Ishapore 2A1 Paint

[P.E. Islander]

A year or two ago I bought an Ishapore 2A1 Lee Enfield from a friend, and today I finally got around to taking it down for a good cleaning and once over. I must say that this was one of the more filthy mil-surp rifles i have taken down and cleaned in about 25 years of messing with these things. The only other rifles that compared to the dirt were also ex Indian service.

As you are probably aware, metal on the the 2A1 rifles was finished with black paint. Actually it looks like paint was "slopped" on. At this stage in the rifles life at least 50% of the paint is worn off, and cleaning solvents are taking more off. In the current condition, it looks like crap, IMO. I was wondering what others have donw with your Ishapore 2A1 rifles. Have you cleaned the remaining paint off or left it "as is"?

Information

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[Badger]

Well, great question ....

~Angel~ has two of these in her collection and both have the suncorite peeling off. I've often wondered whether she shouldn't just get them stripped and redone as they look ugly, but I assume the collector value for go right into the toilet...

Regards,
Badger

[Jorjohn11]

I stripped mine down totally and refinished it with Lauer Duracoat in Colt grey. It looks like a brand new rifle now. There were 4 or 5 layers of paint on it originally and several of the layers actually had cosmoline in between them. When I finished I couldn't believe how sharp and crisp every part looked. I tried several different methods and concoctions to start the stripping but ended up with a spray can of gasket remover. One shot let it sit for 5 minutes and rinse it off with hot water and a rag.

[natlmatch]

Can suncorite be reapplied? Is there a specific method to applying it? ie, heating, curing, baking? Any specialized equipment needed?

[Claven2]

Suncorite is easy to re-apply IF you can get it. Good luck with that. Unless yuou live in the UK, it is VERY hard to source.

It is applied by either spray gun or brush. No baking, but there is a curing time of a few hours, room temperature.

[Brian Dick]

The paint that was used by the Indians was definitely not Suncorite 259. If it was it wouldn't be coming off with regular solvents during the cleaning process. I think they had a domestic paint of some type. Any high temp engine block paint in semi gloss should suffice. The underlying finish is a phosphate or Parkerizing and if you degrease it well it should take an excellent paint finish or "rustproofing" as it would say on MoD paperwork. ATB.

[Claven2]

Interestingly, the 1934 Ishapore MkIII I'm cleaning up now has no phosphating under the paint, just pre-ww2 rust blue that has a nicely aged brown-ish patina. They slapped the paint right over it with virtually zero surface prep.

[Jollygreenslugg]

Ah yes, the preservative paint on Ishapore rifles. Good stuff that, did the job!

I've only ever seen one 2A1, mismatch, black paint and beautiful bore. I'm holding out for a matched example.

Cheers,
Matt

[tower06]

I bought 2 from AIM last year. I had one guncoated, looks just like parkerizing.

[Galvanizer]

Interesting to know that people came across the same issues. Just stripped my pieces yesterday and did a bit of bluing. The metal was too nice and duracoat too expensive for me to do anything else. That paint the factory put on looks like it was done by a guy using his feet, except for the fingerprints all in the paint. I feel so enlightened right now...

Did you all strip the green paint from the barrel? I'm having a hard time determining what to do with it.