Heading to IMA today

[Devious6]

My son and I are heading to the Easton store to see if we can find 2 MH Mk IIs to restore. We'll post some pictures later today after we see what we can find.

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[Devious6]

My son and I got to IMA at about 11:00. They had about 25 Mk IIs, most with wrist cracks, some very serious. We found maybe 3 that had butt stocks without cracks. I ended up with a nice 1876 Enfield Mk II and my son grabbed an 1876 LSA with a cracked stock - but one that looks to be repairable.

They had a bunch of Mk IVs - including an entire pallet that were in very nice condition.

There are just a few gouges on the butt stock and perhaps a little wood rot around the rear forearm pin. The only issue I'm a little concerned with is some pitting and rust on the right of the barrel. That may keep me from shooting it - need to see how bad it is before I decide.

Both rifles function. The bore on my sons is beautiful. Mine is caked with gunk but seems to be OK, too.

Here are a few pics of mine.

Attachment 44243 Attachment 44244

Attachment 44245 Attachment 44246

Attachment 44247

[WarPig1976]

That's some nasty pitting on the that barrel.!! Did you crack that nut open yet an see under the wood line?
That's mold on the stock too, definitely stored in moist humid environment.
Should clean up nice for display.

[Devious6]

Haven't stripped it down yet. I'll start on the outside and then use penetrating oil on the screws to loosen them...hopefully. There's no mold - the sunlight on the dust makes it shine white outside - it's just caked on dirt.

[Devious6]

I'm pretty much done with the MkII. She isn't perfect but I think she cleaned up nicely. As I suspected, the rust and pitting on the barrel looked worse than it really was. I was able to clean out the rust and then used some cold blue to give it color again.

There was some wood rot. One I knew from the start - the center cross pin had rusted and the wood on the right side had rotted around it. I made a new pin with a finishing nail and then tried various ways to fill the wood. In the end, I ordered some stock pieces from IMA and they did a great job of matching the coloring I needed. I drilled out the rotted wood and then cut a plug from the wood from IMA. I later found that in another place - in front of the rear pin an area I thought was a ding turned out to be rot, too. So, I cut another plug and a small lateral piece and glued them in. I didn't sand them down for fear of damaging the original finish - they don't look bad. But, I may end up trying to blend them in a little more.

So here she is - before photos above for comparison to these. Someone reminded me that I had the rear band on backwards - now fixed.

[WarPig1976]

World of difference!! Good job...

[Salt Flat]

Devious, I'm really surprised how nice it cleaned up. Also very good work with the repairs. I think I would leave them just as is, as they look totally appropriate for the age of this rifle. Overall this is an appealing antique piece. Salt Flat