Enfield BSA 1916 Mk3* De-sporterizing project with questions

[Canadian J]

Good day Everyone,

I am attempting to restore a sporterized Enfield BSA 1916 No1 Mk3* back to it's former glory. I just wanted to create a thread that I can ask you all questions as I come across road blocks. I am excited to get it finished and show you all before and after pics! I have a question already, hence the idea of creating this new thread. I bought old but unused for-end and buttstock (new old stock is the term?) and am planning on finishing them with raw linseed oil. However, after applying a small amount of oil to an inconspicuous spot, it doesn't seem to want to absorb into the wood, even after 24 hours. Would there have been an oil already applied for preservation purposes? The wood looks and feels quite raw, and its not cosmoline as I tried heating it then wiping with no result. I'm sure someone on the forum will know if new-old stocks had anything applied at the factory or just prior to storage that wasn't cosmoline. Thanks so much in advance everyone!

- J

[4thGordons]

Hello!

The NOS furniture components I have had/used have mostly been totally unfinished although I have seen upper handguards sold as NOS which have been varnished (I am not sure where they were sourced from but I suspect India). I believe reproduction forends and other components are also being produced now (Numrich Gunparts Corp sell them)

I have seen furniture sets selling recently on eBay which do appear to have been finished although I have not inspected them in the flesh. These are rather orangey in colour. These and the Numrich parts are described as "new" leading me to think they are recent production.

What sort of wood is it can you tell? are there any stampings /inspection marks on it to show origin?

Raw linseed oil is much harder to work with than Boiled Linseed - and the latter is absorbed more easily too in my experience. I use BLO. - whichever you use be careful how you store/dry/dispose of any rags you use or spill the oil onto as the drying process is exo-thermic and soaked rags (especially scrunched up/wadded) can combust.

I look forward to seeing your progress and pictures.

Chris

[Canadian J]

Thanks a bunch for your reply Chris! I will think about BLO, I had just read that RLO is more authentic but it's already presenting to be a pain so I may change my mind to BLO! Here's some pics of the for-end, I believe it is walnut but that's a guess. I took pics of the markings. I did purchase this for-end from Numeric, who are great by the way, and it was simply listed as a for-end for the SMLE No1 Mk3, didn't actually say it was new, old, or repro. Here's the pics. Top pic is of the underside just down from the nose cap. 2nd and 3rd pics have a 'W' or 'M' closer to the muzzle and the 'C' is closer to the breech. The last pic is of a small crack, any tips on this would be great, however I wasn't going to worry about it, seems like the brass screw s holding the for-end together here and the enfield I am redoing is completely cracked all the way down in this area between the draws...

[Canadian J]

One more pic to show you the raw wood and the walnut like look.

[303man]

I use, Turpentine, about a 1/2 cupful, dissolve into it, pure beeswax add Boiled Linseed oil and Methylated spirit you should en up with a custard like substance, I then rub in by hand let it dry a bit 24hrs and hand rub again you must get the wood hot when rubbing it eventually you will get a super finish. The meths evaporates off and the wax dries as the turps/BLO soaks into the wood. Well thats the theory works for me.

[cooper]

I use a similar process with raw linseed oil. I prefer the more matt finish the BLO can give.

The steps I take are as follows.

1. Rub over areas with a very fine wire wool grade 000. This helps to eliminate any grime or muck.

2. Rub over with methylated spirit to remove any presence of oils or contaminants.

3. Rub over the warm raw linseed oil

Generally we are all saying the same thing but have slightly different approaches to it. Heat certainly helps. I prefer the raw oil as i believe it was the original method used.

Cooper

[David Filsell]

Very warm Linseed is probably the easiest and most appropriate I would have thought. But warm the oil in a ban marie. It is inflammable.

[4thGordons]

Well it does look like walnut and I think the D looking stamp is actually E inside a D which is an Enfield stamp.

Are you going to be shooting this rifle and did the replacement foreend arrive to you like split like that?

My first line of approach would be to contact the supplier and ask for a replacement. However if you feel it has been too long(or whatever) I would definitely try and stabilize that as it looks like it is making its war down through the very thin wood at the top into the thicker wood behind the stock bolt retaining plate. At very least I would force the strongest carpenter's glue I can get my hands on into the crack and then clamp it together (in a padded clamp) tightly overnight to try an halt the spread. The trouble is if you are shooting this area comes under some pressure (especially if other bolts work loose) and the crack can spread pretty quickly. This is a weak area on the stocks in my experience exacerbated by this (see thread here)

Your photos actually do look to me as though the wood has been oiled. I will post a picture below of a completely raw butt for comparison.(even these may have had some oil early...but they are now very dry and soak up BLO very quickly)

{photo added}

If you are using either BLO or RLO be careful about using too much. I would add a No 4 to cooper's list which would be

4) wait 30 mins for the oil to soak in then check for excess and wipe off (I use a piece of old burlap/hessian sack which is rough) if you leave excess on the surface of the wood to dry it will be hard and shiny like varnish (I suspect the meths/wax in 303man's concoction might eliminate this need). Same warning as above regarding whatever rags you use.

