Rifle No3 Mk1* W (T)

[Son]

I picked this rifle up a few months ago and found the scope had been painted with a matt black spray. It also had what looked like flecks of paint inside on the lenses. I stripped the scope out and removed the paint to find active rust underneath. The person who painted it had chipped some of the paint off when assembling the saddle, and this was floating around inside. The tube has quite a bit of pitting on the outside and a small dent, luckily, none of which hampered disassembly. I spent many hours cleaning all traces of the paint off the tube inside and out, and more hours removing the rust completely so I could refinish the tube. I decided to do a cold blue on it and got a pretty good result. I let it stand for two months to see if any rust staining came through before assembling it on friday. You will see from the pics I missed blackening part of the brass, but can do that bit assembled when I get more of the chemical to do it. A professional refurb at a later date is an option, see how it goes....

The rifle is a Winchester made Patt14 rifle from 1917. It is one of 2001 rifles converted by P.P. Co in 1918 to Patt14 Mk1* W (T) ... later to be named the Rifle, No. 3 Mk1* (T)
This rifle is one of "a quantity" that was sent to Australia between the wars, and has Australian ownership marks.
The rifle appears to retain all it's original parts including barrel which is in very good+ condition. Overall the rifle is very good condition. Unfortunately the scope is miss matched, but appears good internally with all it's functions working and has a very clear view.

The No. 3 Mk1* W (T) was the only sniper rifle Australia had during WW2 until production of the No1 MkIII* HT began to reach the front line late in 1944. Still trying to track down more information on the time of arrival and the quantity.

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