Chaplain General

Everyone knows that priests aren't supposed to go around shooting people, except in World War II when the French clergy were given a dispensation by the Pope, allowing them to join the military as combatants. Perhaps the most remarkable of these recruits was a Dominican priest, Fr. Bruckberger.

Bruckberger served in the French Commandos at the start of the war, was seriously wounded, captured, escaped and served with the Resistance, over which he was appointed Chaplain. A fierce patriot and cineast(!), he welcomed De Gualle into Notre Dame de Paris as sniper fire rang out within the Cathedral.

After the war his superiors transferred him to the Sahara, where he became Chaplain General of the French Foreign Legion. Bruckberger later went on to America and wrote a series of reflections, One Sky to Share.

Here's an excerpt, on the Land in America.

"Here, the land has not yet entered into communion with man, and man has not penetrated the mystery of the immense natural forces that shelter him. This land is terribly in need of blessing. The land is perhaps the promised bride of man, but she is not yet his. Most often she refuses to give herself or submits against her will. The land and man do not know each other in the flesh and in the spirit."

I love that.

LSP

Mods and Rockers

some kind of sad nonsense

When you hold your Lee Enfield up admiringly and wonder why the stock rattles about like a mob of ill disciplined youth, you focus sensibly on the King Screw. This is the pivotal point of the stock's bedding, holding the forestock to the action.

thanks, milsurp, for the diagram

But sometimes the Lee's wood shrinks and the King Screw no longer holds the forestock snugly in place. I had this problem. So what do you do to fix it?

You can soak the stock in Raw Linseed Oil and hope it expands.

You can re-bed the rifle.

I chose the latter option and there's several ways to go about it (see the helpful forums at milsurp). As a first step, you can file down the bushing that comes with King Screw. With a bit of luck that should bring the stock tight, but I didn't want to do that because I'll be restocking the rifle and don't want the hassle of ordering/duplicating a bushing to fit an unshrunken stock.

collar shim

So I shimmed the top of the trigger lugs by 1/32", taking the measurement as a touch over one turn of the King Screw, which was the gap between metal and wood. A piece of plastic clerical collar cut to size fit the bill and the stock tightened up to the receiver nicely. The metal now rests on the stock's bearing areas and the dangerous movement is gone.

bed time

A cheap fix, I know, but bear in mind that it's temporary. When the new stock is finished I'll center bed it to the action as per the excellent, clear and useful instructions in Riflechair's Lounge.

In the meanwhile I'll take the beast out for a shoot and see how it performs.

Shoot straight,

LSP

King Screw

Greatness

As a first step towards realizing my goal of turning an old WWII bring-back sporterized Lee Enfield into a new school of old school (thanks SBW) sporting rifle, I did the sensible thing; I took it apart. Not a difficult job.

First you unscrew the front sight protector. Then you look down the forestock and see a largish screw that attaches the trigger guard to the action. This is the King Screw, or "screw, front, trigger guard." You unscrew that and notice that a washer and a small metal cylinder, the bushing or "collar", come out with it. Don't throw these two seemingly insignificant items away in a fit of carelessness. Keep them. That done, you notice that there's a small screw attaching the rear of the trigger guard to the receiver socket. Unscrew that and gently ease the forestock off the action, starting from the receiver socket first. This last bit is important. Do not try and brute force the forestock off from the muzzle end; it will damage the bearing areas around the Draws and cause all kinds of trouble. After that you can remove the buttstock by unscrewing it from its socket.

Just take it all apart

Well done. You've taken the stock-set off your Lee.

When you put it back together again, the forestock should fit snugly into the action, held tightly in place by the King Screw, which is the pivotal point, or fulcrum, in the stock's bedding. If, through some inherent wickedness on the part of the rifle, the Screw, the stock, or the Lee enthusiast, the King Screw isn't clamping the forestock tightly to the receiver, you've got trouble. Why?

King Screw

Because the forestock will rock and rattle and when you shoot and the recoil force can act to drive the stock backwards, causing it to split and splinter into your face.

My stock rattled. The King Screw wasn't right.

So how do you fix it?

Stay tuned.

LSP

More Guns Please

New School of Old School?

It's no easy task to brave I 35 for several hours but it was worth it to see Tom and collect a sporterized No.4 Mk.1. The next step is get the barrel crowned, trimmed and refinished/blued; express sights would be neat too. Restocking is another matter again. 

WW2 Bringback

Maybe get something from Boyd's and rework it to shape? It'd be an interesting project and not too expensive.

Pistol

Rumours of an old British battle rifle being test fired in the early hours are completely without foundation. Thanks, Tom, for the hospitality and the rifle.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Buy The Cider!

My old boss, MCP, poacher turned gamekeeper turned poacher again, left the high pressure lifestyle of corporate IT and guerrilla marketing for "Big Blue" to set up as a mole catcher. I promised to support his new campaign, so I am. You will notice the words "free," "offer" and "perfect." They are emblematic.

Here's an excerpt from the Moler's website:

"Until recently the traditional mole catcher had nearly disappeared. However, due to a trend to milder winters and the withdrawal of strychnine, the mole population has exploded. Trapping them is back in vogue. Old methods -- using modern traps -- has seen the return of the mole catcher once more stalking the land."

Son of the Soil

Help this man. Please. Buy the Cider.

LSP

Episcopal Church Genius!

What?

A curious new ad for The Episcopal Church (TEC) has been making the rounds. It says that TEC is against "fundamentalism."

Make of this marketing genius what you will, but I'd say TEC was fundamentally wrong. So here's a picture of an ape, to put things in perspective.

