Siamese Contract SMLE Restoration

[BushyFromOz]

So, this resto will actually comprise of 2 firearms, the donor firearm that is providing most of the woodwork and several of the screws, as well as the Siamese Contract rifle which is a total mismatch of several timbers. and has some rust on the left side of the receiver ring where someone has stamped a serial number into it with what looks like a center punch and left the metal bare.

im going to try and do it in 3 parts.
The first being the tear down and disassembly of the donor rifle for the woodwork.
The second will be cleaning up and re-stocking the contract rifle.
Thirdly the repair of the mess on the receiver ring of the Siamese contract rifle if its possible/feasible

Information

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[browningautorifle]

Good luck with fitting the wood, it may not be that easy but you know that I guess.

[BushyFromOz]

Good luck with fitting the wood, it may not be that easy but you know that I guess.

Yeah, looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time

[BushyFromOz]

The donor rifle (actually a .410 shotty) i bought online off pictures. Its a 1938 Indian conversion of a 1917 Enfield No1Mk3 from .303 to .410 with its usual wooden plug in the magazine well.



Knowing the metalwork was cactus, the images of the timber looked really good. It was dark and almost semi gloss, like English Wallnut goes when its oil soaked, and the shop i bought it off was sure it was Wallnut as well. It also had no Ishy screw, so my chances were good for it being english, along with the action

Alas, when i got the damn thing, it was not english, it was in fact an ishy stock, pre-ishy screw. And yes the wood was dark but that's only because it had been coated with something that stinks of motor oil and creosote mix used on old fence posts to stop the termites getting into the woodwork.

When i destocked the thing the rear handguard snapped in two with some dry rot. It must have been stored at the bottom of the Ganges as there was mud underneath the barrel and in the trigger mechanism.


The rest of the wood was structurally very good, but i could not get the oily mess off the timber with acetone or lacquer thinner until i scuffed the surface with 180 grit sandpaper to break the grand of the wood, then the acetone would penetrate. its been 4 days now of wiping it over with lacquer thinner. Each day it looks good in the afternoon, then the next afternoon its got black junk seeping from it again so outcomes the lacquer thinner

Metalwork wise, i was able to save the trigger guard, safety assembly, butt plate, stock bolt, trigger guard screws and the entire nose cap assembly. I didn't bother with the sights as they are pinned at 200 meters for the .410 cartridges. All of the parts show Ishy marks on them, so i have ended up with most of the furniture for an ishy rifle, which is kinda neat.


Ill spend a few days working on this timber, the contract rifle should be here next week

[browningautorifle]

Nothing is junk until it's actually junk. Looking forward to the procedure...I know the wood can sure look better.

[browningautorifle]

Slow and steady, and I think you'll enjoy it as much as I would over all...and of course after.

[BushyFromOz]

Some more pics of the wood today, and a couple of cracks that need addressing. It was a bit oily looking this morning, so i wiped it over with lacquer thinner again and sat it down. The last 2 show the black muck seeping out of the wood grain an hour or so after cleaning

[browningautorifle]

The last 2 show the black muck seeping out of the wood grain an hour or so after cleaning

And so it shall be for a bit, bet you feel very rewarded right now though. Wasn't as bad as you thought was it? It's looking fine. That crack will sort, I'd go as far as acetone inside to clean everything before epoxy, or whatever you use to repair...

It's looking fine as I figured it would.

[BushyFromOz]

It's looking fine as I figured it would.

Its looking a bit better than i expected, but this morning, woodwork has black patches on it again.

The crack on the wrist is on both sides, wondering if i should attempt my first patching job? But i do not know what kind of timber this is or how i would go about matching it.

The other thing is, i figured i would whittle away at collecting enough english wallnut pieces to stock the rifle in that eventually, with this set perhaps going onto a Lithgow action i had thought about setting up for range work

[browningautorifle]

this morning, woodwork has black patches on it again.

And likely will keep bleeding out for some time.

what kind of timber

I take it to be walnut, it's not mohogany...the patching job...there's lots of guys here can coach you.