I just became an Ishapore 2A1 owner....

[intellivore]

... and my new rifle is a beauty, but my new lady has her quirks.

I have some experience with Enfields, my father left me a sporterized No 4 Mk 1/2 when he died, and it was his favorite hunting rifle, and one of my ambitions is to restore it to full stocked glory. Since this is my first post on the forums here, please, be gentle...

First off, a little bit about the rifle; R.F.I. 2A1, N72** serial, most numbered parts matching, dark burnt umber stain on the wood, some smooth wear marks on some of the corners, and a very beautiful profile. the sling she came with sports VX145750 stamped on it at the approximate middle point.

After taking the Ishy home from my local gun shop, i proceeded to take her gently apart, and perform a cosmoline cleaning. During cleaning, I noticed heavy staining and some soft splinters around the magazine well. the body wood wasn't particularly soft, but the splinters were easy to remove with a fingernail. Not being too knowledgeable in wood, is this indicative of rot? Also, behind the receiver itself, there is a band of, I presume, steel held into the wood with a pair of brass rivets, and right down the middle of the band the wood is split from top to bottom, stem to stern. The crack, coupled with the soft splinters, concern me enough to want to restock the rifle, is this what I should do?

Second, the bolt was extremely gritty and stiff on the draw. To remedy this, a light application of Flitz on the bolt guide and along the sides of the locking lug for a dozen or so workings of the action smoothed it out beautifully, cleaning off some of the black paint that had once been applied. this leads to my question; what would you recommend to remove the paint? I would like to avoid using abrasives or bead blasting for fear of loosing the proofing marks and stamping. To replace the protective paint, or whats left of it, i would like to rust blue it or parkerize it, is there a preferred method?

The magazine seems to be the only part with a non matching serial number, but no matter how i tweak the feed lips, she won't feed right after the 8th round, the spring is strong and the follower is straight. Looking around the ProMag magazines are touted as absolute trash more often than not, and i noticed the L8, L42A1, and L39A1 all have a 7.62 chambering. Do the magazines for those rifles fit the magazine well on the Ishapore?

Finally, I know the Ishapore 2A/2A1 and the No 1 Mk III bear cosmetic similarities, but are most of the exterior components (stock, nose cap, bands) interchangeable?

I know I must seem to be a complete newbie, and truth to tell, I am. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Ridolpho]

intellivore: Welcome- I'll start off- the band of steel or strap at the rear of the forend is original and is there to strengthen the forend by stopping it from spreading. It sounds like your forend is split in the so-called "draws" area which, if my collection is indicative, is not unusual. If you don't want to buy a new forend you can find instructions on this site for repairing this problem- check out the Peter Laidler articles. I've done a few (successfully) now myself following his and others advice and I have little wood working skill. I suspect most Mk III parts will fit other than the magazine but perhaps some more knowledgable types will chime in. I've never read anywhere that the action body was modified at all to deal with the higher intensity NATO round but you'll encounter the myth of higher quality steel if you research it.

Ridolpho.

[Maxwell Smart]

The magazines for the L8, L39 and L42 are hard to find, and likely would cost more than your entire 2A1 rifle. I think they would be a very tight fit into the Ishapore's magazine well in any case; I will try one out and see. ( Update ; The Sterling mag fits, but is very hard to get out again; the Enfield mag doesn't even go close to fitting into the Ishapore. )

I've been very pleased with the reproduction 2A mags that Numrich sells, they have good finish and work well, although the follower plates are a little soft.

[Bearstopper]

Just picked one up myself. I have never had a true Milsurp rifle before and never wanted one just due to the misconception that they were mostly ratted out junk or in some cases overpriced junk. That has changed as I have gone through the expensive modern gun phase and needed something new and interesting to obsess over. Impulse buy on Armslist produced and all matching 2a1 complete with most of its thick ugly black paint and fairly inexpensive to boot. Looking forward to learning more about these also.

