for installing locking shoulders
17.Punch for locking shoulder removal
18.Drift for locking shoulder removal
19.Firing pin gauge min/max
20.Locking shoulder installation punch
21.Buttstock recoil spring removal / installation tool
 

NZ L1A1 Collector

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Gezz G_FAL your too quick for me :) You got most of them right though :D

1. Vice Fixture. this block of steel has been milled into the shape and dimensions of a magazine and the lower section of plate steel is designed to be held in the jaws of a vice. This was made to allow the base workshop armourer to work of 100's of rifles without having to clamp the rifle directly into a vice. You just simple put the rifle on as you would a mag and then carry out your headspacing, remove and replace with the next rifle. This was a unique NZ Armourer's made item.

2. Tool, Replacing Ferrule, Carrying Handle this tool is used for putting the metal ferrule on the end of the L1A1 wood carry handles and ensuring the little locking sections do lock into the groove of the wire stem of the handle

3. Trigger Tester 'B' used for testing the trigger pull on rifles. Also used to test the pressure of the firing pin spring using a special jig.

4. Foresight Gauge this simple gauge was locally made by a base workshop armourer to make his job easy when servicing 100's of L1A1's it is set for 0.465 inches which is the correct 'factory setting' for the height of the foresight above the top of the gas block.

5 & 6. set of Locking Shoulder Selection Gauges these are used to determine the correct locking shoulder to use. By sliding the gauge into the locking shoulder hole and then by testing the headspacing the rifle if the REJECT fits then you just have to slide it along to the next graduation marked on the rod. These rods are tapered and have markings on them, one has 1 - 8 and the second 8 - 15. Later on there was a third rod added to the set and that gauged the diameter of the locking shoulder hole to allow you to easily determine if you needed to use the standard, /1, /2, /3 or /4 diameter shaft size. Yes there are /4 diameter shafts........ I have one of them :)

7. 7.62 mm Case Extractor

8a. GAUGE, Armourers, Headspace, 1.6325 in. "ACCEPT" (GO)

8b. GAUGE, Armourers, Headspace, 1.638 in. "REJECT" (NO GO)

8c. GAUGE, Armourers, Headspace, 1.6400 in. "CONDEMN"

9. Extractor Removal Tool

10. Flash Eliminator Removal Spanner Locally made by a NZ Army armourer.

11. 0.297 inch Bore Gauge used to check the straightness and diameter of the bore.

12. UK & AUST Mk. 1 Combination Tool

13. NZ Pattern Combination Tool

14. UK & AUST Gas Block Cleaning Tool used to clean the carbon fouling out of the gas block where the gas plug is inserted.

The following tools 15, 16, 17, 18, 20 were made from the dimensions listed in the Australian Technical Brochure and Technical Brochure Supplement for the removal and installation of the locking shoulders
15. Assembly / Disassembly Wooden Block

16. Assembly Alignment Key

17. Removal Punch

18. Removal Drift

19a. Firing Pin Protrusion Gauge L15A1 UK

19b. Firing Pin Protrusion Gauge No. 11 Mk.1 Australian

20. Assembly Punch

21. Return Springs Removal Tool for removing the springs from the butt and also allowing the removal of the butt.
 
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kotengu

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Locking shoulders which have been driven out, or in, are liable to fracture in service
OK - I'm never one to argue with the armorer's specs, but I just can't understand how hammering in a locking shoulder would make it "liable to fracture". The only thing I can come up with is hitting it hard enough to cause minute stress fractures in a hardened piece of steel, which extend under service - but it seems like that's a pretty long shot.

These things are soft enough that we can file them, after all (not that any of us have ever done that;) ).

I would expect that hammering them in would do more damage to the holes in the receiver ("wallowing" them out), but I guess that's what I get for expecting.....

Can anybody throw me a light down in this dark hole????
 

shootist87122

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On driving in locking shoulders, my SOP is to try to do so with the nylon end of my gunsmith hammer. If it goes in (some do, some don't) that's wonderful, if not I press it in with the vise. I use never-sieze regardless.
 
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