Safe to shoot this rifle?

Hi everyone

Looking for some advice on whether or not this desporterized enfield is safe to shoot? I acquired this NRF (1918?) No1 mk3, FTR’d 1953, a few years back and finally collected all the parts I needed to restore it. Now I know most of you probably don’t find the BSA post war rifles all that interesting from a collector stand point but I’ve always personally enjoyed them as they are built on the original receivers but always seem to have a new 53’ barrel. I feel like you get the best of both worlds, an old battle rifle but a total refurbishment from the factory. Plus I don’t feel as guilty shooting them. This one was built on a National rifle factory receiver but has the cypher scrubbed for some reason? The inside of the barrel is pristine and clearly didn’t see very much shooting from its previous owner. My concern is when I bought the rifle it was clearly not stored properly and had active rust on the Knox and barrel that had to be removed. Hopefully you can see the attached pictures that show this. The pitting is not very deep on the Knox, not much deeper then the armourer marks, but towards the muzzle they get a little deeper. My question is this level of pitting something I should be concerned about? Is the rifle safe to shoot? I sit behind a desk most days and my knowledge of metallurgy is non existent. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Id have no concerns about shooting it. The metal is very thick where the pitting is. :)

The pressures towards the muzzle will be a lot less than at the chamber and just in front of it, however best to wait until one of the qualified persons here weigh in who work or have worked on the Lee line Brian Dick if he sees this thread will no doubt chime in. Nice looking rifle will out last all of us and then some if looked after.

For comparison, here are some pics of a No. 4 Mk.1* I brought back to life - a lend lease turn that saw some wet somewhere. It pulled on my heart strings and I bought it out of a crate. Deep exterior corrosion on most all wood-to-metal contact points.
https://www.milsurps.com/showthread....l=1#post466576
That exterior corrosion looks way worse than it actually is. Compare your pitting to the depth of the cut for the front sight cross-pin, or a dovetail on other rifles, or any blind tapped hole in the barrel for front or rear sights, barrel mounted scope block, or any other reason to drill or mill a barrel exterior. Now Compared to these, our exterior corrosion pits are just scratches.
Go shooting, and have fun.

Shoot it. I would.

Agreed, should be good to go.

I can’t see a problem I have shot rifles with far worse pitting the that

Nice find of an FTR's NRF rifle, too. Collectable in its own right.

Classic Firearms sent me a 91/30 much worse than that. I did have my gunsmith check it out and she said it was safe so I would assume yours would be safe also. Enjoy it!

I really appreciate the reply’s everyone, I’m starting to see a consensus form. I am not too worried about the Knox pits with the thicker metal but more concerned about the few deeper ones down the barrel. I take your point though CINDERS that the pressure would start to diminish as you go down the barrel. Nice job on the No4 ssgross, looks great. I was pretty happy to find a NRF for the collection limpetmine, it goes well with FTR53 SSA and 1944 dispersal I found! All with great bores. I’m just sad that the cypher was scrubbed on this one and it looks like it was done at BSA. Can’t imagine why you’d do that? You guys are slowly building my confidence!

I think Hatcher talked about those experiments as well.

As a gunsmith for over 50 years in a country where the .303 Lee-Enfield reigned supreme for a great many years, I can assure you that, subject to a headspace check, your rifle is perfectly safe to shoot. I have seen many rifles with pits inside and outside that were twice as deep as yours in everyday use with no safety problems. The BSA FTR '53 rifles were widely sold here in the 1960's and I got a new one for my 16th birthday in 1963. I sporterised it and fitted a scope and used it for hunting for several years including a spell as a professional culler and it accounted for 100's of deer, pigs, and goats before I upgraded to a .30-06.

