1943 US made Enfield

[SpikeDD]

Hello CruciBill. Is there a chance of a cleaner shot of the bolt serial number? I believe it is a stamped number and not electric penned but my eyes aren't what they used to be. I can see that the bolt is "S" marked, which is a plus,what about the cocking piece?

[CruciBill]

Hello CruciBill. Is there a chance of a cleaner shot of the bolt serial number? I believe it is a stamped number and not electric penned but my eyes aren't what they used to be. I can see that the bolt is "S" marked, which is a plus,what about the cocking piece?

When I get home I'll try to post some better photos of the bolt serial number. What would you like to see from the cocking piece? As I posted earlier I have it mostly disassembled so I could probably get quality shots of most everything. Thanks.

[b32dominator]

From what I can see the bolt is stamped serial matching but it is definitely a different font. Not sure of the use of different or same fonts on enfields.

[Peter Laidler]

If we fit or just renumber a new or an old bolt in the Armourers shop we just use the number stamps that are on the bench. We don't worry too much about whether they match what IS there or what someone else used somewhere else, believe me.......

[Brian Dick]

I'll stick my neck out and say the bolt is original to the rifle. It looks perfectly fine to me. It's too bad the metal has been so horribly polished and blued. It could be fixed by stripping it down, a light dip in acid dilute to remove the bluing and and then bead blast, Parkerize and paint/bake with Suncorite 259.

[Peter Laidler]

The turkeys who polish the metal and french polish the wood of their rifles really need a reality check. Some would use rather stronger language than that....... Especially if it's being done to an (ex-) Infantry battle rifle. They obviously haven't had to hold one or use it with sweaty hands and face when it's dripping wet with rain........

[Seaspriter]

FR burned in the stock

I have a 1944 Savage Enfield with the exact FR stamp in the exact same place on the stock. Only difference is that it also has the date "Dec 1944" and the initials of the Armourers who did the repairs. (one initial is BPD -- same as Brian Dick, which proves he is a Reincarnated Ordnance Lee Enfield Inspector -- "ROLEI"). This gun was manufactured in Feb 1944 and most likely was damaged after D-Day, hence the repairs in Dec '44. Yours may have had the same fate.

Refinish" was at the hands of some diabolical maniac.

No words can describe the Bignorant whose misguided hands obliterated the patina of the wood on your stock -- he sanded off the history of the blood and guts that told the story of the valour of the courageous soldier that carried the Enfield into war and the stalwart integrity of the weapon that preserved our freedom from Hitler's evil. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do to "unring the bell" and "fix" the stock -- it's ruined from a restoration perspective. Best you can do is shoot the hell out of the gun. My guess is that some day soon you will sell or trade it for a gun you will cherish.

[CruciBill]

Thanks for the insight. I still think I'm going to try to knock that poly down, if I can do so without damaging the wood any further. I can't help but wonder if the only "repair"(cough, cough), this rifle has had was stock replacement. I took near 20 different photos of any markings I could find and have yet to see a armourers repair mark. I suppose markings could be ground down or filled in with that heavy finish on the metal. Luckily the block S shows up everywhere.


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[Buccaneer]

Thanks for the insight. I still think I'm going to try to knock that poly down, if I can do so without damaging the wood any further.

As has already been said you can't put back the age patina but removing the poly is fairly straight forward. Paint stripper and very fine wire wool works very well it gets off all of the crap but does not damage the wood surface, do NOT be tempted to sand any of the wood just take your time and you will end up with a poly free stock then once its dry you can start to refinish it with boiled linseed oil a little at a time, I have been told the old adage "once a day for a week, once a week for a month them once a month for a year". It's very satisfying to be able to rescue and restore some of the dignity to an old rifle it's what makes collecting really worth while.

[Seaspriter]

If you decide to strip the furniture, take Buccaneer's advice. Consider putting the original color back into the wood. See this thread for a pic:
Milsurps Knowledge Library - 1942 No.4 Mk1*(T) Savage Sniper Rifle (less scope))
Savage originally used a red mahogany stain on their birch stocks.