My no4mk1 Faz begins a new life

[Skaal-tel]

So here's this '47 FTR lee enfield..

I tried to take a picture of the bore rifling but they didn't turn out. Does anyone have any tips on how I should set the camera? In any case it is what I would call brand spanking new quality.
In short, an excellent candidate for a restoration!

I have a set of wood on the way, and with the help of our resident louthepou expertise I am going to do my best to return this rifle to full wood status.

I decided to scope the rifle for the simple ease of zeroing and windage adjustments. Nothing has been drilled so I can easily revert to aperture sights if I need to make a point about iron sights at 600m!

I haven't settled on a set of rings yet, I was wondering if there were any shooters here with some advice?

With a cheap old set of weaver rings on here, the scope sits too low to move forward as far as it should.

I could grind off the rear quarter of the rail and gain about 3/4" more eye relief. I've seen it done .. on the internet. I could also acquire a set of rings 3-5mm taller. The scope is already sitting pretty high for a good cheek weld. Advice?


I know the milsurp forum is all about factory original, so here's something a bit closer to people's hearts.

Grand plans of making a great looker and a great shooter.

 

[Dyspnea]

Best if luck on the restore! Need to eliminate the scourge of sporter enfields!

 

[SA85M1]

Have fun with the restore....and do post a few pics as she's getting finished!

 

[AdrianM]

Nice...have fun. Look forward to seeing it in the new furniture.

 

[Skaal-tel]

The new old stocks arrived in the mail - looks like it won't be a simple project.. but a good foundation in any case.

I'm not sure, but I have what looks to be a set of Savage handguards - birch?
There are some scrapes, some scratches and what looks like a missing knot.. but I'm willing to try and bring it all back to life.

fazakerly butt stock? Or some other meaning?

Inside of the savage handguard marked F as well.

A bit of a grab bag of hardware - a milled front sight protector, POF mid bands, and no butt plate.

CA longbranch?

POF 58 marked on both. Very ugly finish.


Here's where the wood working starts.

The darker stock is the sporterized piece attached to the rifle originally. It has a groove cut for the bolt head release mech and a different shaped trigger area.

The lighter stock doesn't fit super well, I think this notch is the reason. Am I safe to just clearance this a bit?

Otherwise the new wood looks better in many respects - it hasn't had nearly as much sanding done to it!

I do believe there is even some cosmoline in there. Some differences in the chamber bedding as well.

 

[Nabs]

Nice stock set. It could be for a No 4 Mk I as there were trigger placement differences between them and the No 4 Mk IIs. Enfield experts will likely correct me though.

 

[vinver]

The Savage fore-end would be for a No 4 Mk 1* (with the flip-up- bolthead- in- the- groove- at the front, it doesn't have the push-button bolt release like the British models.
You may be better off to trade off the Savage forend for a British made one, rather than modify it to fit. I may be able to help you out ther if interested in trading.
If it isn't modified, the push-button will not go down and will not release the bolt.
I don't think the top handguards are Savage- what marking is on the front steel top cap? Probably Beech wood. And they look used, the fore-end shows signs where the receiver was fitted. Pretty good shape overall though.

 

[Skaal-tel]

Thanks guys, the top handguard is marked with an S on the cap, although it is just an "S," no box or straight line character like on the stock. The one is also stamped F 54 underneath.

I'm sure they're used, or at the very least they have been on a rifle for a long time. Plenty of dings and scrapes.

I think I'll just dremel out the small clearance for the bolt release. I would have preferred a british beech wood stock as well, but wasn't quite thorough enough researching my purchase. c'est la vie.

 

[Skaal-tel]

I dremelled the small notch for the bolt release. Just a couple pictures of the assembled rifle for an eventual "before" comparison.

It looks decent as-is. I think it will look fantastic after a little steaming and some fresh BLO! There is some nice grain on there.

 

[woodchopper]

When they did conversions of stocks for the Mk2 hung trigger they filled in the cut outs from the reinforcing strap then inserted the little cross bolt


oh... disregard that, I just noticed you had a 47 FTR but not FTR to the Mk2 standard.

 

[luke s]

where did you get the full wood?

 

[Skaal-tel]

Got it from the EE

 

[Skaal-tel]

Stripped the old finish off. Circa 1850 is nice to work with, low odour, non corrosive, non flammable, but it reacts with nitrile gloves. Which are the only kind I have, of course. Doesn't hurt the hands too bad but any grease in your knuckles burns off!

Stripped the finish in a matter of seconds. I was surprised.

I think a little steaming and sanding will help things a lot. I'm going to avoid as much sanding as possible, I don't want a half-size sporter like the set I took off!

 

[Skaal-tel]

An update is in order. With some warmer weather around +10C outside, I cleaned out the garage and applied the first coat of linseed oil.

I haven't worked with wood since gr 8 shop class, so I was pleasantly surprised by the linseed oil. Doesn't smell too bad, washed off the hands easy. The stocks are looking VERY nice now. Hopefully drying time will be reasonable in the temperature we have here.

 

[vinver]

Looking good, make sure you heed the warnings about proper disposal of linseed-oil soaked rags. It cures by oxidation, and will generate heat. In an enclosed area, can get hot enough to spontaneously combust . Better to get rid of the rags by soaking in water or burning outside away from anything you value!

 

[midnightpossum]

Once you have had full wood... you will never go back...

 

[Skaal-tel]

A few rub downs and a little stress later -

Lots of thanks to louthepou and vinver for advice and parts, respectively.

I found the blo to be a bit of a nightmare to work with. Steel wool isn't the greatest combination either.

My eventual success came from a 50/50 blo mineral spirits mix hand rubbed, wiped down after 20 min with paper towel, and then either cotton rag buffed or fine scotchbrite buffed before the next coat. If I had serious blemishes or weird tacky spots the steel wool worked better, but I think a coarse scotchbrite might have been better yet.

The helmet is a genuine ww2 piece although the finish isn't right. Got it from an army surplus store 10 yrs ago.

I'm going to shoot it as is to see how it groups, then take it back apart to accurize and bed it properly. The wood is a bit loose on the action before I screw it down so there are gains to be had.