Bluing 1917 Lee enfield.

Blakem91

Blakem91

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Well I just finished bluing my No1MkIII L/E. The metal was almost totally bare and rusted bad due to moisture in my dad's gun case. I figured I'd try a preserve the metal the best I could but was on a budget. I got all supplies at Canadian Tire. Total cost was $25-30. (Got gift cards for xmas)
Outers Cold Blue - $4.99
Outers Crud cutter - 13.99
00 and 0000 steel wood- around $8.00
This was super easy to do and I never blued a rifle before.

Before
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And After
after.jpg
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It's a very simple process. Clean the parts down to bare metal with medium to fine steel wool, use the Crud Cutter to remove all oils and dirt in the metal, (it dries really fast). Then using a sponge wipe the blue over the metal in overlapping strokes. It is a very wattery solution. Then let it set for 2-3 min and it will look blotchy, don't worry if it does, it's a chemical reaction that acually corrodes the metal. Then rinse it off with hot water and let dry. You then go over it with 000 or 0000 steel wool to remove the film. It won't look that great at first but repeat this process 3 or 4 times or until it looks good to you. I did mine 4 times. Make sure you wear latex gloves, These chemicals will be hard on exposed skin. Good luck to you in you project.
 
The stuff I used has hardly any smell at all. I'm quite pleased. The gun oil I used on it after has a stronger smell and I can hardly notice it.
 
If you got any measureable amount on your hands start drinking water. You'll need to flush your liver out. The stuff is BAD FOR YOU.

Hopefully you wore surgical gloves
 
Cold Blue

Riflechair said:
If you got any measureable amount on your hands start drinking water. You'll need to flush your liver out. The stuff is BAD FOR YOU.

Hopefully you wore surgical gloves
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No kidding, the stuff is pretty lethal. The G96 creme was a bit easier to use, I think. Nice job, though! Make sure to keep it really well oiled, because cold blue rusts very quickly.
 
I oiled the snot out of it already, but i'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the advice. And they were sugical gloves, they turned yellow pretty quick so I swapped them out frequently.
 
I blued pretty much every metal piece except the scews and a couple spots under the wood. I did under the sights and the whole bolt assembly as well. I'm kind of thinking about removong the bluing from the bolt and polishing it really well the give the gun some contrast, what do you guys think??
 
I think you should cause the bolt will probably wear out anyways. I know the blueing on my dads sporterized .303's bolt is polishing itself. Or try for a two tone look ;)
 
I think your right. I might just do that. I will think about it for a bit and I'll post a pic if I do change it. I think it would look really good.
 
Just tried this process on my Savage No4Mk1* sporter. WOW am I impressed!
Way beyond my expectation.

I am cleaning up the wood as well and was gonna scope it and use it for my huntin Enfield. Unfortunately it looks so good now, I'll have to restore it.

Anyone know where I can find a Full set of furniture and hardware?
 
If you plan on refurbishing it to its military config., I reccomend not drilling and tapping it for scope; the two approaches are kind of at different ends of the spectrum. I believe it's an "either / or" situation. I do have a good sporterized, scoped Enfield; I also have a few original ones.

Maybe I'm just presenting excuses to go shopping :)
 
Birchwood Casey makes a complete blueing kit if anyone else is interested that I really like using.
I blued the bolt on my Enfield and it looked really good at first, but because it's a polished metal the blueing didn't take as deep as on the rest of the rifle and has worn off quite a bit. Someone told me if you're going to do the highly polished parts to use a stronger blueing solution so it penetrates better. In the Birchwood Casey lineup there is the Perma Blue which is "regular" strength and then there's the Super Blue which is for the high polish stuff. Haven't tried it yet... I'm really falling behind in my enfield restoration project I'm afraid! lol
You guys are putting me to shame, but I'll get on it again soon.
 
I'm glad your rifle turned out good Macadoodle. When I started mine I was nervous and I almost bailed on it but as I kept going it looked better and better. It a lengthy process but it pays off quite well in the end. Do you have any before pic's and after to see the diffence it made? If you do you should post them here so we can see. What brand did you use??
 
I blued the bolt, pic of it on page 1. I was thinking about removing the bluing on the bolt and polishing it to a shiny silver finish to make it stand out
 
louthepou said:
If you plan on refurbishing it to its military config., I reccomend not drilling and tapping it for scope; the two approaches are kind of at different ends of the spectrum. I believe it's an "either / or" situation. I do have a good sporterized, scoped Enfield; I also have a few original ones.

Maybe I'm just presenting excuses to go shopping :)
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NO drilling and tapping for me, I have a mount that uses the existing holes in the receiver. I don't think it's as stable as one you drill and tap, but I would drill and tap my skull before an enfield ;)
 
Blakem91 said:
I'm glad your rifle turned out good Macadoodle. When I started mine I was nervous and I almost bailed on it but as I kept going it looked better and better. It a lengthy process but it pays off quite well in the end. Do you have any before pic's and after to see the diffence it made? If you do you should post them here so we can see. What brand did you use??
Click to expand...

I have a couple pics from before, but I wish i had taken some specific "before" pics to compare. I used the same outers that you did. I had some here from when I did a small repair a few months ago. I put 3 coats on, after the last I washed with hot water, blew it dry with compressed air, then polished with a dry, then oily rag. I swear it looks brand new. I'll post some pics of it later.
 
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