Was just the furniture cut down on the rifle so you need a nosecap group etc or was anything else (sights etc) messed with?

Chris

Edited to add photo

[Waggoner]

I am watching this with great interest. I have a similiar rifle that was converted to .22 but, sadly, sporterized. I need to replace the forestock and hardware and have been putting this off for too long!

All the best,

Gary

[4thGordons]

I am watching this with great interest. I have a similiar rifle that was converted to .22 but, sadly, sporterized. I need to replace the forestock and hardware and have been putting this off for too long!

All the best,

Gary

Just checking Gary - there is an interesting NZ conversion of SMLEs to .22 which cut back the forestock etc and at first glance appear to be a sporter job but were actually official conversions for NZ schools/cadets I have two examples and have seen one more and the changes were identical on all of them - they look like this:

butt slimmed and shortened

If this is what you have I would not change it. Of course there are lots of unofficially chopped ones too.

Chris

[Waggoner]

Chris,

A good point! I was not aware of this. Mine is Canadian marked. I will have to dig it out of deep storage and compare it to yours.

All the best,

Gary

[4thGordons]

There were some official Canadian modifications to .22 which were fitted with a Cooey (?) rear sight mounted on the receiver (the sight looks like those fitted to a Ross). I believe these were done in WWII to approximate the "peep" sight on the No4 rifle. As far as I know the wood on these was not touched.

Chris

[Canadian J]

Thanks very much everyone! I'll try some mineral spirits to rid some of the oil. And Chris, I think it may be difficult to return the for-end so I think I will attempt gluing it as best I can. I didn't feel it was a huge concern as the brass wire/screw seems well in place, so I wasn't too worried about the for-end really spreading apart here... or should I be? Thanks again all!

- J

[SiegeGunner]

Largely academic in the UK, but if I owned a 'sporterised' .22 conversion like the delightful little b*gger that Chris has shown us, I certainly wouldn't be wanting to mess with it and 'convert it back' when there are so many rifles on the market in original condition.

[Beerhunter]

Largely academic in the UK,

Why's that?

[SiegeGunner]

I actually meant 'largely academic' for me, as I don't have a FAC, so couldn't own the .22 conversion anyway.

[Beerhunter]

I actually meant 'largely academic' for me, as I don't have a FAC, so couldn't own the .22 conversion anyway.

I see. It would not actually be a problem for someone to get that rifle on an FAC.

[4thGordons]

Just wondering how this was coming along?

I just got a forend for the same purpose from Numrich (they had a special where postage was free!) - and it is in excellent condition and marked the same way as yours (although a J and SC in the barrel channel where yours has W and C)

I have a 1915 BSA I am putting back together.

Chris

[4thGordons]

I have been through my parts box and come up with most of the needed parts for my reassembly.

I need a few small parts and a front hangdguard and then I can begin to get it back together. I'd like a better matching rear handguard too - this one is very light coloured.

[Canadian J]

Awesome Chris! I have mine in a similar condition, parts all over the place! Glad you got a forend without any cracks! I have fitted the forend to the receiver and thats about it so far. I am yet to glue the crack between the draws, I will do that before applying the linseed oil. I should take a pic of the before and one of it taken down with all the parts! Thanks for the pics! Good luck and keep posting!

- J

[Canadian J]

Also Chris, are you going to have the extra washer (forend collar) under the rear sight guard? Are you planning on darkening the rear handguard and forend to match the butt and/or future front handguard? Lucky duck you've got the mag cut off, mine is a star, so no cut off for me.

- J

Edited 18 July , 2015 by Canadian J

[Canadian J]

Here's a couple pics of the original, unfortunately none of the original wood was salvageable as it had all been sanded/carved down extensively to allow for a cheek rest to pop out. definitely a nice rifle, but it'll be even better restored, I promise!

side profile

[Canadian J]

I attempted to clamp the crack between the draws using epoxy and it was unsuccessful. I left it clamped tightly overnight and when I removed the clamp this morning I heard the little "click" sound of the glue splitting and the crack opening up again. The crack is very close together and its difficult to get glue into it. The wood seems to have dried over the years and does not want to stay together. I am going to leave it and hope that the brass wire is able to still do it's job, along with a tightly fitting stock bolt plate.

[4thGordons]

Well someone put a lot of work into that - it's pretty tastefully done compared to some!

and yes there will be a forend collar installed as part of the rear sight protector installation

Chris.

[Canadian J]

Finally, here's the puzzle with all its pieces. My biggest worry is fitting the forend so that it doesn't crack when I fire it. The draws are making light contact with the receiver and the guard screw bushing has a very slight amount of play but does not fall out. Any suggestions on how to ensure the forend stays intact would be much appreciated!