CLEANING, REFINISHING and RESTORATION
I have broken this
page down into sections starting with a non-destructive detailed cleaning
designed to clean the Enfield
without greatly altering its original finish, followed by two other methods
progressively more destructive in nature. A refinishing section that is
designed to enhance the original look and patina of the rifle or to return it
to “as new” status. The last section deals with restoration, which
in the context of this webpage, involves home repairs designed to address small
problems found on some rifles. The objective of this section is to repair minor
defects, to return the rifle to a more functional state or to enhance the
appearance of it. I suggest reading the whole article before deciding your own
plan of attack as the sections are not designed as a 1-2-3 approach but rather
as separate instructions that must be understood overall before commencing.
Section One - Detailed Cleaning & Cosmoline
Cosmoline is the dark sticky substance
that is present on just about every military surplus rifle ever built. It was
designed as a long term storage preservative, used to create a moisture barrier
to protect the firearm from the elements. When applied, Cosmoline was heated in
large tanks and the firearm was submerged into it, allowing the stuff to creep
into every crack and crevice of the rifle. When the rifle was removed from the
tank, the Cosmoline would thicken to a grease like state. It should be noted that depending on the particular rifles storage conditions,
after a very long time (hence surplus rifle) Cosmoline can turn hard almost
resembling a runny varnish finish. To tell the difference, try scraping a small
amount off with your fingernail, Cosmoline will scrap off unlike varnish.
Through the test of time, Cosmoline has lived up to its description,
long term, as removing it is not easy. Once you manage to strip it off, you
will see that the Cosmoline worked as it was intended to.
Cosmoline must be removed from the firearm
before any attempt to test fire the piece, for both safety and cosmetic
reasons. Obviously bore obstructions are a very bad thing and that is what
Cosmoline is when found in the barrel. However, as stated above Cosmoline was
designed to settle in everywhere including the trigger group, cocking piece,
striker and all other places. If a detailed cleaning is not done, this could
affect the function of these parts and cause the action to be stiff, failure to
feed, failure to eject and or failure to fire. The other down side to not getting
the Cosmoline off, is that if left on and the rifle is fired (warms up) the
Cosmoline will liquefy and begin to penetrate the stock, oil soaking the wood.
Not to mention it will also begin to drip off and ooze out of the rifle making
the day at the range a messy one. So at the minimum, if the rifle is not a
museum grade valuable collector piece bought for display purposes only, I
strongly suggest that the rifle be detail stripped and the entire piece be
thoroughly cleaned.
Metal Parts
All the metal parts including the
barreled receiver are easily stripped of Cosmoline, old oil and the Tunisian
desert sand, by first soaking them in near boiling hot water. The laundry room
sink works well for this step. While soaking, use an old toothbrush to scrub
all the parts down. When finished get out the kettle and boil up a full pot of
water and rinse everything with it, this will cause the remaining water to
evaporate off, thus preventing rust. If you bought a really well preserved
rifle, it may be necessary to soak and scrub the metal parts with acetone or
for small stubborn parts a shot of automotive brake clean and the toothbrush
may do the trick. CAUTION Later manufactured Lee Enfields were factory
finished in enamel type paint. You would be well advised to test a small hidden
area of the rifle before going hog wild with the acetone and/or brake clean, it
may strip the finish off of your rifle.
Now that the metal has been cleaned, care should be taken to oil all parts and
surfaces. Any brand of gun oil can be use for this purpose but I have found the
aerosol type oils, like Rem Oil, to be well suited for this job as it can be
sprayed into those hard to reach spots.
Wood Furniture
Before going any further, you must step back and assess the condition of the
wood stock and the finished result that is desired.
If the wood is not
particularly oil soaked or Cosmoline covered and has an appealing look. It
would be best to use Murphy’s Oil Soap (MOS) and a shop rag to gently
clean the wood. Used as directed MOS will clean the wood of dirt but leaves the
original patina intact. When finished all that is need is a light coat of
Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO) or Tung Oil and possibly a polishing with the homemade
stock wax. This method is the most non-destructive and will best preserve any
stampings or markings found on the stock and is the method most likely to save
the original bedding of the stock.
Note: The next two methods become more destructive
and will raise stampings and markings and because of the hot water involved may
influence the original bedding of the piece. Care must be taken when finished,
to check the bedding. To minimize bedding changes or stock warpage, I suggest
using water as hot as possible, to reduce immersion time, followed by hand
drying (shop rag/towel) and then allow the wood to dry naturally at room
temperature. No hair driers and no setting it on the back porch in the midday
sun.
