My air cadet squadron just "inherited" 4 Drill Purpose No. 4 MK 1* (Longbranch) Lee Enfields. They have been through the mill used abused and it shows. DND decommissioned them years ago they'll never go bang again but I want to use them with the Flag Party / Honour Guard. I'd like them to look a little better than they currently do. Looking for ideas on refinishing them (I've never done this before so I'm a newbie at this). I have the summer ... suggestions?
Suggestions on how to refinish DEWAT Lee Enfields for my cadets
- Thread starter dfemia01
- Start date
If they are anything like the ones I have seen track down a magazine and bolt for them. Start now cause it can be difficult and/or expensive. Nothing looks sillier than having a huge hole in the action. Make sure you sand off the white muzzle. Again they look terrible.
Not sure if yours are in the state of some that I have seen though
Not sure if yours are in the state of some that I have seen though
As far as recapturing the appearance of a real in-service finish, the easiest way would be to find some kind of hard black spray paint that resembles British suncorite paint. It might not last long but would be easy to redo repeatedly. If you do a bad job of spraying they would then look authentically Indian. Do a search for '53 FTR No. 1 rifles which show the paint finish.
milsurpo
milsurpo
Stocks can be removed, very lightly sanded and re-finished with Tung Oil. I use the satin finish oil. It is rubbed on a few times, and lightly steel wooled between coats.
With the barrels action out of the wood, sand blast them down to white metal and paint with black BBQ paint.
With the barrels action out of the wood, sand blast them down to white metal and paint with black BBQ paint.
If it's for the cadets, see if a local Smith will give you a charity price to bead blast the metal and blue it. This will look infinitely better than a paint finish.
The wood can be refinished easily enough. Stay away from hand held sandpaper. There's a method to refinishing gun stocks so they don't look terrible and sanded. Don't use a cabinet maker buddy - it will come back looking melted for sure.
Google gun stock refinishing, there's a right way and then lots of wrong ways.
Generally speaking though, you scrape the stock and limit any sanding to the use of ridgid sanding blocks or dowels so you don't lose the crisp edges.
The wood can be refinished easily enough. Stay away from hand held sandpaper. There's a method to refinishing gun stocks so they don't look terrible and sanded. Don't use a cabinet maker buddy - it will come back looking melted for sure.
Google gun stock refinishing, there's a right way and then lots of wrong ways.
Generally speaking though, you scrape the stock and limit any sanding to the use of ridgid sanding blocks or dowels so you don't lose the crisp edges.
"They have been through the mill used abused and it shows. DND decommissioned them years ago they'll never go bang again but I want to use them with the Flag Party / Honour Guard"
Pretty much say's it all, don't it?
