Enfield No.4 Mk1

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Bonden

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Well I inherited an Enfield No.4 Mk1. Unfortunately it's been sporterized and it needs a good cleaning but I'm just happy to have my grandfathers gun. Can anyone tell me why the magazine drops down when pressing on the lever in front of the trigger? I would post pics but every time I try to download an attachment it fails.
 
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That should be the magazine release to remove the mag, although that rifle was designed to be charged by stripper clips when you open the bolt. The mag held 10 rounds.
 
You're releasing the magazine catch lever. Clean and lightly lube the magazine, reinsert, and leave it alone. You load through the open bolt, either using strippers of 5 rounds, or single rounds.

The safety is the thumb lever on the left side of the reciever, near the back of the bolt. Rotate flat for safe, rotate upright for ready.

The bolt should be removed for cleaning. Unload the rifle. Lift the bolt handle, pull it back to the stop. Push the bolt removal key, the small knurled block you see on the open bolt near the reciever guides, up to it's left. Making sure the rifle is unloaded, pull the trigger back and pull the bolt all the way out. Replacement is the opposite procedure.
 
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Thanks, Kilimanjaro. After playing around with it a little I figured it out. I just got this gun today. The action is incredibly stiff. Is this normal for this gun? I'm more used to Mausers to tell the truth.
 
It absolutely should not be "stiff".
Check things like the safety catch/lever to make sure its not assembled wrong or partly engaged before you damage something.
 
These were the fastest bolt-action rifles of WWII, hands down. The action should not be 'stiff'. Go down to the sewing shop and get a little can of sewing machine oil and put a few drops of it on moving parts, then disassemble and clean it up thoroughly. All you need is a little oil, no tools required for basic cleaning.

If you're not comfortable doing the work, take it to a gunsmith and pay them to disassemble, clean, inspect, lubricate, and reassemble.

There are numerous YouTube videos about these rifles, you should be able to get it running smoothly yourself.
 
I hear ya guys thanks for the advice. I bought the Hoppe's No. 9 Cleaning Kit which comes with some lubricant. Will this suffice for the bolt? I also grabbed some extra cleaning patches and some Break-Free Gun Cleaner.

In the mean time I've taken the bolt/magazine out and have been working on cleaning out the dust accumulation.
 
Between Hoppe's No. 9 and the Break Free stuff, you're good to go. Give it a good cleaning, take your time. If you have an old toothbrush, toss that in your kit.

No need to take the action out of the stock or anything like that.

You'll want to rub the stock down with some wood moisturizer as well, sounds like your No. 4 has been in the closet for decades.
 
Give it a bath and have the headspace checked. Thousands of 'em have been assembled out of parts bins without bothering to ensuring the thing is safe to shoot.
And slug the barrel. No. 4 barrels can vary in groove diameter from .311" to .315" and still be considered ok. Issue is that there is no loaded ammo or reloading bullets bigger than .312"(it's .311" or .312" only). Isn't unsafe to shoot a .311" out of a larger barrel, but accuracy will be bad.
The stiffness might be from trying to open the bolt with the safety on. However, they usually pop right open with a light flick on the bolt handle. Remember that it cocks on closing, not on opening like the Mauser.
"...You load through the open bolt, either using strippers of 5 rounds, or single rounds..." Or you just load the mag and put it in. Nobody loads an Enfield singly.
 
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