Stock finishes on Lee Enfields

D

David1974

CGN Regular
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Location
Havelock, Ontario
Hi guys,

Kinda of a dumb question here. What is the waxy like stock finish you see on Enfields? Is it the Linseed oil? My wartime No4's have a waxy almost shiny look and feel to them. My 1950 No4's however do not. Just something I've been curious about.

Thanks!
 
SHELL SHUCKER said:
I had a mint 1955 Long Branch No.4 that had more like a spar varnish finish on it, and that was well done from
the factory. Semi-gloss would be good way to describe it.
Click to expand...

I would be surprised if it had a varnished finish from the factory. Hand rubbed oil finishes can look as good or better than varnish. It would not be military standard.
 
Stocks were dunk tanked in hot linseed oil and hung dry at the factory. Multiple coats after the fact, applied by the end user;) will give the wood a nice "glow"...don't know how else to describe it.

The stock shouldn't feel waxy though. Are you sure someone hasn't applied a beeswax concoction to your stock?
 
It's probably raw linseed oil, unless re-rinished improperly (BLO, Tung Oil etc.) by someone in it's lifetime..which is entirely possible

All of my Enfields have the same finish, although the reflectivity and index of refraction will vary slightly due to the different materials captured in the finish itself. Specularity is also influenced by foreign materials, and all these things will affect the image we perceive with our eyes.
 
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A '55 vintage rifle and a war time vintage rifle would have different finishes. Dunking is quick. Hand rubbing is not. Any rifle we see now has very likely had 69 plus years(been that long since 1945) of guys playing with it. I'd guess that any waxy finish is accumulated gunk vs any finish.
 
Hard to say without examining the stock off the rifle of course, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was some spray equipment at Small Arms Limited and I wouldn't be surprised if the fellows there in their spare time worked on all sorts of projects, personal and otherwise, most of us would have if we had been there then! They built up many presentation rifles from left over parts and if you wanted the stock varnished they probably could do that too.
 
This topic has been well ventilated before, but Cdn Army EMEIs for the No4 rifle stipulated that RAW linseed oil was to be used for stock maintenance/conditioning. This also carried over to the FN rifle. I remember getting the big cans of raw linseed for stock re-conditioning after a spell in the field or when otherwise directed. I had a cedar fence around my backyard in the old Lincoln Park PMQ patch in Calgary and found that a can of raw linseed from the QM stores worked good for it too.
 
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