Enfield MK III* Possible Re-Arsenal to India?

[neoisprettycool]

Thank you all for the replies, I understand that it most certainly won't be all matching. I was referring as to whether or not the stock is original to the main receiver and barrel. I'm not sure about the fore end, I'll be taking it apart tomorrow to clean it and I'll get as many pictures of other markings as I can.

[Peter Laidler]

Don' forget. TAKE THE STOCK OFF BEFORE YOU REMOVE THE BUTT

[neoisprettycool]

Gentlemen,

I have disassembled the rifle and cleaned as much of the cosmoline as I could.

Just a bit of background: I just turned 18 a few months ago and have collected milsurps and other firearms since I was 15. I now have every kind of basic bolt action including Mosins, Mauser actions, a Schmidt Rubin straight pull, and now this Enfield. I am a second-year Mechanical Engineering student at a transfer program to UT-Knoxville. I hope to go into firearm design/manufacturing. I truly appreciate you all sharing your knowledge and wisdom with me. I don't really have anyone else to learn from as most of the individuals my age are so politically skewed that they'd probably judge me if they knew I even owned a firearm.

At any rate, I have found MANY more markings. Unfortunately, I also found a fracture at the rear side of the forestock. There might be a couple duplicates; if so it is because there is another marking near it that I wasn't able to get in the picture. I really tried to take clear pictures, but if there is one that is not clear enough, let me know and I'll do my best to re-do it. From what I can tell, the barrel, receiver, bolt, and nose cap are all matching with a "7901." I am pretty happy about that. Here are all of the markings I have found:


http://prntscr.com/gy8cy6 (Right side of barrel.)
http://prntscr.com/gy8d6u (Left side of barrel.)
http://prntscr.com/gy8diz (Barrel to Receiver point.)
http://prntscr.com/gy8dtd (Moving up from the last pic.)
http://prntscr.com/gy8e4l (Moving up.)
http://prntscr.com/gy8ebe (Side of rear sight.)
http://prntscr.com/gy8eqy (Barrel band)
http://prntscr.com/gy8f3n (Back to barrel.)
http://prntscr.com/gy8f7p (Moving right from center.)
http://prntscr.com/gy8fe8 (Moving left from center.)
http://prntscr.com/gy8fml (Right side of receiver)
http://prntscr.com/gy8g51 (Rear, right side of receiver.)
http://prntscr.com/gy8gn8 (Rear, left and center of receiver.)
http://prntscr.com/gy8gx7 (Front, right side of receiver. This one is a duplicate, but might be more clear.)
http://prntscr.com/gy8hc3 (Bolt handle)
http://prntscr.com/gy8hlw (Cocking mechanism)
http://prntscr.com/gy8ht7 (Magazine)
http://prntscr.com/gy8ibj (Magazine, I think it says "1919"?)
http://prntscr.com/gy8il9 (Trigger guard)
http://prntscr.com/gy8ix2 ^
http://prntscr.com/gy8j45 ^
http://prntscr.com/gy8j9l (Nose cap)
http://prntscr.com/gy8ktm (Inner nose cap)
http://prntscr.com/gy8l0p ^
http://prntscr.com/gy8l5m (Not sure what this is called, I would guess "bolt face"?)
http://prntscr.com/gy8lxt (Safety)
http://prntscr.com/gy8mpt ^
http://prntscr.com/gy8mt6 (Forestock, I think it reads "155")
http://prntscr.com/gy8nyi (Hand guard)
http://prntscr.com/gy8o7p (Butt-plate trapdoor)
http://prntscr.com/gy8oo3 (Rear hand guard, I can't tell what it reads.)

Fracture:

When I took this apart, and cleaned it up with spirits and three pieces just fell off of the stock... I tried to glue and puzzle it back together. It failed, I believe, due to the remaining cosmoline inhibiting the glue. I assume that the screw fractured the wood, the screw is also fractured in half as well. My question is: How can I successfully repair this or at least repair it enough to be able to safely shoot? How much will this affect the structural integrity of the rifle? (I haven't taken Statics or Strength of Materials yet to analyze it myself.)

http://prntscr.com/gy8p4b
http://prntscr.com/gy8p8d
http://prntscr.com/gy8pd3 (Notice the split screw.)
http://prntscr.com/gy8pj2 (Pieces that came off.)

Thank you all again and regards,

Logan P.

[neoisprettycool]

Also, interesting fact: I got this Enfield from a city Homicide detective for $350. His partner and he spoke to me for quite a while about their job. Very interesting, he apparently has had close to 40 Enfields in his collection.

[Flying10uk]

I've edited the last 4 pictures (from Post 13) and reposted them here to make them easier to see. I would suggest that a new piece of wood will need to be let into the end of the fore-end and glued/pinned, rather than trying to reuse the old broken bits. You will need to remove as much of the oil and grease from the wood as possible before attempting to glue it.

[neoisprettycool]

The problem is, the pieces of wood are very irregular in shape. Not sure how I could get pieces like that. Maybe Whittle it?

[Flying10uk]

I think that Peter has written some articles on fore-end repairs here on the Milserps Forum. If I was doing the job I would just use 1 piece of new wood if possible.

[CINDERS]

This is how Ken Davis Master stock maker repaired the draws area to my T as it was completely & utterly knackered like the O P's he has done this to quite a few No 1's & 4's like this.
I did not want to lose the bottom wood as it was original to the 1944 rifle so gave him the go ahead.
It may seem abhorrent to some but not as abhorrent to me as losing that piece which has been a part of that rifle for 73 years it is aircraft grade aluminium with a 2 pack bonding agent has threaded bolts holes into which the bolts screw into it via the tie plate, it has not affected the rifle at all it groups very well at a 100yds.
Well I cannot shoot it that well but my friend got an all touching 3 shot clover leaf so I guess it works and by the time my son gets it these things will be scarcer than ash trays on motor bikes.

[Flying10uk]

Peter's article on No4 and No5 fore-end repairs: https://www.milsurps.com/content.php...-Peter-Laidler)

Quite a neat repair/idea on your rifle, CINDERS.

[Ridolpho]

This is how Ken Davis Master stock maker repaired the draws area to my T as it was completely & utterly knackered like the O P's he has done this to quite a few No 1's & 4's like this.
I did not want to lose the bottom wood as it was original to the 1944 rifle so gave him the go ahead.
It may seem abhorrent to some but not as abhorrent to me as losing that piece which has been a part of that rifle for 73 years

Cinders- I agree with you completely. If an original forend can be made to work, it's worth the effort. The aluminum block is neat but the same thing can be done with wood which is probably easier for the inept hobbyist like me. The photo shows a No. 5 with replacement of entire draws area. Also had to patch the front triggerguard screw area. Crude work notwithstanding, this has now held up to a lot of shooting, which is the ultimate test. The big win for me is that the (matching) forend is dark and ugly and well used- perfect for an Indian owned No. 5.

Ridolpho