Enfield Refinishing 'Pic Heavy'

[PrettyBoy]

So I'll preface this by saying this is strictly refinishing, not conservation or restoration I'm no gunsmith.

I was handed down a couple Enfields, I don't know much about Enfields suffice to say these bad boys were sporterized so in the grand scheme of thing not worth anything beyond being sentimental. They sat in the closet for 20ish years and were neglected. Greasy, rusty and dusty. I wish I had started taking pics earlier in the process so that you guys could see the shape I originally received them in but these will have to do.

I decided to refinish them partially to stop the rot and corrosion that was going on and partially to get them looking a bit more respectable. Second one isn't finished as it was painted at some point. likely when it was sporterized and there's a lot of crud still to buff off. But I'll add those pics when it's done

And the finished (mostly) product. Might still do some work here and there but overall I'm happy with it.

Was a fun little project and I had a good time doing it.

If you enjoyed perusing this then perhaps you'd enjoy taking a look at the Cooey Model 60 I did as well.
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...nd-Refinish-Pic-Heavy?p=17919593#post17919593

 

[PaveHammer]

Technically, that rifle is still restorable (using someone’s full length wood, which is hard to come by, or buying a reproduction set from Prestige, which is fantastic), but I don’t think you have done anything to damage it’s value or restorability - it looks great! Would you mind describing what you did to the metal and wood? What products you used?

It looks great!

Bradley

 

[Snider shooter]

Always nice to see a gun put back in working order. Give a thought to restoring them back to full wood.

 

[PrettyBoy]

Well I took a look at the prestige website and that may be something I would be willing to do. Nice of them to let a guy buy pieces instead of full sets (saves cash on the butstock). Guess a guy just needs hardware then.

The metal was mostly stripped by using a brillo pad or whatever theyre called, some fine steel wool and in a few trouble or hard to reach areas a dremel with a buffing wheel. Since the finish was worthless anyways I used some break clean to strip to oils and crud. The blueing was just done with a cold blue, heated up the steel to get it just warm to the touch and then wiped on the blueing and buffed it, rinse and repeat. eventually I found the blue took better if I didn't bother heating it but every youtube video out there said to heat it. It looks like crap as it dries on but when you buff it it really brightens up and begins to shine and even out as the layers go on.

The wood was simply sanded, and wood filler was used in a few places. a fine tipped sharpie was used to draw in some wood grain and then wiped off while still a bit wet so it wasn't so stark in contrast, and in some places brown sharpie was used and quickly wiped of to get more color in there. A bit of wood stain, this was a combo of Sedona red, followed by a wipe of red oak that I had not shaken up to get it a bit darker. I probably could have used the sedona if I waited for it to settle and separate again. I really wanted that red in there but I wanted it to darken the wood grain more than it was. I then gave it a couple wipes of tung oil to soak in and really seal it up and finally a few wipes of wood wax my Mah had laying around. I am hoping it will eventually give it a bit of an old patina look after some more layers and handling from my sweaty hands.

 

[Spo0nFED]

Ell done and good work on saving the Enfield's from more damage