Lee Enfield - remove paint without ruining the rest of the finish

Avro125

Avro125

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I've got a Lee Enfield that I'm working on cleaning up. At some point, bubba saw fit to dip his brush in some black paint and run it around most of the exposed metal. Thankfully the action is fine, as is the stock for the most part, but the mag, barrel, and a few other parts have paint on them.

The photo of the magazine is representative of the entire gun.


The way the work was done makes me think some kid did it. Whoever it was didn't event remove the mag from the gun - the just slopped the paint around.

The 'original' finish is actually not too bad, given the 70-year age of the piece.

I'm wondering what the best way is to remove the paint without damaging the rest of the finish. The two options that come to mind are mechanical (wire brush) and chemical (stripper) or a combination of the two. I don't have enough faith in either that they'll do the work I need without causing further damage. The other two thoughts are to a) strip the entire thing down to bare metal and start over, or b) leave it alone.

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Perconally I would try a chamical remover of some sort. It should take off the paint before it affects the blueing of the metal... With any luck it's latex paint :)

Mechanical is going to affect the metal. "Wire brush" is one of those things gun nuts shudder to hear :)
 
Any idea if its a latex or acrylic base? You could use a rag well saturated in nail polish remover and just break up the paint and scrub it off.
 
Acetone should do it without hurting the bluing, do it good ventilation "outside" and wear proper gloves. --- John
 
I bought a rifle a few years ago that someone decided to camo paint.


I didn't like it so I decided to clean it all off. I tried a few products that weren't working worth a #### so I went to CT and bought this


The end results were this. The paint was removed very quickly and easily. I used a rag and a soft scrubbing pad for most of it and a soft bristle brush for the checkering and hard to get at areas. The original finishes on both the wood and metal were unharmed.




Really wish now that I didn't sell that rifle...
 
I live in the U.S. and some of the chemicals we have are not used in Canada. Having said that I have used chemicals as strong as acetone to remove paint from Ishapore Enfields that were pained with an old broom. f:P:2: Normally for cleaning the cosmoline off newly acquired milsurps I use odorless mineral spirits. Bottom line, none of these chemicals I used had any effect on the bluing.

There might be a manual at http://www.milsurps.com/ in the Enfield section about removing the primer paint from WWII Enfields before they were repainted with suncorite.

Does your Enfield have the dreaded Ishapore screw through the stock forward of the magazine ? It may have been painted that way in India, and this is what I cleaned off with acetone.
 
I believe is some instances it was military practice to paint them with suncorite paint as an added rust preventative but to remove it I would use some heirloom furniture stripper that you get at CDN tire or home depot and it shouldn't hurt the phosphate finish.
 
you could also heat it gently in a crock pot in water. it may soften the paint and you may be able to remove it with a plastic brush. i use this technique on old house hardware like hinges. it works great most of the time, but don`t make chili in the crock pot after. try that first, and if it doesn't work, try the chemicals
 
Lucite said:
I believe is some instances it was military practice to paint them with suncorite paint as an added rust preventative but to remove it I would use some heirloom furniture stripper that you get at CDN tire or home depot and it shouldn't hurt the phosphate finish.
Click to expand...

You do not have to worry about suncorite paint because it almost bullet proof and might have been an early type epoxy paint. And the green paint below the wood line on WWII Enfields was a flat enamel primer and the Ishapore was also an enamel.
I have a 1950 South African No.4 Mk2 that was center bedded and used in military competition that was just spray painted with a semigloss enamel on the receiver. When I got it I was cleaning it with some Kroil a penetrating oil that removes rust and some got on the receiver and started to take off the paint. I flushed the area with WD-40 and luckily this small area was below the wood line and does not show.
 
I think I'll give some paint remover a shot and see how it goes. I'll start with the magazine - that way if I really screw it up I can at least replace it or re-finish it.

No Ishapore screw on this one. As for the paint, my first guess would be Tremclad or a similar product.

Thanks!
 
If you could find a long tub, long enough to submerge the action and all that, you could soak it in SuperClean. This is a quite aggressive degreaser (tho water-dilutable) that I have found works very well to remove paint. But it's not brushable; you have to let the object soak in the stuff for paint to get soft enough to flake off, or get brushed/scrubbed off.

Once scrubbed you'd rinse it off (thouroughly) with a hose. You'd want to have some oil on hand as the rifle would be very prone to flash rust, as this degreaser works very well.

ETA: It comes in a purple jug at Canadian Tire, about $20 for 4 liters, and it can be watered down depending on the job. Great stuff.
 
Every paint has a solvent. Sometimes you have to test a few to come up with the proper one. I have Brake Cleaner, Acetone and Alcohol. I start with the Alcohol and work up to the brake cleaner. With most spray can paints Acetone will dissolve it in short order, like instantly.

I would go after that magazine with acetone and steel wool.

Never be afraid to use steel wool on a blued or Parkerized surface. Steel Wool is the last step in these processes and will not remove the bluing. This is how you remove small deposits of surface rust that sometimes find their way onto your prized possession. These deposits are usually caused by somone handling the gun by the metal and not wiping it down before it is put away. Also Safes without heaters in them are breeding grounds for this. A 15 watt Golden Rod will last a long time and keep your safe dry. I've had the same heater in my big safe for 30+ years and it is still on the job.

If you live in a humid place like the Pacific Northwest or East Coast or around large bodies of water, then Bags of Desiccant like Silca Gel are also good. They can be recharged by cooking them in an oven for a couple of hours.

I have removed poorly done Gun paint finishes with Brake Cleaner literally washing it off like it was a coating of dirt.

When you get in to the Force Cured (baked on finishes) paints like 2 part Polyurethane Automotive or industrial paints or for guns Cera Kote. You are looking at Grit Blasting to remove them ,,,, period.

As far as removing bluing anything with any kind of acid in it with remove it in a heartbeat. I once had a guy standing behind me pop a beer can open and the spray hit on my Sako Forrester. I had no idea until the next morning when I opened the case and found spots of bluing missing wherever a drop of beer hit the gun. It was a mess!

I was sick!

It had to be completely stripped and reblued.

Randy
 
An Enfield mag isn't blued. At least that one is not. Regular paint remover should take off the paint without bothering the phosphating. A wire brush will scratch it.
 
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