Lithgow No1 Mk III New restoration project

[baconslayer]

Hello again, I picked up another LE, a Bubba'ed 1941 Lithgow No1 MkIII that I would like to restore. The receiver matches the barrel, but not the bolt. The rear site base and inner band are both missing, so I am attempting to remove the front sight base. The single pin seems to be missing but the sight base is not budging. I have it soaking in Kroil atm. So a good whack with a block of wood and a hammer towards the muzzle usually does the trick? I will post some pics of the project as I go.

CP

[CINDERS]

Sure some enterprising Bubba did not sweat the front sight on!

[baconslayer]

A pic of the rifle as a starting point. Ugh, pretty ugly right now.

I was able to get the front site base off with a soak in kroil and a bit of heat.

[scharfschutzen63]

I would get rid of that rifle and buy a complete original rifle. You will be money ahead and have something worth having in the end. IMHO.

[CINDERS]

If your not to fussed with "Original" there are places doing repro stocks you may be able to do a swap of timber with another owner who wants to bubba their rig.
Unless you got that dirt cheap like $100 the cost of getting it back to mil spec trim will be a rather costly affair even then it will still be a bitsa and NAI'ed, been down that rabbit hole with my 1916 Lithgow 5MD getting the correct era bits !

[Sapper740]

Listen to the guys, they're giving you good advice. You'll spend far more than the finished rifle will be worth so unless you're doing this to gain some experience in firearm restoration I'd keep it as is for a shooter or sell it. There are good deals out if you're patient. I picked up an all matching Lithgow MkIII at the online Texas HiBid auctions for $400 recently. It wasn't perfect as it had a little stock damage but nothing that affected its functionality.

[baconslayer]

Thanks guys, I understand your points. For me its not about the expense or trouble, it about the history, the hunt, the feeling of satisfaction of getting a rifle back to "original appearing" condition. Although it may not be true, I feel like I am saving history. Not planning on selling anytime soon as I enjoy working on them and shooting. I have already restored 2 sporters and really enjoyed the experience. They are not exactly perfect, the k98k has '37-'40 stock on a '43 and my dads LE Long Branch has a repro fore-stock that I got from prestigious wood stocks (as well as the usual MM that happens in this situation) .

I have several "correct or near correct" historical rifles too and enjoy owning shooting them just as much.

For this new one, I really liked what I got from prestigious, and thinking of going with the all black walnut stock set. It will be a slow process and probably take most of '24 to complete.

Thanks again for the input.

CP

[Roger Payne]

I understand entirely where you're coming from. In the past I have restored rifles that I never made a profit out of, but I really enjoyed doing it. There's a good feeling that you've dragged a piece of history back from the precipice!
I suppose it comes down to whether ultimate profitability is important to the restorer, or not.

[Sapper740]

I understand entirely where you're coming from. In the past I have restored rifles that I never made a profit out of, but I really enjoyed doing it. There's a good feeling that you've dragged a piece of history back from the precipice!
I suppose it comes down to whether ultimate profitability is important to the restorer, or not.

I'm sure everyone gets where the OP is coming from but some of us would rather have two original rifles for the price of one Bubba. With a limited budget and a whole galaxy of various Lee Enfield marks and models to add to a collection one must choose their expenditures wisely....well, at least I do.

---------- Post added at 06:02 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:01 AM ----------

My 5MD Lithgow 1916 was a rather tedious @8 year affair sourcing the very early parts endless hours of trolling the net o/seas & here like an early Lithgow star marked piling swivel how often have one of those come up along with sear, mag floor plates, early star marked full safety (Dumbbell spring type) the mag housing all took time.
So the rifle originally cost me $100/Aud but came with no mag, no safety & no sling.

The all up cost for getting the '16 5MD to where I felt she is all done including the Wrights 1916 black sling (Not blanco'ed), 5MD 1916 07 Lithgow bayonet, 5MD 1916 teardrop Lithgow scabbard, all in I'd say close to @$900-$1000 Aud not counting the time spent searching for the gear, yep and I know it is a bitsa now.

Now there's a labour of love!

[mnmkeller]

I bit on a sporter NZ marked no4 mk1* and lucked up on an LB stock fully intact in an auction with most of the hardware. The mag and stock are not matching serials to the rifle but all parts are Canadian except the rear site and I accept that was likely a proper replacement.

I would say I have maybe 500$US so I'm probly in the good considering it's NZ marked.

I have passed on other sporters as they command 400$ + locally now and Id rather take a flyer on an RTI with the Ethiopia pedigree than pay that much for a bubba.