Restoration Sticky.

[Winchester30-30]

question to all you guys who have restored, whats better original or restored wood? bluing or hot oil dye? i found the top hand guards but they were the wrong colour, so im just curious to see what you guys are doing? also whats better for value?

 

[hunterinthewoods]

question to all you guys who have restored, whats better original or restored wood? bluing or hot oil dye? i found the top hand guards but they were the wrong colour, so im just curious to see what you guys are doing? also whats better for value?

I have dyed many stocks with RIT dye mixed with rubbing alcohol to match my other wood( red, yellow, black). I have also used iodine and alcohol mix on my mosin to get the red. Then covered in several coats of BLO, but I will be trying the RLO bath metho soon.
Of course steel wool is used to remove and clean area, I barely use sand paper and when I have to its an ultra fine grit...

 

[flying pig]

Flyng pig
I have been meaning to try this since reading comments on milsurps.....just have to make a vessel and a heater of some kind, could you pm me on what you have used?
It may make it easier on me, thanks!

You won't believe what I used the first time! I used an old cardboard gun box, used my wife's heating pad for heat and a garbage bag to line the box. Worked really good vut man what a redneck set up.

I'm going to build a wood box with a sealed lid for a permanent one. Going to use an oil pan heating pad inside it and then use some cheap epoxy or maybe even pipeline epoxy to glue the heater in and oil proof the box. I can gety lots of the black sleeve epoxy for free and it should be pretty resistant to the oil. Messy but effective, and I won't have to empty the RLO after use.

 

[Dyspnea]

Where did you find bulk RLO? BLO seems much easier to find.

 

[hunterinthewoods]

Thats great, redneck or ghetto!! Alright, I will make mine own aswell, lets do a contest to see who can do it up right!!..

 

[flying pig]

Where did you find bulk RLO? BLO seems much easier to find.

Home hardware sells food grade stuff here by the gallon. He said they use it for cattle, not sure what for, laxative maybe?

 

[flying pig]

Thats great, redneck or ghetto!! Alright, I will make mine own aswell, lets do a contest to see who can do it up right!!..

Ha ha sounds good, uglier the better!

 

[Jay]

After 20 years, I finally have a Lee Enfield again... I got this British No.4 Mk2 from our very own louthepou & he reclaimed it from Bubba... Here is what louthepou said he did to this bubba'd rifle after he got it... All I can say is, it sure is pretty!

"This gun came to me as a sporter with such a good bore that I took the time to find wood worthy of it. Took a bit of time, but found a new set, pale wood, made for the Mk2; lucky find, I have to say (most new stuff you find for the No4Mk2 are indian walnut).

I bedded the forend, free-floated from knox to just before the muzzle, with the upward pressure at that end. I had to put tiny shims at the front to make sure there's no interference between the barrel and the front handguard (I'll show you if you drop by). The bolt matches the receiver, and the magazine has a different serial number but in the same range (serial starting with "PF", weird coincidence?). The rear sight is from Fazakerley, like the gun. So an above-average shooter, with very nice fit and finish. I put a bright and shiny brass buttplate to finish things off."

Cheers
Jay

 

[Winchester30-30]

for the newbies restoring rifles whats the difference between blo or rlo?

 

[flying pig]

BLO is boiled linseed oil, RLO is raw. Raw is thinner, penetrates deeper and won't accumulate/dry on the surface as easily.

 

[Timberlord]

That's a nice looking rifle , Jay

Heat up RLO to simmer off excess moisture and you get BLO.
But , of course , it's much easier to buy from just about anybody who sells paint.
There's basically 2 types of BLO , by the way...
One is pure and the other will have additives .

 

[Dyspnea]

I'm not a hunting rifle!

Well here's my project I've been working On since August compiling parts. Bought it at auction at a reasonable price.

Started as a savage no4 mk1 (no star) with matching bolt. Barrel not cut and receiver was not drilled. The wood was of course sporterized and the butt heavily sanded. A good candidate for restoration, considering 100-150000 savage enfields were no4 mk1 the rest were no4 mk1*. Based on the serial number it was produced in march of 1942. The barrel is a 5 grove, shiny and sharp, overall the bluing is in very good condition. As a bonus the rifle had some hidden Cosmo in the nooks and crannies.

Well my goal for this project was too find savage marked hardware and wood.

I quickly found a savage safety and catch and replaced the longbranch piece. I ordered most of my parts from ebay, numrich and marstar. I ordered a savage marked magazine and fitted and adjusted it. Was able to find savage forend, I found some nice handgaurd (not savage but still very nice)

Here's the point I got too while waiting for a buttstock and other
Bits and pieces.

The buttstock with the rifle, I think was originally a savage, the buttplate, bolt are savage stamped, but it was so heavily sanded, it had no place on a military rifle. Not to mention the numerous holes from sling mounts and random screws.

I found a savage butt, but I have already found a better one and it will be replaced and more properly color matched.

The wood was treated with raw linseed oil about 4 coats. And polished with a homemade beeswax mix

Well today I finished installing the last few pieces and here it is. Better photos to come later!

Thanks for looking!

Here's what if looks like with a color matched buttstock.

 

[hunterinthewoods]

Nice work man! I will be posting my 3 LE sporters soon...I do love my full wood resto's , but I'm lovin my sporters!!

 

[Dyspnea]

Nice work man! I will be posting my 3 LE sporters soon...I do love my full wood resto's , but I'm lovin my sporters!!

Thanks

Next up for the rifle, is a range day (when the weather improves) make sure the bedding is right, it looks pretty good on its own. But a range day will tell for sure.

 

[louthepou]

Hi folks,

Well my supply of No1Mk3 parts isn't getting larger, but I managed to get the parts to restore this SMLE. The sporterized rifle had a WW1-dated receiver, and was ftr'ed in 1953; the bore is really nice, so I thought it'd be good to bring this one back to its original configuration.

Other than the fact that a few parts are "DP" stamped (rear handguard, butt stock, rear sight guard) and that the colour match isn't as good as I'd hoped, I think it turned out ok. Gotta test it at the range though... before being happy with it!

Lou

 

[Skaal-tel]

Looks good mr louthepou. That wood seems to have some nice character!

I am going to be starting my own restoration effort of a no4 soon and I think I will be asking lots of questions...

 

[JiGgLiNg]

wow guys, a lot of nice restoration work done here!!

 

[JiGgLiNg]

I've had this for several years now, I think it's an M91 Caricano, correct me if I'm wrong please, it's been handed down to me by my great uncle. the stock is cracked, and it seems the gun is covered in cozmoline? What do you guys suggest restoration wise, can I buy the stock that would go all the way to the end, or do I need to stick with a short one like this? any input would be greatly appreciated

 

[svt1940]

My first refinish with BLO

Hi fellows,
I refinished fews days ago a Lee Enfield no4 mk1 with BLO. Got the rifle manys years ago,previous owner did put varnish on but otherwise no bubba job. I used paint stripper and steel wool to take the varnish off. 2 coats of minwax walnut wood stain and 7 coats of BLO give it a nice finish. The stain didnt change the wood much since was very dark already. First time i worked with BLO and i like! Lou was very helpful, recommended to leave the rifle alone for now and aply another coat of oil in spring, to keep the finish healthy.

Joce

 

[JiGgLiNg]

nice