Restoration of a .22 Short Rifle Mk II... found in a creek

Hi folks, got a thread started in the "Lee Enfield Knowledge Library" section but, I figure I should show the progress here in the restoration section.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../fA0by4s-1.jpg

After letting Liquid Wrench seep into the screws thread, I carefully worked on them and to my delight, every screw did cooperate.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../jsgTeSz-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../pvFSJyx-1.jpg

These two arsenal repairs on each side of the trigger guard came off but one did not survive (dang)
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../K5fDuEw-1.jpg

Even this came apart easily (ish). Both the screw and the pin came off without excessive force.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../ac2nnZb-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../1lkHbHe-1.jpg

interestingly the forend is number matched, but stamped inside the barrel channel:
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../ouMu6C9-1.jpg

Not sure about the meaning of this;
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../Nh4A1Qc-1.jpg

So, off to a good start. Cleaning will begin sometime this week, or next weekend.

I'd probably glass bead and then hand paper polish...it would show nice after.

Crazy it's in this good of shape....

I see a rifle that's been through the post 1944 FTR process in England, (I've had and still have one just like it sans the long bath in the creek), and sports a phosphate with baked Suncorite 259 paint finish. A testament to why the finish was referred to in REME circles as "Rustproofing"! It's way better than stainless steel.

I simply cannot fathom the condition of this rifle after the situation that befell it. It is the kind of rifle I dream of finding and restoring. Take good care of it.

What an excellent prospect for refurbishment! Froom the state of preservation I would guess the rifle was lying in mud rather than water, as mud is very poor in oxygen.
For a start, I would simply mechanically clean up the metalwork with a brass-wire brush (as used for suede leather). Then use oiled 0000 wirewool on the rougher spots. There could be more original finish left than you think. I would not glass-bead it as such treament will remove any original finish and will not improve the markings.

Finally, a word of warning. You have seen what happened to the arsenal repair on the stock. Do not apply any of the violent means that have been recommended in the past (drying in an oven, soaking with caustic soda...) The wood must be fairly saturated, and any accelerated drying will cause it to warp or even break up.

indeed Patrick, that's pretty much the approach I've selected for now. My goal here is minimal intervention to prevent any further damage, and keep as much as the original finish as possible. Remove the mineral or organic deposits on the wood and metal; repair the arsenal repairs on both sides of the trigger guard (I believe one of the two can be reglued, the other one I will replace); do all I can to clean the bore (there seems to be some remnant of rifling), and, reassemble, shoot. :) I have to say it's going rather well at the moment. The wood is getting cleaned up, will be oiled with pure lnseed soon. (after the repair is done). There are some splits and cracks which need to be reinforced.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by louthepou

do all I can to clean the bore (there seems to be some remnant of rifling),

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If you need some encouragement look up my photos of the "Pickelgewenr".

Oil the wood with linseed mixed with REAL turpentine. That will help it get deep into the pores.

---------- Post added at 02:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:45 PM ----------

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Brian Dick

I see a rifle that's been through the post 1944 FTR process in England, (I've had and still have one just like it sans the long bath in the creek), and sports a phosphate with baked Suncorite 259 paint finish. A testament to why the finish was referred to in REME circles as "Rustproofing"! It's way better than stainless steel.

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Agreed, which is why there is probably more of the phosphating still remaining than one might expect.

This is fascinating, how did you find it?

I see photos of guys in eastern europe pulling old ww2 rifles out of the swamps, most of them looked shootable with a little work.

Sam

I picked up a beater of a 22rf barrel for an SMLE, the bore looked like the inside of a stove pipe.

I cleaned it out with a bronze brush wrapped with steel wool. Had at her with lots of Hopp's and got most of the crusties out but the bore still looked very poor, lots of pitting.
Not to be disheartened, I completed the assembly and to my surprise the gun shot quite well enough for a plinker and I knocked down all my tin cans. Punched some nice round holes in paper too.

Your proof of the pudding will be in the shooting. You might be surprised too.

If it doesn't shoot, would it be worthwhile having the barrel re-lined?

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Originally Posted by Patrick Chadwick

Oil the wood with linseed mixed with REAL turpentine

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Also a trick used to get stains into a very hard wood...thinning it...

Thanks everyone for advices and ideas. Took the time over the past two weeks to do two things:
1. Spend the first week of the holidays fighting a cold, and
2. Spend some time during the second week to work on this rifle!

Things went rather well, but it took time. I cleaned each part individually. From the extractor retaining screw to the front volley sight arm, not forgetting the rear sight leaf spring retaining screw :) Everything was taken apart and cleaned.

The repair of the forend, around the trigger guard, went well too. I had to replace one small piece (probably 1/2" long), but it's now solid enough and should last a few decades.

