no 4 enfield- but is too dark/walnut?

migrant hunter

migrant hunter

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I'm in the early stages of de-sporterising a no 4. I have a forend and handguards on the way, but the but I have is dark. It's not stained, just very dark wood. I did it with furniture stripper tonight and then washed it in hot water, and basically nothing came out of it, apart from some oil and grease.
Is there anything I can do to lighten/bleach it, or am I looking for another but?
 
when they refurbed the used rifles to put them back in service. i do not think they really worried about the colours of the wood. I have had several that has dark butts and light forewoods. and vise-versa.
 
Wait until you get your forestock and hand guards. There might be not that much difference. If they are lighter, consider staining them darker to match the butt.

There is a wood bleaching product my Benjamin Moore paint dealer carries. I've never used it and can't remember the name but I can find out for you. I do recall reading the instructions while I was standing around waiting for paint to be mixed for me and it would be less work to stain the other wood dark.

Found it: http://www.woodkote.com/ The product is called Lite-n-Up. If you use it, be very thorough with the stripping and sanding of existing clear coat finish - laquer, varnish, oil, etc. You need to get it out of the grain entirely or the bleaching product won't get in everywhere. This means you are really going to have all fresh surface that will end up looking like new wood. Perhaps this is not the look one wants for an old military rifle.
 
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Marstar, has blonde (almost) butts for $75. They are unissued and unmarked.

Why not stain the new fore ends etc to match?

It was common for the manufacturers of the rifles to do so.

Some countries didn't even bother to try to match the colors. I've seen some Turk/African and Middle Eastern rifles with a mix of Birch/Walnut/Beech/Maple stock parts, all on the same rifle.

Those mixmaster stock sets don't appeal to me but I have one in my collection, because it is correct for the nation it was last used in militarily.
 
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I do not know what they still have left, but Trade-Ex did have some Number 4 furniture, including some Long Branch butt stocks and top handguards. No bottom forestocks though.
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migrant hunter said:
I'm in the early stages of de-sporterising a no 4. I have a forend and handguards on the way, but the but I have is dark. It's not stained, just very dark wood. I did it with furniture stripper tonight and then washed it in hot water, and basically nothing came out of it, apart from some oil and grease.
Is there anything I can do to lighten/bleach it, or am I looking for another but?
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laquer thinner , and scrub aross the grain with a red 3M scotch brite pad .

if there is anything staining the wood , this will eventually remove it .

and if you can wear nitrile gloves ( i like the black ones ) .

you can even soak it over night in laquer thinner , with the side effect that any dings in the wood can sometimes come out when things swell up .
 
Canadian Long Branch walnut is incredably dark to begin with. Give it 65 years of oxidization, and this is what you get. There used to be walnut trees around Southern Ontario, not any more. Some of that raw lumber may have been from the US too. As I often lament, those trees were cut down long ago.
 
migrant hunter said:
I'm in the early stages of de-sporterising a no 4. I have a forend and handguards on the way, but the but I have is dark. It's not stained, just very dark wood. I did it with furniture stripper tonight and then washed it in hot water, and basically nothing came out of it, apart from some oil and grease.
Is there anything I can do to lighten/bleach it, or am I looking for another but?
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Don't ruin the dark buttstock. Post some good pics of it showing markings etc on the Milsurps EE asking for a trade, also have pics of the set you want the new buttstock to match.

Dark walnut is much more popular than reddish maple for some reason. Someone will probably want to trade you.
 
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cantom said:
Don't ruin the dark buttstock. Post some good pics of it showing markings etc on the Milsurps EE asking for a trade, also have pics of the set you want the new buttstock to match.

Dark walnut is much more popular than reddish maple for some reason. Someone will probably want to trade you.
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Agree, don't and it or do anything, trade is for the colour you want.
 
You can get NO4 butt stocks from SS SPORTSTER in the states for $10US but they don't ship to Canada right now you will have to use a US address $40 to $75 is insain to pay for a butt stock i won't pay that when i know i can get it for $10US SS SPORTSTER has some of the best stuff in the US all you need is a US address or a friend that does.
 
Also keep an eye on Epp's gun parts section, that's where I finally picked up a full set for my No.4 about 2 years ago. If you see a set, don't hesitate, GET IT!
 
CanadianAR said:
Marstar has a bunch of enfield wood righ now I think. Check and see if they have anything that might better suit your rifle.
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I don't think I'd put too much hope on them. I ordered a supposedly un-issued Savage forend and got a real beater - well used, some dings, had been scraped down at some point, painted end cap, biscuit repairs, overall grungy and a lot worse than what I had. It is a Savage though. I've made 4 contacts with them over the past month to replace/return it, but nothing heard to date.
 
So the handguards turned up from Tradex, two different colours!
On is close to the walnut but, the other is red, possibly savage.
A dose of Heirloom furniture stripper and it's just a little pink now, might hit it again and then stain it with a walnut stain.
Now it's all down to Martsar and the colour of their "new' handguard.
 
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