My First Lee Enfield - Looking for Info

[ringo598]

Hi there folks, first time poster, long time lurker from the Frozen North!

I recently got my very first Lee Enfield No4 Mk1 and I'm looking for some advice on if I got a decent deal, any cool info anyone might want to share on it, and lastly and advice on restoring it. The wood is pretty dark and I'm not sure if that's the normal colour as I've seen many with much lighter wood, but I thought I would ask the people who know. Thanks for any responses. Just from using this forum I think I've been able to determine that based of the serial number, the rifle is a 1944 BSA Shirley (At least I think so).

Information

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[#1oilman]

Looks good , doesn't need restoring but I guess that's a mater of personal opinion

[CINDERS]

Welcome to milsurps nice looking rifle your correct M 47C = BSA Shirley but it also has a number underneath it been linished out try some chalk on it to see if a snap can be taken I can make out a 2, 0 or O another on the left like a D! under the K.
You may need to give the stock some 50/50 RLO-Mineral turps mix allowing 24 hours between coats until it wont take up anymore as the stock appears a tad dry.
Front top fore wood looks to be a replacement no biggy all part of its patina & journey to date.

What I see where the butt wrist meets the socket is an uneven gap with what appears to be chipping right at the bottom by the socket caused by the recoil on firing so if the wood is dry it shrinks a little allowing a miniscule amount of movement or the rear bolt may not be as tight as it should you need to look into this there is a search bar top right try searching "loose fitting butt." or something like that

Others with far more knowledge will be along shortly to assist you, be aware you never stop at one Lee Enfield.

[amadeus76]

...you never stop at on Lee Enfield.

Ain’t that the truth! I started with a 1903a3 and wanted a Garand. Then I discovered the Lee Enfield and now I have one example of every type of milsurp rifle I wanted and 4 LE’s, looking at a 5th..

[ringo598]

Thanks for the responses,

Cinders, what's RLO? I know what BLO (Boiled linseed oil) is, is RLO = Refined Linseed Oil?

When I get home I'll try to raise that letter, and I'll give a search and see about fixing that looseness.

[browningautorifle]

what's RLO

Raw linseed oil.

[Ridolpho]

Raw linseed oil.

And available in large jugs at Rona/Revy in the paint department. And Ringo598- that rifle doesn't need "restoration", just normal maintenance.

Ridolpho

[bigduke6]

As others have said no restoration required, just clean, some linseed on the wood and if it bothers you change the forward hand guard, plenty about but If you get stuck I have plenty of front and rear (mainly all Walnut) for £5 each plus P&P.

[nijalninja]

Yeah like everyone has said it looks good. Restoration would normally imply replacing or repairing bits and pieces back to the military service standard, which your's seems to fit perfectly! So yeah what I do with all of my new additions is strip it down to nothing (Make sure you have revised and triple checked how to strip your rifle and never take off anything you are not confident you can put back the right way in), then check all the steel parts for rust and/or gunk and grime and clean it all off and remove all the rust I find (A seal pick, some rags, and some very fine grit sandpaper and steady hand are pretty good on rust), then I clean out the stock of any grease and dirt with turps and a toothbrush, and then the stock is off smothered in 50/50 Raw linseed oil and Turps as mentioned above, and by the time I have cleaned all the steel parts the wood should have soaked in the oil and be ready for reassembly. After that just give it some linseed and turps every now and then and just check the places where you found rust every now and then. Hope this helps, I might have skimmed a few things, and being young and inexperienced I might have said something completely wrong too so perhaps see if anyone comes on and pulls me up on something. Otherwise your rifle looks very nice. Look after it.

[ringo598]

Ah perfect, thanks so much folks. I'll get out to the hardware store this weekend and get some turpentine and raw linseed oil, I'll update with a range report at some point as well.