I bought a 1945 BSA No5 MkI recently. Its in excellent shape, aside from a mismatched bolt and stock, but its a perfect shooter.

The seller told me a few stories on it. He said that it was issued in Malaysia and that's why the fore end has varnish on it, and that they often removed the fore end cap and rounded the wood there, like a sporter. Any truth to this?

The fore end looks super dry and has twisted, so if it wasn't done in service I want to strip it and give it a good soaking in RLO before I try to fix the fore end so it doesn't make contact with the side of the barrel. Kind of hoping its just drier than a popcorn fart and has twisted from it. Front band is loose too so I hope things swell up and go back how they should be.

I can post pics tonight.

Thanks
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