God bless,

LSP

Circle Y - Neck Reining

Circle Y

Had to reschedule picking up the Lee and a go on .375(!) pistolry, so I consoled myself with a stroll to the Gold Nugget Pawn and Gun, where I said a prayer over the owner, Miss Jane, and sprinkled some Holy Water about. Keeps the demons at bay.

Then I bought an old Circle Y saddle. It fits JB pretty well, though she needs a cut away pad because of her high withers. 

I like riding Western after a couple of years of English and find it gives a little more control, but maybe my horsemanship has improved... Regardless, we practiced neck reining and I was pleased to see her picking it up pretty quickly. 

The method, as I understand it, is pretty simple. Cue the turn with seat and legs, touch the animal's neck with the outside rein and show the creature the movement with the inside rein. After a while the horse starts to get what you're asking for and turns with a light touch to the neck and relevant cues from leg and seat.

On a cold gray misty morning

Some people think neck reining means yanking the horse's head around with a great left or right tug of the reins. 

I'd say that was wrong, not that I'm an expert.

I read somewhere that it takes around a 1000 rides to train a good horse. JB's a little over half way there; patience, I remind myself, is key.

Stay on the horse.

LSP

Anglican Church of Canada Attacks China!

ACoC

Readers may not remember ACoC (Anglican Church of Canada), the dismally small Anglican denomination that left earth for the icy void of deep space. 

But gone isn't necessarily forgotten, as large chunks of the little church rain down from space on unsuspecting Chinese villagers in Jiangxi Province.

Astronaut

"We thought it was an earthquake but it was just a broken old bit of the Anglican Church of Canada," said one visibly relieved villager.

Fortunately the ACoC debris fell harmlessly onto farmland, causing no injuries or damage to property. Next time the world may not be so lucky.

We have been warned,

LSP

Good Horse - Evil Liturgists.

JB

After Morning Prayer I left the Command Post for a well needed ride on JB. She hadn't been out for a while  and did pretty well. 

Tack

We practiced figure eights, circles and serpentines around thorn bushes and Mesquite Trees. Just walk and trot, which was fine. I was pleased to see she stood still while I mounted; something of a breakthrough... In other news, the Manhattan Infidel has told me that priests are, in fact, allowed to "shoot people." Namely "liturgists."

Destructive

"But why?" You ask.

Menace

I'd say that was self-evident.

Off to load m'guns.

LSP

Open Carry?

After the second Mass of the day I enjoy talking with the congregation over coffee and I like the conversation which usually follows a pattern. Horses, the price of feed, fencing, theology (today it was transubstantiation and God's timeless omniscience), and guns; sometimes the odd military anecdote. Things nearly got a bit heated this morning:

LSP: Why is Texas so anti open carry?

Congregant 1: I don't know, maybe it's because of Austin and its hippies. Ask him.

LSP: Why no open carry here?

Congregant 2: This state legislature will never pass that! Too many illegals running around and we can't have 'em carrying guns.

Congregant 1: That doesn't have anything to do with it, they can't legally buy a gun anyway.

Congregant 2 (with heat): It'll never happen! It's a matter of safety!

Congregant 1: Safety! I call it tyranny!

LSP: Calm down gentlemen, please.

But it's odd, isn't it, that the Lone Star State should be so vehemently opposed to people carrying their firearms about openly. You'd think it'd be the other way around. And, if Arizonans and New Mexicans can walk about pistol on hip style, why not Texans? Similar number of immigrants, legal and otherwise. So, is our open carry ban a matter of big brother nanny state riding down duvet over our freedoms? Or some other thing?

Not that I have a dog in the fight -- priests aren't supposed to run around shooting people, you see.

God bless,

LSP

Speed Freak!

Lee Speed - note safety

The excitement builds as Monday draws close and with it the collection of a new Lee No.4 Mk.1. That in itself is a fine thing. Lees are good, unlike, say, Nancy Pelosi, or Jefferts Schori. But even better, for me, is the project of recreating the old No.4 into something like a Lee Speed.

Express

Dark wood. Serious checkering. Express sights. A new trigger. Maybe a re-barrel and, you never know, there's always the option of .375 Flanged Nitro Express. 

Greatness

SBW (top blog) also recommends a shotgun style safety; he thinks it's more "Sandhurst" and I have to say I'm inclined to agree...

Now some of you might say, "Don't be silly LSP, just go out and buy one." But that's not the point, is it.

Keep pulling the trigger and, as always, have a blessed Sunday.

LSP

Well Done, Jonathan Baker.

Pusey House

The retreat's over, more's the pity; it was led by an old friend from years ago, Jonathan Baker, the newly consecrated Bishop of Ebbsfleet. He's also chief of Pusey House, Oxford. Baker's meditations were outstanding and were themed on the Feasts of Our Lady.  

Assumption - Titian

All very uplifting and, for me at least, a welcome reminder of the role of Mary in showing us the meaning of the Christian life. Baker also quoted Hans Urs Von Balthasar, a great theologian whose writing I'm guilty of neglecting. Here's an excerpt on beauty to help make up the deficit:

"Our situation today shows that beauty demands for itself at least as much courage and decision as do truth and goodness, and she will not allow herself to be separated and banned from her two sisters without taking them along with herself in an act of mysterious vengeance. We can be sure that whoever sneers at her name as if she were the ornament of a bourgeois past--whether he admits it or not--can no longer pray and soon will no longer be able to love."

Blake - Crucifixion

I like that and, of course, the beauty of the Lee.

God bless,

LSP