Hopefully I can be of some use to other gun nutz out there with this, or perhaps be a piece of entertainment for the next few minutes as you read my short story of my first restoration of a lee enfield no 4 mk 1. It was long, it was difficult, sweat dribbled and blood was shed, but I turned my 1942, england made enfield from this:
to this:
from a blonde sporter, to a beautiful full wood brunette, courtesy of some good people at Sarco inc. (highly recommend them. Friendly staff, excellent prices, speedy shipping)
I picked up the rifle off a family member for 150$, which included a mag and 33 rounds of ammunition (which were later lovingly spent at the range). From the moment I saw her, I knew she had to be restored. She had a bayonet lug still, so the barrel was untouched, but the sight guard was gone and the stock chopped to sporter status. Only other thing that was wrong with her is that she probably hadn't seen an oiled wipe since John F Kennedy was in office, which was no problem. brushed her down, ran a few wipes down the barrel and added a few oil drips as she had a mirror finish in her bore with some fine rifling to her two grooves.
So after that I went on the prowl for parts, and after a WTB in milsurp EE and the milsurp forum, I was led to Sarco. quick phone call later, and my order was put through. Then came the waiting game and other issues. No sight guard was available at sarco, and I forgot to order a sling. So I hit up ebay and my local mil surp shops. Found a sling at my local supply sergeant and found an awesome man over in Great Britain with a sight guard. A short bidding war, and an angry message from a sore loser later, and that too was on its way.
Then came the waiting game. One day passed, then three, five, eight. Then, on the ninth day came that little package in the mail, my sight guard, the first piece, had arrived. Oh, how excited I was. I had begun the process of bringing my sporter back to its original glory. Then I realized something: there was no screw for it. "Son of a b-".
Back to ebay I went, got myself engaged in another bidding war and lost gloriously. But then it appeared. Another british chap was selling them in packs of 5. FIVE. FOR 25$. Marvelous. Credit card out, order coming in. I now have four extra screws (which are available if anyone in the edmonton area is interested)
But then, several days later, it happened.
PACKAGE ARRRIVED!
Sarco came through, and when I got my parts kit home, I had my sporter stripped faster than the working girls at a gentleman's club. I opened up the box and found my wood pieces to be brand spanking new. Or at least unissued. anyways.
And quickly did I realize that I ordered a USED stock set (that I wanted), not an unissued one (which is what I got). Not that I'm complaining, but that did make for a bit of a war with the fitting as I busted out the sandpaper and carving knife.
After some carving, swearing, and smacks with the ol' mallet, I realized I was putting some dings in the wood on the buttstock, so I decided to toss on my old brass buttplate as the one sarco gave me was a black steel one. only then did I relize the hell of putting massive screws into untapped wood without a drill. And thus, blood was shed as my screw driver slipped and took out a small piece of my fingers.
but she went on real nice in the end!
Back to the buttstock. I ended up having to break out the hacksaw and carve off a good 1/4" off the end. A little more sanding, and another round of love taps with the me mallet, and on she went. Clean up blood drops, wipe away sweat, have dinner, back to work.
With the fore-end, it was a bit easier. I carved and sanded off a bit of wood from the trigger guard recess, as well as where the receiver sits, and she went on like I knew what I was doing. Only when I tried to get the rear hand guard on did I realize I forgot to put the rear band on. "Son of a b-"
Off with the fore-end, grab the little metal ring and... the front sight is in the way.
"SON OF A-"
A few love tapes with the mallet and off she came. A little more negotiating, and the ring slid right into place. Everything else went on like a glove after that.
Had I an actual manual to follow, I could've done this earlier, but I was literally flying by the seat of my pants on this project.
Then came the barrel bands. They went on tight, very tight. I ended up having to "negotiate" their union to my rifle, but after jabbing myself with the screwdriver again, and putting some beauty mark scratches into the metal, both bands went on.
then time for the front sight. Mallet out, fingers clear, she went right back into place.
