Refinishing Enfield No4 Mk1 - suggestions?

[Prometheus1987]

Hello, I'm getting a No4 Mk1 Enfield. It has no rust, I think 4 groves in the barrel, and the adjustable folding leaf sight. It has few if any importation stamps on the stock, & a decent bore!

I want to clean it up. My goals are to refinish the stock like new (period accurate), I want to add a fiber optic front sight, and buy a magazine for it (Currently has no mag).

The stock is dark, I guess that means it's been oiled heavily. How would you strip the oil out of it? (I read in a magazine that soaking the stock in mineral spirits would work)

And what else would you do to give it a just manufactured look? (And I know what that will do to the value)

 

[DougW]

Big question.

I use the oven cleaner method on heavily oiled dark stocks. Soak with the oven cleaner, let sit, scrub with water and a Scotch Brite pad. Do this outside, as it is messy. And, disassemble the rifle to do this.

A fiber optic front sight is about impossible without cutting the barrel or removing the origional.

You can get a magazine from Springfield Sporters that is military origional.

As far as refinishing, blued, parkerized, or oil blackened (can be done with Brownell's AlumaHyde II) would give you the closest thing to origional.

Here are my Savage built #4mk1*'s.



Look for numbers and letters on the left side stock socket and post them and I can possibly ID the rifle and date of manufacture.

 

[Prometheus1987]

Is there a detailed site I could visit to show me how to take this thing apart?

 

[DougW]

Go to gunboards.com, then page down to the Lee Enfield section and use the search feature. SurplusRifles.com has info too I think.

 

[R.W.Dale]

FYI Duplicolor satin black wheel paint is perfect replacment for the original Suncorite and it's just as indestructible

 

[rondog]

www.surplusrifle.com Look up the Enfield section. http://www.surplusrifle.com/no4/index.asp See the area marked "Maintenance" on the right side? Excellent detailed disassembly/reassembly instructions. Great info here of all kinds.

www.milsurps.com Look up the Enfield section. A collectors forum, with very knowledgable Enfield folks, including former British armorers. A great forum for milsurps of all kinds.

 

[Dionysusigma]

Ditto on what krochus said. Also, the properties of Duracoat, if the correct color is selected, can copy the look just as well and might even hold up better.

I'd also heavily advise against the fiber optic front sight. A dab of fluorescent paint might work almost as well, and you won't be uglifying the rifle or requiring serious, irreversible work to be done.

 

[madcratebuilder]

I would avoid using oven cleaner on the furniture. If it's really filthy try some Citristrip, otherwise a 50/50 mix of blo and turpentine used as a cleaner with 0000 steel wool well clean it just fine, no sandpaper.

Collectors well consider painting the rifle a Bubba treatment, leave it the original finish if you wish to retain any collector value.

The correct finish on the furniture is Linseed oil, buy a original mag, the aftermarket mags are junk.


These are all finished in blo.

 

[R.W.Dale]

To a collector a refinished stock is just a big value killer as if you painted the thing purple.

Rule NO1 for retaining value of anything old. Clean it as only necessary to prevent deterioration and never ever refinish ANYTHING. I'm sorry mudcrate but the rifles you show are in essence bubbas too.

But they are indeed really really nice ones

 

[DougW]

I agree with madcratebuilder (because his Enfields are nicer than mine) and krochus. No sandpaper, only 000 and 0000 steel wool. All my rifles are finished in 100% hand rubbed BLO. I let dry and buff with a soft cloth, and retreat until no more is absorbed.

I have painted 2 with AlumaHyde II, because both had such rust surface damage and are not "exactly" restored (one of my Savages has a MkII forearm for now, and one #5mk1 has modified #4 furniture). Everything else is "as is", battle damage and field modified.

 

[madcratebuilder]

To a collector a refinished stock is just a big value killer as if you painted the thing purple.

Rule NO1 for retaining value of anything old. Clean it as only necessary to prevent deterioration and never ever refinish ANYTHING. I'm sorry mudcrate but the rifles you show are in essence bubbas too.

But they are indeed really really nice ones

Your showing your lack of Enfield experience. There are rifles their that are untouched from the wrap, they don't get more original. Apparently you wouldn't know an original Enfield if it bit you on the posterior.

 

[R.W.Dale]

No I'm showing my inability to glean the meaning from your contextless previous post. You mention refinishing and show some rifles you state are finished with BLO right after a paragraph about how to prep for a refinish Any reader is going to make the assumption YOU finished them with BLO since this thread is about REFINISHING afterall.

You didn't say "these rifles have thier original finish" no you said "these were finished with blo"

 

[jpwilly]

Park and BLO for me! Everything was very good mechanically but years of poor storage and it looked, ugly. Refinishing it was a great way to show it off. Savage No 4 Mk 1* with matching numbers even the mag and stock: