Hello everyone. I was just wondering if anyone has some experience in restoring an old lee enfield mk.3 from world war 1? I have almost finished removing all the rust, but it soon needs to be either reblued, parkerized, or perhaps some other method of darkening the steel. The rifle is from the england plant, I believe that the rifle was originally parkerized. Any help is much appreciated, Thanks!
1918 lee enfield mk. restoration
- Thread starter Aidan.z
- Start date
Hi Aidan.z, it depends what you are starting with, and what you want to end up with, but here's my humble 2 cents from the info you provided.
If you are doing a proper restoration, i.e. what collectors would favor, you'd want to remove as little original finish as possible, to preserve whatever you can that's original. If you refinish everything, well, that's a different story alltogether. The gun will end up probably looking better, but lose its original features.
Now, I suspect your rifle is sporterized, and may be a "commercial" sporter rifle, as opposed to a gun which would have been modified by a fellow in his basement shop. In that case, refinishing in any way you prefer would then be ok given that the commercial factory would likely have refinished it to begin with anyway.
Any chance you could post a picture of that project gun? That would help many folks here better know what advice to provide.
Lou
If you are doing a proper restoration, i.e. what collectors would favor, you'd want to remove as little original finish as possible, to preserve whatever you can that's original. If you refinish everything, well, that's a different story alltogether. The gun will end up probably looking better, but lose its original features.
Now, I suspect your rifle is sporterized, and may be a "commercial" sporter rifle, as opposed to a gun which would have been modified by a fellow in his basement shop. In that case, refinishing in any way you prefer would then be ok given that the commercial factory would likely have refinished it to begin with anyway.
Any chance you could post a picture of that project gun? That would help many folks here better know what advice to provide.
Lou
When I pick a rifle for restoration I choose one that that hasn’t been been cut down or tapped and drilled. The finish must be in good condition.
You say you removed rust, how heavy was it. How much of the original finish is left.
They can be refinished. I search for sporterized rifles with excellent finish. I have probably 8 sitting here ready to be rebuilt. My first one took about two years due to not really having high interest in doing it. The pieces where slowly found. Now the bug has taken a stronger hold. I have rebuilt three in under a year. I got lucky and found a couple of parts lots. I am always hunting for Enfield parts. I have bought guns just to get a certain mag or site than sold the rifle. I have a full complete set of Longbranch metal just waiting for an action and barrel.
The hunt for parts can take a while. I find them anywhere,gun shows,gun shops and the Internet forums such as here. Correct parts to match the rifle is sometimes difficult. My first one started with mismatched parts but slowly was swapped out with correct matching parts. Time and money is what it will take. Hope you enjoy rebuilding Lee Enfields.
You say you removed rust, how heavy was it. How much of the original finish is left.
They can be refinished. I search for sporterized rifles with excellent finish. I have probably 8 sitting here ready to be rebuilt. My first one took about two years due to not really having high interest in doing it. The pieces where slowly found. Now the bug has taken a stronger hold. I have rebuilt three in under a year. I got lucky and found a couple of parts lots. I am always hunting for Enfield parts. I have bought guns just to get a certain mag or site than sold the rifle. I have a full complete set of Longbranch metal just waiting for an action and barrel.
The hunt for parts can take a while. I find them anywhere,gun shows,gun shops and the Internet forums such as here. Correct parts to match the rifle is sometimes difficult. My first one started with mismatched parts but slowly was swapped out with correct matching parts. Time and money is what it will take. Hope you enjoy rebuilding Lee Enfields.
It can be exciting. I was looking for # 1 parts and found a complete set of wood for a #4 ,post war unissued. I forgot who it was made by. I was up to a friends place and he offered me a sporter, Fazakerly with matching numbers in beautiful condition. On the drive home I thought about the stock and started thinking their Fazakerly. 1943 with FTR of 52 with post WW2 wood and had proper Fazakerly bands in my parts. Minor wear of the finnish on the bolt head and rail. Something I never seen before was the first 4 digits of the serial number was on the bolt head. Sometimes you just get lucky and everything falls in place. Minor fitting of the mid band was the only fitting needed. Took it shooting Sunday and decided 2 inch groups are good enough.
