Lee Enfield No 1 Mk 3 - C GRADE from Royal Tiger Imports (RTI) - Part 2, Condition Under the Wood

[@brettanderson6743]

Actually bought one of these myself. I had a much better stock but some missing and broken bolts. Good bore though. I highly recommend "boiling" the parts. It is just converting red rust into "black rust". It is very important that the parts are thoroughly de-greased and clean before hand. Wait until you see a very fine red hue form on the parts. then, 45 min to an hour with gently boiling water is enough. The parts will need carding afterwards. Just keep in mind after the boiling the parts still look rusty. This is normal and will clean up fine. Afterwards a neutral oil should be used to harden the bluing. Do not use automotive oils as they have rust inhibitives that will destroy the newly formed bluing. Kerosene is a cheap alternative. The important thing in all this is the boiling converts red rust too bluing. Bare metal will need some actual rust on it to form bluing. Also do not remove any existing bluing. It will all blend in the end. You may need to repeat the bluing process. Currently onto conserving my 10th rifle. I hope you have as much fun as I do!

[@The_Casual_Collector]

Sorry for the late reply on this, somehow some of the comments never show up...anyway thanks for the tips, I'll keep those in mind when I boil my own parts.

[@VR-ym8ys]

I don't know, but buying at Royal Tiger Imports reminds me of buying other people's junk at yard sales. There are always people who tell you how wonderful it is.

[@bjolly8924]

The only place to buy decent military surplus with rifles anymore is from GunBroker. All the sellers have a vested interest in delivering exactly what they advertise. I have bought numerous military surplus weapons off GunBroker and I have never been disappointed.

[@andrewtetz2198]

Enfields are pricy where I live but I bought myself a no1 mk3 that had been sporterised in the past but was recently professionally restored by a gunsmith using a DP rifle, it’s less valuable and was cheaper to buy but it’s in overall very good condition and has an excellent bore, started looking into restoring one myself recently so video’s like this offer helpful information and perspective.

[@The_Casual_Collector]

Cool, thank you sir! That's impressive, a DP marked one reworked to firing condition! So I have to ask, where are you located if you don't mind me asking?

[@andrewtetz2198]

@@The_Casual_Collector it’s a well put together rifle, far as I can tell the action, bolt and probably barrel match, those were FTR’ed in 1953 so it avoided the old DP stamp, the rest is from a DP, the draws look to have been rebuilt and the stock and barrel bedding were done using the armourers guide for lee rifles, so traditional methods were used, while a DP rifle can be made operable it’s usually not recommended if the receiver bolt or barrel are DP’ed as you can’t be sure why it was taken out of service, some were just marked dp to meet demands for training and are fine, luckily my mk3 doesn’t have any concerning stamps anywhere it matters, I live in Canada where unfortunately most surplus is at least $200 more than in the states in part due to importation cost, there are a few exceptions though; anyway I hope your project goes or is going smoothly, I probably won’t do a mk3 restoration myself till after I fix up my mosin, but I’ll keep an eye out for progress updates on how yours goes.

[@The_Casual_Collector]

@andrewtetz2198 awesome, thank you. That's really cool, I wasn't aware of some of the intricacies the DP rifles, thanks for educating me. Yeah that stinks for the extra import cost, but at least as of late you guys could still get a newer sks and m14 clones.

[@andrewtetz2198]

@@The_Casual_Collector unfortunately our future dictator banned M14s because one person decided to use it against their fellow humans in the past, the sks is in their sights but the backlash from their last attempt to ban it and many other popular hunting rifle’s including the single shot ruger no1 made them step back, for now it’s still legal, we have gotten some beautiful condition Chinese sks’s very good to excellent condition for just under $550 which here is a great price for surplus, and the Chinese models while less collectible are good quality generally or on par with the soviet stuff at least.

[@RUSTYSURPLUS]

Howdy Casual that is a RESTO for sure. You know on that stock James might have a used one. Thanks for showing !!

[@The_Casual_Collector]

That's a good idea, I may give him a call tomorrow about it. Thanks!

[@gilliland426]

none of my barrel bands were afixed to the barrel they all slide on the barrel!

[@nickreed6538]

Should be able to use something like a screw easy out to remove the broken screw. Im guessing thats why it was soldered in place

[@nickreed6538]

I dont think the soldering wouldve got hot enough to hurt anything. Im not sure on exact temps, but im sure it wouldnt take too much to melt it back off. And as previous comment said, yes it is suppose to be free floating around the barrel. To remove it the front sight would need to come off. I recently purchased an ishapore 2a1, which is basically that rifle but .308. I broke it down 98% to boil and clean so if you have questions or troubles getting it back together i should be able to help. I think a good clean+a boil/steam or two and itll clean up great! Unfortunate on the stock tho. Like you stated..itd prob be best to grab a DP and piddle with the stock later!

[@The_Casual_Collector]

Yes sir, I totally agree, yep this one will likely be the candidate for rust bluing. It'll be my first one. I recently did get a dp rifle from JG Sales. I'll try to upload the video either tomorrow or Saturday.

