Woefull Snider tale

[Brithunter]

Hi All,
 
Thanks to much help and trust from PukkaBoondock, I have managed to put the Snider sporter I have had sititng in the corner for a few years into a state much nearer being complete However Murphy's law strikes again.
 
The thread for the Breech block pivot rod is larger than standard and the hammer square in the sear is smaller than a military one and I am going to have to put a washer under the firing pin nipple as with it fully screwed in the pin stops the block from opening apart from that all is well :lol so I thought.
 
So now it's back to the drawing board and put the thinking cap back on:\ I have a poor quality re-pro casting of an Enfield hammer complete with deep dished nose which will have to filled off, this has only a drilled hole for a screw and now square, so I can file out a square and get it to fit. However it's a poor casting as I said and I am wondering how it will stand up in use let alone how I am going to make it presentable?:eek
 
I also I noticed that the chamber is badly scored and gouged so the barrel really needs to come off and be rectified possibly by reaming or boring. Well I have just scrubbed the bore again and I took out the breech plug and also examined the lock work. Hmm well I am more than ever convinced that this is either:-
 
1) A Belgian cheap trade gun, crude and made as cheaply as possible, the only readable mark is RB with a 3 under it in a circle. I seem to have seen this somewhere before?
 
2) It's a Kyberpass special Knock off, the condition of the bore makes me think this is more likely as the machining marks are quite evident in the bore, the threads are really crude with the lock work hand filed to say the least.
 
So the question now is it worth putting any more time and money into?
 
The lock functions, and the Breech Block may be genuine as may be the iron Shoe it mates with which I just noticed is slightly bent with a downward curve to the rear portion. What a shame as over all the appearence it quite pleasing. I do not think the barrel is worth bothering with as the internal condition is so poor and I do not think the rifling grooves are straight, one seems to have a definate dogleg in it.
 
Thought please and opinions would be welcome.
 

This is the markings, the one to the right is the RB3 one.
 

 

 

Overall it looks rather pleasing Pity.

[Jay Edward (deceased)]

For those of you unfamiliar with the action of this rifle, I'm putting up an image.

I'm still doing a search myself on that RB3 Brithunter...no luck so far.  One memory I do have is from many years ago.  I remember reading a story about Pakistan (I think) gunmakers, hand making (and marking) replicas of firearms.  And when I say 'hand making' I really mean hand making!  They were doing things with inovative methods and files that I thought was just too much work.  I recall that they also were falsifying 'proof marks' and that the author of the story said that they weren't always correct.

[Brithunter]

Hi Jay,

       Yes I have heard about the Kyber pass specials:confused:  and how they are made, the srticle I read, well the author saw then take the stell ring from a truck steering wheel cut it straighten it and drill & bore it fro the barrel of a Le Enfield Mk111 which they then stamped with the VR crown isnstead of the GR crown  The other marks are so (purposley?) poorly struck to be unreadable.
 
      I am leaning towards this being a parts gun= parts of this one & parts of that one:eek:
 
 
   Whilst on the phone to a friend I had the thought of actually getting a new barrel and fitting it, this way I could have normal .577" grooves, so a muzzle loading barrel would be just the ticket, any suggestions on makers/suppliers of reasonable quality and price on them in 1 in 48" twist? if not that twist then a 1 in 78" twist would also suffice, both of these are the rates of twist used in the Sniders.