Then I popped the front sight guard back on, tightened her up, tossed on my sling and slipped in my magazine. Adjusted the trigger guard screw a bit, oiled the bolt, awed at its glory and finally...
she was done. My beautiful enfield was restored from sporter, back to her old glory. Thank you to all who supplied me with parts, and to the kind gentlemen who pointed me in the right direction to find said folks. Now, if you excuse me, I have a box of .303 and a date with the gun range.
to this:
from a blonde sporter, to a beautiful full wood brunette, courtesy of some good people at Sarco inc. (highly recommend them. Friendly staff, excellent prices, speedy shipping)
I picked up the rifle off a family member for 150$, which included a mag and 33 rounds of ammunition (which were later lovingly spent at the range). From the moment I saw her, I knew she had to be restored. She had a bayonet lug still, so the barrel was untouched, but the sight guard was gone and the stock chopped to sporter status. Only other thing that was wrong with her is that she probably hadn't seen an oiled wipe since John F Kennedy was in office, which was no problem. brushed her down, ran a few wipes down the barrel and added a few oil drips as she had a mirror finish in her bore with some fine rifling to her two grooves.
So after that I went on the prowl for parts, and after a WTB in milsurp EE and the milsurp forum, I was led to Sarco. quick phone call later, and my order was put through. Then came the waiting game and other issues. No sight guard was available at sarco, and I forgot to order a sling. So I hit up ebay and my local mil surp shops. Found a sling at my local supply sergeant and found an awesome man over in Great Britain with a sight guard. A short bidding war, and an angry message from a sore loser later, and that too was on its way.
Then came the waiting game. One day passed, then three, five, eight. Then, on the ninth day came that little package in the mail, my sight guard, the first piece, had arrived. Oh, how excited I was. I had begun the process of bringing my sporter back to its original glory. Then I realized something: there was no screw for it. "Son of a b-".
Back to ebay I went, got myself engaged in another bidding war and lost gloriously. But then it appeared. Another british chap was selling them in packs of 5. FIVE. FOR 25$. Marvelous. Credit card out, order coming in. I now have four extra screws (which are available if anyone in the edmonton area is interested)
But then, several days later, it happened.
PACKAGE ARRRIVED!
Sarco came through, and when I got my parts kit home, I had my sporter stripped faster than the working girls at a gentleman's club. I opened up the box and found my wood pieces to be brand spanking new. Or at least unissued. anyways.
And quickly did I realize that I ordered a USED stock set (that I wanted), not an unissued one (which is what I got). Not that I'm complaining, but that did make for a bit of a war with the fitting as I busted out the sandpaper and carving knife.
After some carving, swearing, and smacks with the ol' mallet, I realized I was putting some dings in the wood on the buttstock, so I decided to toss on my old brass buttplate as the one sarco gave me was a black steel one. only then did I relize the hell of putting massive screws into untapped wood without a drill. And thus, blood was shed as my screw driver slipped and took out a small piece of my fingers.
but she went on real nice in the end!
Back to the buttstock. I ended up having to break out the hacksaw and carve off a good 1/4" off the end. A little more sanding, and another round of love taps with the me mallet, and on she went. Clean up blood drops, wipe away sweat, have dinner, back to work.
With the fore-end, it was a bit easier. I carved and sanded off a bit of wood from the trigger guard recess, as well as where the receiver sits, and she went on like I knew what I was doing. Only when I tried to get the rear hand guard on did I realize I forgot to put the rear band on. "Son of a b-"
Off with the fore-end, grab the little metal ring and... the front sight is in the way.
"SON OF A-"
A few love tapes with the mallet and off she came. A little more negotiating, and the ring slid right into place. Everything else went on like a glove after that.
Had I an actual manual to follow, I could've done this earlier, but I was literally flying by the seat of my pants on this project.
Then came the barrel bands. They went on tight, very tight. I ended up having to "negotiate" their union to my rifle, but after jabbing myself with the screwdriver again, and putting some beauty mark scratches into the metal, both bands went on.
then time for the front sight. Mallet out, fingers clear, she went right back into place.
Then I popped the front sight guard back on, tightened her up, tossed on my sling and slipped in my magazine. Adjusted the trigger guard screw a bit, oiled the bolt, awed at its glory and finally...
she was done. My beautiful enfield was restored from sporter, back to her old glory. Thank you to all who supplied me with parts, and to the kind gentlemen who pointed me in the right direction to find said folks. Now, if you excuse me, I have a box of .303 and a date with the gun range.
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