A .22 Short Rifle Mk II... found in a creek

Good day!

Well, i haven't posted in quite a while; but this one sure deserves to be shared with a group of fine folks.

An acquaintance has trusted me with doing a bit of work on this not-too-common Lee Enfield. It was found, I am not kidding, in a creek in Ontario. Apparently there was a training air base not too far from this creek; so, it may explain why a Lee Enfield .22 trainer was found in this place.

Strangely enough, it's not as bad as one would think after spending God knows how many years under water.

My goal here will be to do as little as possible to the rifle, but to make sure rust is dealt with. I will clean the bore. Yes the intention is to make it fire again... There's even rifling in the bore.

From what I know (that's very little) about this particular variation of .22 trainer, the rear handguard is wrong (it's a no1mk3-like handguard), and there should have been a rear sight guard there too. Rear sight leaf is non-matching, but the bolt does match the receiver.

I'm simply amazed.

Ok, I'll document the progress in the Restorer's Corner, here's hoping screws will cooperate. Anxious to see how bad (or nice) the metal is under the wood!

lou

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Yup, I'd have taken it too Lou. This should be interesting.

And Princess Elisabeth's favourite 22 target rifle.

Hello Lou,
I don't believe we've met... :wave:
I'm amazed at how well it held up. Maybe that good cold water ?? Like some of the Ship Wrecks in our Great Lakes.

Any chance you may consider trying electrolysis on it?
I look forward to following the progress in the Restorer's Corner
Really cool......... THX for sharing it and Good Luck :cheers:

Cheers,
Charlie-Painter777

I've had quite a few of the Sht. Mk.II trainers over the years. The replacement handguard isn't uncommon. I think the originals were lost or broken regularly.

Can you imagine pulling that out of a creek ?
I still rejoice over finding a grime/dis-colored unopened 6 pack of Strohs beer while fishing a drop off near a shoal, back before I was of legal age to drink. The glint of shine I seen had me thinking I'd found a nice torn free fishing lure. Upon recovery we dashed to a small Isle and polished those cans so clean, you'd of thought they were just bought from the store.
Sorry........ ole memory rant, but they sure tasted good !

Some say that Cedar stained waters can preserve wood for a long time because of the high levels of Tannin, the stuff that gives small creeks and rivers that look like Tea. And how it can repel insects, like boring beetles...etc

CH-P777

Nice repair to the mag well area, I reckon its sunk into the silt which has acted like peat keeping the rust at bay you only have to watch some Russian vids on them recovering WWII tanks and flyers bodies from such stuff and very well preserved they are even the bodies.

That is beyond crazy looks like a time capsule. The history of how it got there would be amazing. Either a young cadet lost it on a field exercise. Or a couple of salty NCO's after a hard day went out to pound a few pints and plink a few rounds of .22. At the end of it they were like these are being phased out any way and in a haze slung it into the creek.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by louthepou

in a creek in Ontario

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So it had to of been frozen for + or - 6 months of the year. Submerged would have limited the rust build up... Correct ?
Similar to Cinders statements about the Russian finds, I just read about a 700,000 year old horse found in the perma frost in the Yukon. They were able to pull good DNA from it because of it's very limited level of decay.
Really interesting.... This Mk II will be one that many of us will be sure to follow.
No pressure Lou... :ugh:

Cheers
Charlie-P777

Amazing something could be under for so long. It appears to have an allen screw through the lower band that looks like it was almost put there yesterday.

Be careful cleaning this one Lou. Ya dont want to destroy the patina!

Spitfire The WWII guns firing after 70 years buried in peat,

"The Browning machine guns looked as good as new. Soil conditions were perfect for preservation. Beneath the peat there had been a layer of clay. Clay is anaerobic, it forms an airtight seal around all the parts, so there is no oxygen, which limits corrosion."

Story Link:

Spitfire redux: The WWII guns firing after 70 years buried in peat - BBC News

Along the same vein, is this P-38 still flying it was a heck of a recovery effort as it was very deep in the glacial ice the B-17 mother ship was not salvable being crushed by the ice.
ww2 P38 Glacier Girl firing her 20mm - YouTube

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CINDERS

is this P-38 still flying

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Kind of off track but here's the abridged version of the story... Aircraft | Glacier Girl |

That’s so cool to find something especially in that good of condition!
Electrolysis the only way to go to remove the rust bet it will be like a brand new gun when you’re finished

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ajsgreenjeeps

Electrolysis the only way to go

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Personally, I'd glass bead it clean and then paper polish before refinish. The wood may have issues after curing out too...Lou can handle that though.

Hi everyone, I figured I should show the progress in the "Restorer's Corner" section, so, here it is:

https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=63113

It probably fires as it is after an oiling and a pull through..............I'm booking my flight now, if you have arsenals in rivers over there. I bet the RCMP would be concerned :)