If you were to see the pits in front of the chamber on a smle I am working on you would scratch your head and yes I have been shooting it as I said get it out and shoot it check the h/s if you are uncertain it’s not rocket science

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Originally Posted by SMLE1927

Safe to shoot this rifle?
Hi everyone

Looking for some advice on whether or not this desporterized enfield is safe to shoot? I

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It is most important to recognize that no-one here can give you a guarantee that the rifle is safe.
There was once a horror case on this forum where an ex-DP Enfield LOOKED OK but had in fact a hole drilled through the chamber wall. This hole had probably had a pin inserted to prevent rounds being chambered. It LOOKED OK in the photos and fooled the forum contributors.

All contributors can do here is, in the best case, to say that they see nothing negative. The final responsibility always rests with the user.

---------- Post added at 01:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:19 PM ----------

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SMLE1927

Safe to shoot this rifle?
Hi everyone

Looking for some advice on whether or not this desporterized enfield is safe to shoot? I

---

It is most important to recognize that no-one can give you a guarantee that the rifle is safe.
There was once a horror case on this forum where an ex-DP Enfield LOOKED OK but had in fact a hole drilled through the chamber wall. This hole had probably once had a pin inserted to prevent rounds being chambered. It LOOKED OK in the photos and fooled the forum contributors.

All contributors can do here is, in the best case, to say that they see nothing negative. The final responsibility always rests with the user.

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Originally Posted by Patrick Chadwick

It is most important to recognize that no-one here can give you a guarantee that the rifle is safe.
There was once a horror case on this forum where an ex-DP Enfield LOOKED OK but had in fact a hole drilled through the chamber wall. This hole had probably had a pin inserted to prevent rounds being chambered. It LOOKED OK in the photos and fooled the forum contributors.

All contributors can do here is, in the best case, to say that they see nothing negative. The final responsibility always rests with the user.

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I remember that - it happened to align with his thumb, pulling the trigger resulted in blowing his thumb off.

I think that was one of the reasons that the forum tends to work on the philosophy 'never live fire a DP rifle'

I appreciate your honesty Patrick. I totally understand there are no guarantees, especially when we are dealing with a 100+ year old rifle. Just hoping to draw on some of the combined experience here to steer me in the right direction. The bolt is mismatched but will not close on the disc field gauge and no go that I have. Using the method in Rodger wadham’s book, the recoil lugs have good contact, so I’m not too concerned there. Just trying to be cautious as up to this point I have been lucky with my enfield purchases and have had no real external corrosion or pitting (same can’t be said for all the inside of the barrels!).

---------- Post added at 06:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:22 AM ----------

Woodsy I can’t imagine what it would be like to walk into a gun shop and have a brand new SMLE, in full military configuration, straight from the factory! I’m sure they must have been so common no one paid much attention to them. I don’t even want to know what you would have paid for one in 1963, I don’t think I could handle it.

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Originally Posted by rcathey

I think Hatcher talked about those experiments as well.

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You are correct, it was Julias Hatcher. I just got that book too...not Brophy.

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Originally Posted by SMLE1927

]Woodsy I can’t imagine what it would be like to walk into a gun shop and have a brand new SMLE, in full military configuration, straight from the factory! I’m sure they must have been so common no one paid much attention to them. I don’t even want to know what you would have paid for one in 1963, I don’t think I could handle it.

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The FTR53 cost 9 Pounds, 10 Shillings (NZ$19.00) in 1963. In 1969/70 the shop I was working at (W H Tisdall Ltd) was selling unissued Long Branch No.4 Mk I* rifles for NZ$29.95, or $35 sporterised. They were in cases of 10 and, apart from having N^Z stamped on the right side of the butt, were in completely new condition. There were 50-60 cases in the store room. I would take a case home on a Friday night and bring them back on Monday fully sporterised for $35.00 per case, which was a good boost to my wages as a young married man.

What did a sporterization involve in that case?

By the way, knowing there had been a large gunshop in Vancouver, BC, from the late 1800s to at least the 1930s, named Tisdall's, and it being an unusual name, I went looking and found this: W. H. Tisdall Frederickton NB, makers of fine shotguns in the 1860s | York Sunbury Historical Society I assume he started a branch in New Zealand, or perhaps a son or two emigrated there from Canada.

One of the Tisdalls was Mayor of Vancouver at one time.