Another **couple of** refurbished Lee Enfields (No1 Mk3*)

Quick mid-evening update;

1. Thanks again guys. Rest assured Maple Sugar, it's perspective. When I posted that pic, I thought about the same thing! The dog was sitting about a foot behind the rifle's sight line. Funny how the picture turned out, my dog's head looks twice as large as it really is.

2. My 6 year old son and I were chatting Lee Enfield before he went to bed. Both him and I agree that, as nice as the Australian wood butt is, it clashes with the grain of the other wood parts on that rifle. So I'll swap the butt for one that matches better, and keep the Australian one for later. Or maybe trade it, who knows.

Lou
 
Nice work!

To give an idea how bad this guy's got "the bug", he brings his whole family to the Milshoot, and tells his son "Milsurp Bed Time Stories".

You've got the bar raised very high Lou. :p
 
Uh oh, Lou!

I think I can read your one dog's mind by the expression on his face...:D

Bubble1.jpg
 
Maple Sugar, one typo - you read the expression on her face (she's a she - the other one's a he) :redface: Good one though... :D

Spencer, the wood used for this one was, well, used. Even after thorough cleaning, deep inside the wood there's lots of oil; so it would not "drink" the stuff as much as new wood would.

Still, I probably rubbed in about 12 to 15 coats, maybe more. These are very thin coats, and for each after a short while, I would gently buff to remove the excess, before leaving it to dry for a day.

Lou
 
Doggy faces...

Love those big wet noses! The German shorthaired pointers are among the most mischievious and comic dogs around. They love pulling tricks on us and return to watch the results.:)
Hey, Lou, if you keep on restoring No.3s at that rate, I'll have to buy one from you soon! My Enfield collection lacks one...
PP.:D
 
louthepou said:
Spencer, the wood used for this one was, well, used. Even after thorough cleaning, deep inside the wood there's lots of oil; so it would not "drink" the stuff as much as new wood would.

Still, I probably rubbed in about 12 to 15 coats, maybe more. These are very thin coats, and for each after a short while, I would gently buff to remove the excess, before leaving it to dry for a day.

Lou
Click to expand...

I did a p14 with linseed oil and it took a whole year to finish it, it kept sucking it up. It was worth it in the end. It was dry of course unlike yours.
 
With new wood Spencer, I'm not surprised, and I salute your patience!

If I remember correctly (anyone please correct me if I'm wrong), at least in some factories where the Lee Enfields were made, the stocks were being dipped for a while in tubs full of hot linseed oil. That way, they would be totally soaked and able to withstand the worst conditions. But I may be wrong, it's vague memory of some internet reading. I wonder how bad the smell in that room would have been...
 
I heard that about boiling the Lee Enfield stocks too. I can assure you the smell would not be much worse that the room I am sitting in right now. I have a suomi in the oven and it's stinking the entire house out.
 
Here's the P14 I was talking about. It's actually a bits and pieces rifle with a P17 stock. The bore was ####e so I put a new barrel on it, it's now 7mm Remington magnum, it's my serious long range rifle.

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Pressure impregnation

I'm pretty sure one could do pressure impregnation for those stocks. One of my friends did it with some artwork.
He fashioned a pressure vessel in which he placed the parts; they were covered with the preservation liquid then he submitted the thing to a strong vacuum for a few hours. Air was forced out of every pore and when nothing more came out, he re-established the air pressure.
The liquid then was forced to take up the place left vacant by the air molecules. I think he used some sort of slow catalyst in the mix.
PP.
 
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