Need help on Spring in Mark III Rear Sight

RWL · May 13, 2018

I bought a replacement spring and screw from Springfield Sporters for the rear sight of my No.1 Mark III but it's not a drop in fit so I need to ask questions. It would seem that the convex part of the spring should point upward so that its tip bears on the front most end of the sight, just beyond the pivot pin - but it doesn't fit the slot at all that way. It fits a little better upside down because of a bevel at the rear of the spring as you can see in the photos below. The convex side of the spring should point up, right? Is the rear of the spring supposed to be wider and beveled or is this the wrong spring? I could make it fit with some filing or grinding to make it the same width but don't want to alter something I should be sending back. A similar question for the screw for the spring. It has no slot in the screw head. Was it screwed in place with some sort of collet like tool or is this a manufacturing defect? I didn't get a nut for the rear nosecap screw with the hardware parts kit, so this makes me wonder if quality control at Springfield Sporters is a little lax.

plonker · May 13, 2018

It should be convex side DOWN, cut on the left as viewed from the breech end. The screw should have a normal cross slot.

RWL · May 13, 2018

Thanks. I had my concave/convex reversed in my original post. Convex down, concave up. Are all of the original springs wider at the back like mine in the photo and then hand fitted?

Alan De Enfield · May 14, 2018

The No1 Mk3 was one of the last 'Victorian Engineering' hand-built rifles and the time / cost to build one resulted in the various mods to become a Mk3* and eventually led to the manufacture of the No4 Mk1.

I have found that very little on a No1 Mk3 (or 3*) is a 'drop-in fit'.

On one occasion I removed the woodwork from one No1 Mk3 and used it on another, this rifle would then refuse to 'cock' and it turned out to be that a 'slither' of the rear of the forearm was fouling - BUT - it had worked perfectly on the other rifle.

With these rifles FITTING often means FITTING, not just 'putting together a heap of parts'.

plonker · May 14, 2018

Pics of mine.

JB White · May 14, 2018

Your spring is OK but the screw.... You have two options.

Cut your own slot or send it back when you request a T-nut. The nut is typically considered as part of the forend as it rarely ever comes out when stripping down a rifle.

plonker · May 14, 2018

Odd aside in this.
Is the screw attaching the blade to the arm normally captive in the blade? I ask because I was going to flop the blade so the P_H peep is easier to use but after unscrewing from the arm it refuses to leave the blade, it just spins, even with pressure applied.

RWL · May 21, 2018

Well, I discovered the hard way that there's a slot at the bottom of the base that the bevel slides into. In order to insert the spring, you've got to knock the pin out and lift the sight out of its slot. Then you slide the bevel into the slot at the base of the sight and tap it into place until the screw hole in the spring lines up with the screw hole in the base. Insert the screw for the spring. The screw just keeps the spring from sliding back and forward in the slot. It is the slot that keeps the downward pressure of the end of the spring, not the screw. When putting the slight back together, it helped to put a clamp on the sight to keep it aligned with the hole for the pin that holds the sight in the base.

plonker · May 21, 2018

This might clarify a little.

Need help on Spring in Mark III Rear Sight

RWL

plonker

RWL

Alan De Enfield

plonker

JB White

plonker

RWL

plonker

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