OK, well for anyone who is wondering what this recent crop of $350 Ishapore MkIII and III* SMLE's from P&S, Epps, etc. look like, I finally got mine all cleaned up and can show it.
First of all, these are NOT unissued rifles. In some cases these guns were used, refurbed, used up, refurbed again, etc.
The stock was GRIMY. Jean, at P&S, jokingly said he thought they were stored in a hut heated by oil-soaked fire wood for many years. Getting the grime off the gun was a MAJOR chore.
Some (most) of these guns were modified with Ishy screws, some were not. They're Ishapores though, so it's not entirely out of place IMHO. Also, most of this batch of rifles will have one or both of the handguards modified with cut-off "ears" as it was a pretty standard repair tactic if they got damaged in service. Luckily mine were not so modified.
Mine came with all matching numbers. The magazine has an old number lined out and the matching number added in a newer looking font that the rest of the rifle. The bolt is matching but numbered in a different font, so was likely replaced at some point in its service life.
On my example, the butt is Luan Mahogany, probably replaced at some point, while all the front wood is 1930's or early 1940's era circasian walnut.
The metal had a few spots of light surface rust (came off with light steel wooling) and all of it was coated in chipping and cheap black hardware store "preservative paint". This paint is NOT Suncorite, it comes off with either steel wool and/or mild solvents.
Problems with the rifle, as received, aside from the dirt, grime and crappy paint, included:
- The barrel band was really rough and had almost zero finish. The rest of the rifle's metal retained pretty good original rust blueing and I suspect this beat up band was swapped on at a rebuild at some point. I had a nice spare Ishapore marked band that matched the rest of the rifle's finish so I switched it out.
- One of the buttstock repairs was loose. I re-glued it and it's now perfectly solid.
- The recoil draws on mine were mushed so the forestock did not fit tight. I am told by Jean this is NOT typical of this batch of rifles. I didn't want to replace the matching forestock and otherwise liked the rifle, so I repaired it by chiselling out the damaged wood, glueing in hardwood blocks, and recutting the draws, exactly the same way the arsenal repaired this problem back in the day. It's a nice tight fit now.
- The rear sight ladder (matching) has seen a lot of wear to the point that some of the fine distance graduations are almost worn off. It doesn't affect the use of the sight though and lends the rifle a "been there, done that" bit of charcater. This is a 1934 gun and clearly saw lots of service - part of its charm. It could well have been at Imphal and probably was. The bore, however, is near perfect and I don't think it's been replaced, just well cared for.
I have to fess up to some small changes. When I got the gun, the cutoff was removed. I re-installed a properly marked RFI cutoff and I feel no guilt for doing so. I also added a piling swivel, also a real RFI one, just because. Finally, probably about the time the forestock got a new screw added, the Indians had swapped out the sight protector for a late-pattern slab-sided one. It left the factory with a dog-legged unmilled protector, and I happened to have an RFI made one in the parts bin, so I changed that out too (ducking for cover... LOL)
For those keeping count, I now have 8 coats of raw linseed oil on the gun as a deep-enetrating "starter finish", and 17 coats of hand-rubbed aged BLO. It's starting to look pretty sharp IMHO.
And for you picky people, in 1934, India existed under the union jack. That's why I did not use an Indian flag
The bayonet pictured is also new to me this month. An original inter-war RFI Pattern 1907 in un-altered condition. Actually a pretty rare bayonet.
Now for the really important info:
I did NOT clean the wood in the dishwasher. No sandpaper was used, only very fine steel wool, taking care to avoid all cartouches. The pictures all show actual blueing - the paint has all been removed in the photos. The finish under the paint on my rifle was the original rust blue. I don't know if this is typical of the other guns available or not.
Here's a "before pic" (I hope Jean will not mind I stole it - he took the photo and it was in his sales ad):
First of all, these are NOT unissued rifles. In some cases these guns were used, refurbed, used up, refurbed again, etc.
The stock was GRIMY. Jean, at P&S, jokingly said he thought they were stored in a hut heated by oil-soaked fire wood for many years. Getting the grime off the gun was a MAJOR chore.
Some (most) of these guns were modified with Ishy screws, some were not. They're Ishapores though, so it's not entirely out of place IMHO. Also, most of this batch of rifles will have one or both of the handguards modified with cut-off "ears" as it was a pretty standard repair tactic if they got damaged in service. Luckily mine were not so modified.
Mine came with all matching numbers. The magazine has an old number lined out and the matching number added in a newer looking font that the rest of the rifle. The bolt is matching but numbered in a different font, so was likely replaced at some point in its service life.
On my example, the butt is Luan Mahogany, probably replaced at some point, while all the front wood is 1930's or early 1940's era circasian walnut.
The metal had a few spots of light surface rust (came off with light steel wooling) and all of it was coated in chipping and cheap black hardware store "preservative paint". This paint is NOT Suncorite, it comes off with either steel wool and/or mild solvents.
Problems with the rifle, as received, aside from the dirt, grime and crappy paint, included:
- The barrel band was really rough and had almost zero finish. The rest of the rifle's metal retained pretty good original rust blueing and I suspect this beat up band was swapped on at a rebuild at some point. I had a nice spare Ishapore marked band that matched the rest of the rifle's finish so I switched it out.
- One of the buttstock repairs was loose. I re-glued it and it's now perfectly solid.
- The recoil draws on mine were mushed so the forestock did not fit tight. I am told by Jean this is NOT typical of this batch of rifles. I didn't want to replace the matching forestock and otherwise liked the rifle, so I repaired it by chiselling out the damaged wood, glueing in hardwood blocks, and recutting the draws, exactly the same way the arsenal repaired this problem back in the day. It's a nice tight fit now.
- The rear sight ladder (matching) has seen a lot of wear to the point that some of the fine distance graduations are almost worn off. It doesn't affect the use of the sight though and lends the rifle a "been there, done that" bit of charcater. This is a 1934 gun and clearly saw lots of service - part of its charm. It could well have been at Imphal and probably was. The bore, however, is near perfect and I don't think it's been replaced, just well cared for.
I have to fess up to some small changes. When I got the gun, the cutoff was removed. I re-installed a properly marked RFI cutoff and I feel no guilt for doing so. I also added a piling swivel, also a real RFI one, just because. Finally, probably about the time the forestock got a new screw added, the Indians had swapped out the sight protector for a late-pattern slab-sided one. It left the factory with a dog-legged unmilled protector, and I happened to have an RFI made one in the parts bin, so I changed that out too (ducking for cover... LOL)
For those keeping count, I now have 8 coats of raw linseed oil on the gun as a deep-enetrating "starter finish", and 17 coats of hand-rubbed aged BLO. It's starting to look pretty sharp IMHO.
And for you picky people, in 1934, India existed under the union jack. That's why I did not use an Indian flag
The bayonet pictured is also new to me this month. An original inter-war RFI Pattern 1907 in un-altered condition. Actually a pretty rare bayonet.
Now for the really important info:
I did NOT clean the wood in the dishwasher. No sandpaper was used, only very fine steel wool, taking care to avoid all cartouches. The pictures all show actual blueing - the paint has all been removed in the photos. The finish under the paint on my rifle was the original rust blue. I don't know if this is typical of the other guns available or not.
Here's a "before pic" (I hope Jean will not mind I stole it - he took the photo and it was in his sales ad):
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