Metal Finish Question

[dangles]

I'll soon be taking delivery of my first Lee Enfield (a Lithgow SMLE Mk. III*) and had a question about the finish on the metal...



Based on a bunch of others I've looked at this one appears much lighter. Has the finish maybe been stripped off the metal at some point? Or is that normal? I got it for a REALLY good price and it's just going to be a shooter so I'm not too worried about it but I am curious. Feel free to peruse the rest of that album to get a feel for what the rest of the rifle looks like. It's not yet in my possession. I'll take more/better pics this next week when it arrives.

Thanks!

Information

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[Aussie48]

Nice Lithy not that I'm biased of course. You might find it went to New Guinea and when you get it home test on an area not showing (covered by timber) with some acetone and it will rub off and the parkerising will be underneath.

[Peter Laidler]

Painting was an approved protective measure in the absence of the 'correct' browning or other rustproofing. However, later in the war a far better/superior method was tried and has been used ever since. Bead blasting, phosphating and hard bake painting

[Bruce_in_Oz]

As mentioned before:

Zinc added to the phosphate bath will result in a grey finish; See M-1 Garands for example.

The colour and consistency is usually determined by the grade and "quality" of the grit-blasting before the phosphate bath.

Manganese will give a very dark grey / black finish.

Again, as with US goodies, long storage in cosmoline will result in zinc phosphating taking on a distinct green tinge.

However, painting was certainly not unknown in WW2 Oz service. In fact it got quite fancy with the Owen guns.

[Peter Laidler]

By the mid 60's our Owen guns were all black although some of the parts and magazines came in a yellow/green paint. I don't know what it was but it was quite hard If I can did the old papers out I'll mention the exact khaki paint mix/spec that was to be used to protect the finish of guns. I remember the fancy wording, such as '..those equipments desirous of remdial protection notwithstanding the this that and the other......blah blah blah.......' and it had the word 'scamic' in it somewhere

[dangles]

Ok thanks for the replies! Let me make sure I'm understanding this all correctly... At some point this was painted over as a way to protect the metal from corrosion? Is it common for people to remove the paint from all the metal to reveal the finish underneath or do people typically just leave it?

Peter you mention "Owen" guns... I've searched the site and found some references to other guns but not SMLEs. What is an Owen gun? Also is that black paint you mention the same stuff I see on the '60s era Ishapore 2A1 rifles?

[browningautorifle]

Attachment 53118 This is an Owen Gun...

[dangles]

Ohhh.... "our" in the national sense, not the "you and me" sense. Gotcha

[Ridolpho]

Now I'm getting confused (common occurence). Isn't dangles rifle (at least the receiver) simply parkerized with either original or due to aging in grease light greenish tint. Both of my WW2 Lithgows have a similar finish which resembles the distinctly greenish parkerizing on my '43 1903A3. I know what green tropical paint looks like and it aint that.

Ridolpho

[Brian Dick]

I'm with Ridolpho. That's zinc phosphate with no hint of paint I can see. I'm suspicious that one may not be original Australian phosphate but could be wrong. I'd guess it's been refinished post service. It obviously isn't hurt in my opinion but just doesn't look the right color for a Lithgow job. I've handled quite a few and have restored one or two!