iamkris
Member
I asked many of you for advise on the refinish of a beat-to-$%@* Enfield I got from Centerfire Systems. http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=118061
The good news was that the old war horse was mechanically sound -- bore looks like it was never fired. The bad news was, like others, she was caked head to toe in not only old dirt-laced cosmo (expected) but every nook and cranny is full of grease, dirt and awful black paint. Picture old paint, dried out, full of dirt, hair and grease. Globbed in to the recesses but non-exsistent on the flats. A mess.
After breaking her down into every screw and pin, I scubbed every part with mineral spirits and a brass brush (a 2 day process). The metal was completely clean with 5-10% finish left. I then degreased and coated the metal with AlumaHyde II epoxy finish, black, semi-gloss because it seemed to be the closest to the original Suncorite. Set aside all the parts to cure for a week.
I then stripped the stock, baked out all the oil, repaired a wood plug used to make a stock repair but not finished, then sanded and coated with 3 coats of BLO. Reassembled the rifle and it is far better looking than what it started out as...all for less than $20 materials and a couple of full days of labor. Definitely learned a lot about the mechanism in this process.
Took her out last weekend to the range. Only have old 60's vintage POF ammo (complete with the "charming" hang fires every other round). Even with that, she printed 2-1/2" goups at 100 yards in non-ideal conditions (25 deg F and gusting winds, misting).
Glad I did it. Turned a non-collectable beater into something closer to original condition (even there will be those who say I didn't do it true to a restoration).
The good news was that the old war horse was mechanically sound -- bore looks like it was never fired. The bad news was, like others, she was caked head to toe in not only old dirt-laced cosmo (expected) but every nook and cranny is full of grease, dirt and awful black paint. Picture old paint, dried out, full of dirt, hair and grease. Globbed in to the recesses but non-exsistent on the flats. A mess.
After breaking her down into every screw and pin, I scubbed every part with mineral spirits and a brass brush (a 2 day process). The metal was completely clean with 5-10% finish left. I then degreased and coated the metal with AlumaHyde II epoxy finish, black, semi-gloss because it seemed to be the closest to the original Suncorite. Set aside all the parts to cure for a week.
I then stripped the stock, baked out all the oil, repaired a wood plug used to make a stock repair but not finished, then sanded and coated with 3 coats of BLO. Reassembled the rifle and it is far better looking than what it started out as...all for less than $20 materials and a couple of full days of labor. Definitely learned a lot about the mechanism in this process.
Took her out last weekend to the range. Only have old 60's vintage POF ammo (complete with the "charming" hang fires every other round). Even with that, she printed 2-1/2" goups at 100 yards in non-ideal conditions (25 deg F and gusting winds, misting).
Glad I did it. Turned a non-collectable beater into something closer to original condition (even there will be those who say I didn't do it true to a restoration).
Attachments
Last edited:
