Restoration Project: Lee Enfield No4 Mk1 ROF Fazakerley

[AFJuvat]

After I received the rifle, I gave the barrel a good cleaning. It is an original 5 land/groove barrel that is still in good shape. There is some frosting in the grooves, but after cleaning, lands came out bright and shiny.

All of the parts were soaked in mineral spirits/stripper to remove any paint, followed by a soak in Gunslick Foaming Bore Cleaner, which works really well at removing old dirt and grease.

Cleaner after removing the parts:


The next task was to remove the parkerizing and any traces of Suncorite from the barreled receiver, and any other parts to be refinished.

Most of the parkerizing and Suncorite came off after wiping the parts down with phosphoric acid followed up with a few strokes of 320 grit sandpaper for the stubborn spots. I then followed up with 400 and 600 grit to remove any sanding marks. As this is a war rifle, I was careful to leave the rough machining marks intact.

Importer marking:


Receiver markings - You can clearly see they were electro-penciled on. You can also see the machining marks on the receiver.


After getting all of the finish(es) off, it was ready for a deep cleaning prior to refinishing.

Stripped Barreled Receiver:


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