Enfield wood colour matching

AgentFoxMulder

AgentFoxMulder

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Lindsay - ON
Hey,

I got a new Lee Enfield and I absolutely love it. It shoots and functions great. And I like the look of the non sporterized ones.

I know the wood parts on the enfields do not always match. From what I can tel it could be due to the gun having been refurbished or parts swapped out sometime during the last 100 years, or It could have been a rebuild that someone used random parts from all over to do.

Id rather not sand down the stock and do a whole refinishing because I kind of like the weathered look, but is there any way I might make the top forend parts a bit darker to match the stock? Like some sort of die? Or some way to take the oils out of the wood so I can add a bit of a darker stain to it? Not a huge deal, but it has been on my mind.

Also in the bottom pic, what is up with the wood? Im sure the wood is old, so I dont mind, just curious.

Thanks for any suggestions good sir's.








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Looks like wood filler patches. Someone has had a go at the wood after the rifle left service. Rear handguard is a different species.
Colour matching the wood wasn't a concern during manufacture or refurbishing. If you want uniform colour, dye or stain will do it.
 
...leave it as is and oil the wood. Your buttstock is a different wood than the forestock, which in turn is a different wood than the upper guards so even to darken the wood to the same colour won't change the fact that the wood is miss-matched.

Linseed oil is your friend.

Yet another reminder as to why someone needs to start making these stocks out of Maple, Walnut, Ash...cou:
 
I'd leave it as it is too, however, if you must....

Use 'Circa 1850' brand antique paint stripper to clean off all the finish leaving any patina intact.
Dye all the pieces with Feibings dark brown leather dye (alcohol based).
Let the dye dry for 48 hours then apply boiled linseed oil. All the pieces will be a nice dark walnut like hue.
The dye wont take too well on the bondo repairs though
 
Another vote for "leave it as is". I like the way that the contrasting wood( different colors in the same piece) in the butt stock matches the shade of the upper wood.
The overall look is well balanced to my eye and quite unique.
 
THIS

It needs nothing more than some linseed oil and time. every time you think about it, go hand rub a few drops in. Eventually it will all match.

Butcherbill said:
Strip the old finish off if you decide to color match and refinish it, don't sand it. Honestly if it were me I'd give it a few coats of blo or rlo and leave it as is.
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