If the wood is
heavily oil soaked or has hardened on Cosmoline, the wood is best cleaned using the same hot
water/boiling water method suggested for the metal parts. Again the laundry
room sink works best, it is large and deep enough to immerse just about all the
furniture at once. Leaving it soak for a good half hour or so, will leech out
most all of the Cosmoline, oil and other assorted age old crud, just remember
to keep the water good and hot. It may help to boil a large pot of water and
pour it over the various pieces followed by a good scrubbing with a toothbrush
or stiff bristled nail brush. Once cleaned the wood should be allowed to dry at
room temperature for a day or two before applying any oil finish or
re-installing it on the rifle.
If the desired finished product is the
“as new” look, then a combination of the hot water/boiling water
along with acetone, scrub brush and #0000 steelwool is called for. This method
involves first soaking the wood in hot water and cleaning as described above,
but before final drying generously soak the wood with acetone and scrub with
either a stiff bristled brush or preferably #0000 steelwool. Do this in a well
ventilated area and not near the household furnace, follow the cautions on the
acetone container. The acetone will remove everything, Cosmoline, oil finish
and wood stain if present. When done, let the stock dry for a day or two before
moving onto re-staining and oil finishing.
Note: I
have found this method works best when the objective is a new looking set of
lumber. Acetone strips everything bare, but leaves the wood in its natural
color. I have tried using oven cleaner, which I will admit takes a lot of the
work out of stripping. However, I find it tends to leave a tint in the wood
which is not quite natural.
Section 2 –
Refinishing
Metal Parts
Enfields were finished a
variety of ways, depending on the year and at what factory the Enfield was manufactured.
They were also re-finished in several ways during Factory Thorough Repairs
(FTR). The most common finish on English made rifles is oil blackened (No1 and
No4 rifles) or black oxide (No4 rifles). The No4 rifles may also be initially
done in either oil blackening or black oxide followed by a coating of black
enamel paint. Australian No1 rifles will be found either oil blackened or
parkerized depending on the time of their manufacture. Canadian and American
made No4 rifles will be mostly parkerized.
Having said all this, there
is not much that can be done in the basement to repair worn metal finished
outside of touching up small areas with any of the commercial cold blue
solutions out there. The best suggestion I can make is to seek out a gunsmith
and discuss with him/her refinishing the piece to as close as possible the
original finish. If re-coating the rifle with a similar to original black paint
is desired, the best choice would be a high heat automotive or barbeque paint.
Care would have to be taken to match as close as possible the original paint.
Wood Furniture
Where
the timber was just washed with MOS and allowed to dry for a couple of days 1
or 2 light coats of BLO or Tung Oil (your choice) is all that is needed. For
complete moisture protection it is advisable to oil the stock inside and out.
This may be followed by a polishing with the homemade stock wax for further
protection. The wax also helps to give the stock that well maintained parade
ground look.
Stocks
that have undergone the more radical hot water or acetone bath will need a bit
more attention. First after allowing the stock to dry for several days it may
be necessary to shave the whiskers (raised grain) from the stock. This is done
by rubbing the entire stock (going with the grain) using #0000 steelwool. To
repair any large rough or raised area, I would recommend using a scraper, care
should be taken not to scrape off any stampings in the wood. When smooth to the
touch, the wood will most likely need about 3 separate coatings of BLO or Tung
Oil followed if desired, with a stock wax polishing.
Section 3 – Restoration
This
section deals with tricks and repairs designed to fix small problems on shooter
grade rifles, not collector pieces. Nor is this section designed to address
serious or safety related problems for these types of issues it is strongly
recommended that you seek the services of a qualified gunsmith.
Removing Dents and Dings
If the initial cleaning
failed to swell out all of the dings and dents in the furniture, it is possible
to coax most of them out using steam. Simply wet a shop rag with water and
place over the offending dent and using a soldering iron or clothes iron and
heat the area lightly to raise the dent, be careful not to heat for too long as
it will split the wood. This is only going to work on small blemishes, large
dents or chips will have to be accepted as part of the rifle's history.
Stock Cracks
Cleaning
the stock can sometimes reveal cracks or splits in the stock that could not be
noticed before. Small cracks on handguards and other non-stressed parts may be
safely ignored or they can be repaired with carpenters glue. To do this the
effected area should be thoroughly degreased with acetone and be completely
dry. Carefully pull the crack/split apart slightly and work the
carpenters glue into the wound. Gently clamp it back together, let set. When
dry, use a scraper to remove any excess glue and wood slivers.
