1959 British enfield no. 1 mk iii drill rifle-display

[Peter Laidler]

If I had this rifle Middy, I'd be thankful that I have something that is reasonably unusual, well marked, usually unloved but another of the genuine lineage of Enfield Rifles that would fit well within any Enfield collection anywhere in the world. And guess what........... I bet VERY few of them have a genuine DP rifle. You have a grand old lady in your hands that has been in a Training Regiment for many, many years and has seen more parade grounds, training areas, recruits and bayonet galleries than the rest of us all put together

If I had it, here's what I'd do. I'd carefully strip the rifle down and set about getting rid of all of that grotty varnish with some chemicals or a sharp scraper, followed by some fine wire wool, remembering to keep the edges perfectly square then finishing it off with lashings of linseed oil.

Then I'd send the metalwork away to be bead blasted and phosphated and painted with a deep satin finish hard baked paint.

THEN I'd research, on this forum, the correct Indian Army colour codes/combinations of their DP rifles and accurately repaint the rifle as it would have been. The difference is that hopefully you'll use a proper paint brush whereas the Indian storemen use an old floor brush to paint with. Carefully assemble it then stand back and admire it.

You’ll soon find that as your Enfield enthusiast friends see it, you’ll get one of two reactions. The unknowing will just shrug their shoulders and make some off-hand comment. To those, you can just say words to the effect ‘……… that rifle isn’t a rifle any more. But do you realize that it’s probably seen more action as a DP than any of your rifles have ever seen on the battlefield. But even before it was a DP, it’d seem many years of service but STILL had sufficient life to be downgraded to the training role’. You could also mention that before anyone even picked up his service rifles, they’d done their square bashing and initial training with your DP. You won’t have to say anything to the knowing and wise will hold it in that way that lets you know that while they know a lot, they FEEL it too.

Yep, another TRUE variant from the Lee Enfield stable. Enjoy………..

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[jss]

If I had this rifle Middy, I'd be thankful that I have something that is reasonably unusual, well marked, usually unloved but another of the genuine lineage of Enfield Rifles that would fit well within any Enfield collection anywhere in the world..........

I agree with this statement almost entirely as the "dodgy" rifles I have acquired have been the source of most interest and learning. My own No1 has gone through EY to DP and back to "In proof" NOT!. Unfortunately from what I can gather, at least where I live, there is lately apparently no concept of "collecting" for many of us, so we must use the rifles we own.
Should all DP rifles perhaps be de-activated when Identified to avoid dastardly folk from grinding of the DP marks and selling them on as shootable with the possible associated risks?.
I wonder if it is legal in England to sell on a DP rifle as I don't see how they could be considered to be "In proof" when so obviously been condemned by the experts!. Or could it actually be re-proofed in civvy street when covered in DP marks?.
Is there any point in having a live firing DP rifle when you can't shoot it?.
Just the thoughts of a confused and naive beginner.

[Midmichigun]

All,
Back to the clean of up this DP rifle!

After gently cleaning the surface with a water based 3M paint stripper, and an old tooth brush, I have found this....


Two interesting repairs. I think that these will definitely give the rifle some character after I put it together. Arsenal repairs are not new or scary things... just part of the rifle history!
One thing that I do have to repair, is this crack, which I found while cleaning up the rifle. Left unattended, this could lead to a major problem in the future...

The wood is solid in this region, so this should be an easy repair.
Careful cleaning leads to the preservation of the DP marks and cartouches on the stock...

As you will note, the magazine was clearly painted... however, there was little to no evidence of this being done to the receiver/ stock region... after peeling off some layers of grunge, this is what you find...

The wood was clearly "banded". No shock there!

There are still dark splotches of stuff on the stock. I am going to use some turpentine to clean that off. Moving forward!

[fergs]

A nice to have in any collection, I remeber having DP SLRs when i was in cadets in the late 80s they had been properly done at Lithgow till some swine broke into the armoury and stole a heap of them thinking they could be reactivated. The poor fools, the police then found them scattered around once the theives figured they couldnt fix them.
But once again it is a peice of the family tree and should look a treat once you do her up!
Regards
Fergs