Yesterday I found myself about 55 miles from home, in a town outside of Athens, GA, and in the vicinity of a very good shop, Clyde Armory, one that I don't get to nearly enough. I figured I'd stop by and see what ammo they had and maybe see what milsurp rifles were in stock. My eye immediately caught two obvious Enfields leaning in the corner. I have developed a real weakness for Enfields, but so far know relatively little about them (other than a Savage on layaway), so I had to look at them.
At first I was horrified by the black paint slathered on the metal as if a pre-schooler had done something naughty. I was tempted to put the rifles down and walk away, but there was something about them that kept me looking. The clerk came over, a young man who was originally from England, who wasn't sure of the story on them, but fondly recalled carrying an Enfield during his days in the British equivalent of the ROTC. When I saw the "Ishapore" and ".308" on the tag I said that I thought they might be Indian. The price ($199) was one that I could just swing (still recovering from my Mauser 98K expenditures) so I put the gun down and went out to my car. Having a Dash phone with Internet access I got to work.
Within ten to fifteen minutes I had the answers and the history of the rifle, one produced in 1965. My main concern was to confirm that it was originally chambered as a .308, or in this case, 7.62 NATO. A re-chambered gun was out of the question and I seemed to recall that there was an issue with re-chambered Enfields. I also wanted to confirm that the ghastly paint could come off of the gun and what would be underneath. There seems to be debate as to whether the gloppy paint was original to the gun, so I would feel fine in removing it. I also confirmed that the thin stripe of blonde wood on the side of the stock by the receiver was an arsenal repair. There were two others well blended, as this one will soon be.
I went back inside and paid for the gun chosing the one with the best bore and best stock. On the way home I picked up the can of Easy-Off that I had learned (on the phone in a thread here) would easily remove the paint. Last night I removed the paint from the nose piece and magazine, shown below sans paint. With the paint gone (Easy-Off is great) the mag showed a nice parkerized finish that will require no further action. The nose piece had nice blued steel underneath with just the lightest wear at the edges which I touched up with 3M Gun Blue Creme. I have rarely seen steel take to bluing like this did. It now looks like the piece just rolled off the factory floor. Tonight I will strip the gun and begin working on removing the paint off of the rest of the steel. The stock will stay pretty much as is with a minor cleaning and a blending of the arsenal repair. This video will help immensely in disassembly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjYG7WHaXWk
The one thing about the acquisition of this gun that really stood out to me was being able to access that kind of information within ten or fifteen minutes from the parking lot of the gun shop. It's really kind of incredible to me as I well recall similar instances way back when when I had to roll the dice, or not, without that kind of information at hand.
It's really cool to be living in the future.
I hope that you won't mind me sharing some photos of the Ishapore as it transforms. Here's the nose piece and mag finished and ready to go. I'll do some before pics of the rest of the rifle.
At first I was horrified by the black paint slathered on the metal as if a pre-schooler had done something naughty. I was tempted to put the rifles down and walk away, but there was something about them that kept me looking. The clerk came over, a young man who was originally from England, who wasn't sure of the story on them, but fondly recalled carrying an Enfield during his days in the British equivalent of the ROTC. When I saw the "Ishapore" and ".308" on the tag I said that I thought they might be Indian. The price ($199) was one that I could just swing (still recovering from my Mauser 98K expenditures) so I put the gun down and went out to my car. Having a Dash phone with Internet access I got to work.
Within ten to fifteen minutes I had the answers and the history of the rifle, one produced in 1965. My main concern was to confirm that it was originally chambered as a .308, or in this case, 7.62 NATO. A re-chambered gun was out of the question and I seemed to recall that there was an issue with re-chambered Enfields. I also wanted to confirm that the ghastly paint could come off of the gun and what would be underneath. There seems to be debate as to whether the gloppy paint was original to the gun, so I would feel fine in removing it. I also confirmed that the thin stripe of blonde wood on the side of the stock by the receiver was an arsenal repair. There were two others well blended, as this one will soon be.
I went back inside and paid for the gun chosing the one with the best bore and best stock. On the way home I picked up the can of Easy-Off that I had learned (on the phone in a thread here) would easily remove the paint. Last night I removed the paint from the nose piece and magazine, shown below sans paint. With the paint gone (Easy-Off is great) the mag showed a nice parkerized finish that will require no further action. The nose piece had nice blued steel underneath with just the lightest wear at the edges which I touched up with 3M Gun Blue Creme. I have rarely seen steel take to bluing like this did. It now looks like the piece just rolled off the factory floor. Tonight I will strip the gun and begin working on removing the paint off of the rest of the steel. The stock will stay pretty much as is with a minor cleaning and a blending of the arsenal repair. This video will help immensely in disassembly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjYG7WHaXWk
The one thing about the acquisition of this gun that really stood out to me was being able to access that kind of information within ten or fifteen minutes from the parking lot of the gun shop. It's really kind of incredible to me as I well recall similar instances way back when when I had to roll the dice, or not, without that kind of information at hand.
It's really cool to be living in the future.
I hope that you won't mind me sharing some photos of the Ishapore as it transforms. Here's the nose piece and mag finished and ready to go. I'll do some before pics of the rest of the rifle.