For
the areas that are subject to stresses from firing or that may effect bedding
it will become necessary to pin the lumber. This fix is an adaptation from the
old craftsmen who used brass pins to strengthen potentially weak areas of
stocks. To start, locate the approximate center of the crack, judge the size
and go out and buy a package of brass wood screws (the smaller diameter the
better). With screws on hand, find your center again and drill a pilot hole
(appropriate to the screw size used), degrease the area with acetone, let dry. Carefully
separate the crack and apply carpenters glue, working down into the wound,
clamp as close as possible to the center and then screw in the brass screw
leaving the head out and exposed, leave until set. Remove the clamp and with a
die grinder, hacksaw or file remove the head of the screw and file flush with
the wood. You may want to mask the wood all around the screw to prevent
scuffing the stock.
Scrapers
Made
from flat steel, scrapers are tools used by the professional to shape wood into
its finished form. They are the final step when bedding a stock to an action
and are also used to shape the final exterior contour of the gun stock if
needed. As the name indicates, a scraper is used to shave small amounts of wood
from the stock, this is done by pulling the scraper (going with the grain)
along the area that requires shaping.
Though
these tools can be bought commercially, homemade ones can be fashioned from any
scrap piece of steel found around the hobby shop. Old hacksaw blades are my
favorite as they are small and rigid. To make a scraper, cut the hacksaw blade
to the right size and then sharpen the edge on a grinder leaving the burr
intact, that’s the part to use to scrap the wood. These can be cut and
sharpened to whatever contour or size that you require.
If
you are looking for a professional finish, any area that requires some small
stock removal this is method to use. Stay away from sandpaper, as traditionally
it just wasn’t used.
Final Prep
If
after completely stripping the stock and repairing any blemishes, dents, gouges
and cracks the whole exterior wood surface should be lightly smoothed out using
#0000 steelwool. It is best to rinse the steelwool in acetone to remove any oil
that may be present in the steelwool and then allow it to dry before using.
Working with the grain buff the entire stock and handguards with the steelwool
until it is smooth to the touch.
Stain
Although
stain was not an official method of finishing Enfield furniture in the world of the
military surplus affection ado’s it has its place. As many late issue
Enfields were stocked in beech wood, over time the combination of the linseed
oil finish and the application of long term storage preservatives (cosmoline)
darkened this furniture. Stripping these particular stocks to bare wood will
result in a very blonde almost yellow appearance.
It
may be appealing to some to darken the tone of this wood to create a more aged
look. The other reason stain may be used is to more closely match all four
pieces of the stock to each other, this is not wholly wrong as technical orders
did stipulate that armourer’s were to try and match as close as possible
the wood furniture during repairs. For whatever reason the decision to stain
the stock, it should be done after the final prep but prior to oil finishing.
Oil Finishing
Boiled Linseed Oil
The original finish used on
Enfields was Linseed Oil, the furniture was dipped in heated tanks of it. Today
it is best to use Boiled Linseed Oil
(BLO), the boiled variety has been treated to dry faster, and it is
less likely to sweat out of the wood and onto your clothes while at the range.
To apply, dampen a small piece of shop rag, or better yet flannel, in Linseed
Oil and rub it into the wood, let stand for 5-10 minutes and with a clean rag
wipe off the excess. Coat the entire surface inside and out, the oil creates a
moisture barrier to repel water. I would suggest at least 3 separate
applications allowing 24 hours before re-coats for initial refinishing and then
about one coat a month for the first year and then one coat a year for
maintenance.
Tung Oil
An alternate to BLO is Tung
Oil, though not an original finish for Enfields, it is another excellent choice
for gun stock finishing. Tung oil when applied to wood forms a highly
water-resistant finish similar to BLO but doesn’t darken with age like
Linseed.
Tung Oil will usually require
2 to 3 separate applications with 24 hours between coats. Apply it liberally
with a lint free cloth, let stand 10-15 minutes and then wipe off any excess
oil, this will produce a dull sheen finish like Linseed Oil. If the excess is
not wiped off and it is allowed to dry on the stock, it will produce an almost
varnish like shine so beware.
Homemade Stock Wax
As part of your normal
cleaning routine, rub the furniture down with a Bee's Wax/Turpentine/Boiled
Linseed Oil paste. It protects the wood and creates that dark dull sheen of a
well-maintained service rifle. To make it, clean out an old shoe polish can and
add 3 equal parts, bee's wax (you can find this stuff at any leather craft
store or saddle tack shop), turpentine and boiled linseed oil. First off, melt
the bee's wax in the shoe polish can (low heat on the stove) and then add in
the turpentine and linseed. Stir to mix, remove from heat and let set. Once
cool, rub the resulting wax paste on the stock with a flannel rag or chamois
cloth and buff.
------------- Rottie (PitBulls dad.)
“If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons
Born free taxed to death!!!
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