[Maxwell Smart]

Attachment 52420

7.62 magazines

L - R Ishapore 2A, Sterling, Enfield

The Ishapore will fit the SMLE action AND the No4/5 action

Sterling made for No 4/5 action, will fit 2A with difficulty.

Enfield will only fit No 4/5 type actions

[intellivore]

thanks very much on the mag research and the help with the stock crack!

[intellivore]

I spent some time and a bit of a can of brake cleaner to see if the Ishy was painted with the ubiquitous Black Paint or if it was Suncorite, and just to make sure i didn't harm the rifle itself, i tested it out on the magazine. Lo and behold, beautiful gunmetal was underneath!

After the successful test, i started to strip the nose cap, some of it is being very stubborn, but most of it is leaving me with a beautiful dull grey steel. After I strip it entirely, I am planning on bluing it.

The stock seems to be in worse shape than i thought at first. the crack I spoke of in the first post has softer edges than i feel safe epoxying. This means my only recourse is to restock the rifle. This is a both a good and bad thing. I can bed the action properly, put a cheek riser on, but i lose the character and history from the old stock. Also, I don't know anywhere to get the replacement wood. from what I've seen so far, if i end up with a white or yellow wood stock, a dark cherry stain should approximate the original finish, am i correct in this? If i can help it, I would like to have the rifle look as much like it's original issue condition as i can, even though this is obviously going to be a restoration/modification.

Speaking of restamods, while i was happily brushing away at the magazine, my mind began to wander, as it is wont to do. Having a No4, i always wanted a No5 to go with it, but now I have the Ishy I want to add a reproduction of the Lithgow and Enfield Pattern Room Shortened and Lightened No1's, too! Blasted Enfield Addiction!!!!!! Up here in the hinterlands of central Alaska, .303 is hard to find, I worked at the local gun store and only saw 2 boxes come through in over 6 months. Logically because of the issue there, and since 7.62x51mm is easier to come by, why not use a sporterized Ishapore, probably a Gibbs Quest II, if i can find one, to build the Shortened Lightened I would love to have? What do you guys think?

[Ridolpho]

Intellivore: I would suggest you post some photos of the cracked forend. If the crack is in the "draws" area your proper repair is probably to chop out the damaged area and glue/ peg in a patch as opposed to gluing the crack together. This will expose fresher wood that can probably take glue. Not too long ago I did this repair an ex-Indian No. 5 forend that seemed hopelessly oil-soaked. Something to work on during those long Alaska winters (we just got half a foot of snow here over the last couple of days so guess what I'm doing!). As far as getting yourself a short, light Lee Enfield, the No.5's seem to be everywhere here in Canada. Went to a small show yesterday where there were no less than 6 of them- a few looking virtually unused. I would imagine there's lots available in the USA as well.

Ridolpho

[intellivore]

Ridolpho, I haven't been able to make any gun shows, EVER. something always happens and prevents me from going. Looking online, the price is always a little rich for my blood, im not swimming in finances!

whats the availability of .303 in your area?

Im wanting to use an already butchered Ishapore for the Short and Light project, so i don't destroy another piece of history.

[intellivore]

First off, Ridolpho, rereading the last post I came off a bit snarky and a bit of an ***, and im sorry. That wasnt my intention.

Second off, for some reason my camera and my computer aren't cooperating with each other. the crack in the rear of the forestock is in the center portion of the bedding behind the trigger mount, beneath the strengthening band, and extends diagonally through the thinned portion from top to bottom, almost exactly 2cm from the left side of the wood +/- 3mm variation. having never done stock work like this, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thirdly, as I was stripping off the chipped and beaten paint, I was examining the parts for wear, defect, cracks, etc.. most of the parts, I'd say a good 80%, have a dull gold or dull bronze colored patina underneath. any ideas on what it might be or how it might be affected by a blueing?

Again, thanks in advance!