[@brettanderson6743]

The mk3 rifles are not actually free floated. The are bushed/shimmed/sprung such that the barrel is pressing up on the nose cap and held down in the middle of the barrel to prevent whipping/flex of the barrel when the rifle is fired. The No.4 rifle is actually free floated but is fundamentally a completely different rifle. Agree on the boiling to help preserve. Important to de-grease before boiling. I would highly recommend Mark Novak Channel for further information.

[@nickreed6538]

@brettanderson6743 I didn't mean the barrel itself was free floating, I understand how they are setup as I have both. I meant the peice is able to "freefloat" or free slide up and down the barrel when it's disassembled.

[@tfusilier44]

Is the date on the receiver where the buttstock screws into still legible? Unfortunately the barrel is not always a correct indication on the original manufacturing date. The barrel could have been replaced in 1927.

[@The_Casual_Collector]

Unfortunately it isn't, well, not entirely. I just shot a video on everything I could see on it, here's the link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHfZqnqVr9BqbbM&feature=share8 Any help identifying the date would be greatly appreciated.

[@Toolness1]

That's weird that they soldered that band on, it's not on either of mine. I think I'd melt that off to see what's under it. You can try drilling a hole in that broken screw and use a screw extractor. That stock is beyond repair IMO unless you're quite good at wood work, the cracked part in the rear that sits behind the charger bridge is most likely broken because the draws in the back that take the recoil are totally blown, that allows that section to get hammered under recoil and cracks it.. I have heard of people inserting new wood back there to fix it but it was more than Im capable of so I got a drill rifle stock for my Ishapore. If the metal is fine under that solder, I think I'd tie the rifle down and test fire it a couple times and then call it good as long as it doesn't show signs of an issue. I don't think the temp to melt that solder should effect the metal's strength bad enough to weaken it, especially half way down the barrel. I may be totally wrong though so definitely ask someone smarter :) If it were near the chamber I'd be way more worried.

[@The_Casual_Collector]

Yep, I completely agree...Seems I can't find a single article or video of anyone talking about how those bands were installed. I know I did see a video of a guy disassembling one, but he left that band on and said any further disassembling required specialized tools. So who knows, I'm hoping some of my Aussie subscribers will chime in here that have the same rifle. But yeah, that stock is toast for sure.

[@chrisgosling6083]

@@The_Casual_Collector hi the band that is brazed on should be free floating on the barrel ,you have to remove the fore sight to slide the band off, the cosmoline seems to have saved the barrel i have seen them with deep pitting caused from moisture trapped be the wood, it looks cleanable, i look forward to seeing how you get on, best wishes from the uk 👍

[@The_Casual_Collector]

@chrisgosling6083 oh wow, so it isn't supposed to be brazed on...I was worried about that...thanks for the insight!

[@chrisgosling6083]

@@The_Casual_Collector depending of he skill of the person who did brazing and seeing now lumpy it looks not very skilled , it can take the temper out of the barrel and cause a soft spot, but if it was cooled with water it can cause a brittle spot so keep an eye on the bore when shooting , as the braze is lumpy and did not "flow" hopefully it did not get to hot good luck with the resto

[@MrDurandal25]

Got a "B" grade No 1 Mk 3 from then a year ago and it was an ok rifle but zero bore. Paid $700 for it.

[@The_Casual_Collector]

Oh man, that sucks, I don't feel so bad about the brazed area on mine now...

[@V8SKULLS]

Quick question, how is your barrel.? I have 2 "B" grade No.4 mk1, and one "B" grade No.1 mk 3☆smle enfields and all 3 barrels are complete garbage. Pretty upset, do you know anywhere to buy replacement barrels, have be lloking very hard to find, and came up with nothing. Thanks

[@The_Casual_Collector]

Mine looks like it has a really good bore, a little dark, but strong rifling. Check out InterSurplus in Canada for the No.1 Mk. 3, I'm not sure if that can be shipped to the US. Lothar-Walther and Criterion make new ones for the No.4 Mk. 1, but they are definitely not cheap.

[@V8SKULLS]

@The_Casual_Collector thank you, I refurbished one of the No.4 & the No.1 they both got reblued, every piece of the gun, and redid the wood and put 7 coats of boiled linseed oil on. They came out absolutely beautiful, but did some super deep cleaning with no.9 bore Brite, I use an old worn down .30cal brush and I wrap the brisels with course stainless steel scrubbing pads. Works fantastic. But it shows the truth. Thank you for the information. I'm going to look into them. God bless brother.

[@thefrenchgunsmith6488]

I'm not a wood expert by any means. But I think that the stock is not worth restoring unfortunatly. I wish we could see what happened to it, i've never seen a stock this beat up !

[@The_Casual_Collector]

Yeah, I agree. It's hard to believe the metal is in that good of shape, while the stock is busted to pieces. I may end up getting a stock set from Prestigious Wood Stocks in Canada. They make really nice sets and pieces. I've already purchased one set for my 1917 smle, and it's beautiful walnut.

[@garyh1449]

Junkyard grade, in my opinion.

[@The_Casual_Collector]

Honestly the saddest part is, where they soldered the band on...the bore looks pretty good, shootable for sure.

[@wevel963]

Having collected through the early 90's when (New Unfired Unissued 'In The Wrap') 303 Enfields were $179 - it's hard to buy this trash.

[@ClintonBeaver-dc4mj]

RTI= Ethiopian toilet store