This summer I walked into a local gunshop and they had a, Lithgowicon built, Lee-Enfield No1 Mk3 for $245. From the looks of her, she seemed to have led an adventurous and active life. Her stock was dented and dirty, the metal finish worn bare in places, but her bore was bright and the rifling sharp. She headspaced fine, and all her numbers matched; action body, barrel, stock, fore stock, butt stock, rear sight, nose cap, all except for the replacement bolt. So since she was looking for someone to take care of her I bought her.

I ran a couple of patches down her barrel and headed for the range. She was great, tight groups and a real joy to use.

So I thought that I might as well clean her up and try to return her to something closer to her WWl configuration.

As far as I can tell she was originally built in 1915 and re-barreled in 1936. The stock looked original and had been extended by the Australians by adding a dovetailed piece to the rear of the butt stock.

I limited myself to some steaming out of dents in the wood, general stock and metal cleaning plus replacement of some screws with butchered heads and missing or out period hardware (rear sight protector, pilling swivel, cocking piece, etc) I also replaced the hand guards since the ears had been trimmed off.

The clean stock received a Tung oil finish and the metal was cleaned and cold blued if required.

She was reassemble all hardware lubricated and tightened and off to the range we went. She shot just as sweet, but everything just seemed smoother!

Here are some before and after pictures, I hope I haven't over restored her…..

D.
Information
Warning: This is a relatively older thread
This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.