From inside:
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../1jXrot1-1.jpg

From outside, stained:
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../2FusSeQ-1.jpg

The bore was bad. Really bad. My normal cleaning rod (which usually goes through a .22 bore without a glitch) initially got stuck in the bore, because there wasn't enough clearance. So I began by plugging the muzzle and filling the bore with a de-rusting solution, which opened things up a bit. Then, I switched to bore cleaner (filled up the bore for a few hours as well). After a few hours of brushing, there was some rifling visible! And pitting. There is pitting in there, we can't really avoid this.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../nrtnYMk-1.jpg

But, you know what? It shoots well enough to say: it's alive!
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../0Jcqysf-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../5NnhDQ5-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../BvbqUOX-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../KNZOTQd-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../oruUyya-1.jpg

Further more, testing it in my backyard with CCI "quiet" .22 shorts (because neighbours and so forth), I am very happy to report that, at about 25 yards, we have rasonable grouping!

My "backyard range" (target is in the middle, behind the bird feeder - not the one on the right)
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../mbdh44Q-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../TW5h4NH-1.jpg

That was a great, fun project.

I've seen ratty bores shoot before...worst case you can line it.

Great to see the results Louis. Hard to believe that after it's long luxurious soak that it turned out as well as it did.

A Phoenix really did rise from the ashes great job......

I note that the soaking in the creek raised all of the dents and dings in the woodwork. :thup:

The history of how it ended up in that creek would just be fascinating. I bet with more scrubbing it will shoot fine. Hell it's not doing bad now.

A wonderful piece of work, Louis!

A word of caution: any roughness in the bore will tend to strip off lead from the bullets.

May I therefore suggest that you follow the method I used for the "pickelgewehr" (see thread). Drive a lead slug (from a dismantled .22 round) through the bore, starting from the breech end. Measure the bore diameter (the smallest value you see when you rotate the slug in the jaws of a micrometer) and then turn up a brass slug to this diameter, less about 0.002"***, with a "driving band" in the middle that is about 0.010" larger in diameter and about 1/16" wide. Drive this through the well-oiled barrel, again from the breech end, using a yard length of brass rod as a driver that will not harm the bore. This drive out some hard rust from the grooves, saving save you hours of work with the bronze brush, and also produce a v. slight honing effect that will let the bullets slide through the bore without being ripped up.

*** It is vital that the slug cannot jam in the bore.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Patrick Chadwick

A wonderful piece of work, Louis!

A word of caution: any roughness in the bore will tend to strip off lead from the bullets.

May I therefore suggest that you follow the method I used for the "pickelgewehr" (see thread). Drive a lead slug (from a dismantled .22 round) through the bore, starting from the breech end. Measure the bore diameter (the smallest value you see when you rotate the slug in the jaws of a micrometer) and then turn up a brass slug to this diameter, less about 0.002"***, with a "driving band" in the middle that is about 0.010" larger in diameter and about 1/16" wide. Drive this through the well-oiled barrel, again from the breech end, using a yard length of brass rod as a driver that will not harm the bore. This drive out some hard rust from the grooves, saving save you hours of work with the bronze brush, and also produce a v. slight honing effect that will let the bullets slide through the bore without being ripped up.

*** It is vital that the slug cannot jam in the bore.

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That sounds like a brilliant idea. I was thinking of shooting a few copper-jacketed .22 bullets through, but your method sounds more appropriate... (albeit it does involve more work too!)

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Originally Posted by browningautorifle

worst case you can line it.

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Last year for grins and giggles I relined two 22 rf rifles. Both bores were a real mess. I suspect that in these cases they had been used to fire corrosive ammo and then left in the barn for at least 50 years. Bought the liners and drills from Brownells. Followed their instructions and epoxied them in. Both rifles shoot fine, and look good. Would recommend you do it. It is fun. The only thing I did differently than instructed was to bore using a drill press, not a hand drill. Found that the new drill tended to dig in when using a hand drill. The instructions indicated you should dull it a bit when this happens. I don't like dull things, so I switched to the drill press and had no problems.

Sorry Louis, my post had - apart from the usual typos - a factual error. The last sentence should read:

"This will drive out some hard rust from the grooves, saving save you hours of work with the bronze brush, and also produce a v. slight burnishing* effect that will let the bullets slide through the bore without being ripped up.

*not honing - no metal is being removed.

Once more, I seriously recommend that you try this method. You can't fill up rust pits, but you can blunt the edges so that they don't tear up lead bullets. I have shot some real horrors quite successfully, and reckon that if the pit is soft-edged and small (compared with the bullet length) then a properly lubricated bullet will just slide over the depression - like it does over the gas vent in a Garand, for example.

BTW, have you checked the muzzle crowning? Touching up the crown to have a bright line all the way around can produce significant improvement. No "counterboring", just enough to see the rifling profile at the muzzle.