About a month ago I came across this rifle at a local gun show. The seller indicated to me that it was a unusual SMLE made in the USA by Savage Stevents for Britain as part of the Lend Lease Program. It was all covered in cosmoline although the seller indicated he had cleaned the bore and it was excellent. It appeared to be a good speciman. I immediately called my best friend on his cell phone, and he promptly did a search on the internet and it turned out that the facts about the rifle were correct. It was made by Savage in 1942. I walked around the show for about a half-hour considering the purchase. In the end, this rifle just called to me.
My best friend has an older #1 model and his particular Enfield was what started my interest in firearms years ago. So it seemed the thing to do.
As some may recall, I posted a question about how to remove cosmoline from old rifles. I ended up dismantling the rifle and cleaning the metal parts in a bucket of Karosene oil. Then I oiled them with WD-40 and lightly buffed all the parkarized metal parts, even the screws, with 0000 steel wool. I blasted them with brake cleaner, then oiled them with WD-40 again. The metal parts on this rifle are in very good shape (the receiver in particular) and the bore showed no signs of copper fouling after cleaning. I'm honestly not sure it has been fired. The two groove bore looks pristine.
The wood was a real adventure. I used Murphy's Oil Soap at a concentrated ratio and hot water in a bucket. This worked very well but alas it removed the original finish as well. Darn. However, I did find two thin cracks that needed repair and I would not have found them otherwise. Later these peices of wood could have broken off completely if not repaired.
I steamed out the dings with a hand held steam cleaning device that worked pretty well actually. I wanted to leave some dings in her for character but not so many that the rifle looked terrible. I did use wood filler on two big gouges. After examining the wood, it looked really "blotchy". I was afraid it was going to look really bad after refinishing.
After consulting with the paint/wood guy at Friedman's I decided to use wood bleach. This was a mixed bag. I could not get the blackened areas out of the stock where it had been handled with human hands and driven the cosmoline into the wood very deeply. I suspect this is so because the spots are exactly where the thumb and fingers would be on a right handed shooter. The bleach did reveal a lot of grain the was not present before, but it also streaked some. It also left a grey patina on the wood that I did not like. So, while I didn't want to sanding it seemed the better course of action. I used 100, 150 and 220 grit. This seemed to be darkening the wood again, which I thought was a good sign. I finished with the 0000 steel wool.
At this point, since I had completely screwed up the originality of the rifle, I decided to use Watco Danish Oil in cherry as I wanted to restore the "aged boiled linseed oil" appearance if I could. I saturated the wood 3 times and wiped it off. IT LOOKED TERRIBLE! The pigmentation in the Watco oil was not absorbing and the appearance looked like a yellow stained 70 year old 2x4!
Before the oil had a chance to cure I raced back to the hardware store and purchased some Sedona Red stain from Minwax. I came home and kept applying it, and wiping it off in 5-6 minute increments. Every piece got at least 15 minuts of stain time, and some more! It was starting to look pretty good though. Even when I thought I was done and the crisis averted I went back with a small brush and touched up areas trying to blend them some.
The next day I looked it over. I was only modestly pleased, but it was better than what almost happened with the Danish Oil. I waxed the wood and just put the rifle together today. After putting it together, I'm actually pleased with the appearance. It is a handsome rifle in good condition. The forearm just feels so right in the hand.
I had found some period correct 303 Brit ammo milled in 1940 that comes in the trapazoidal box similar in shape to the magazine. The rifle even came with a bayonet but from a #4 Mark II however. Looks good enough. So except for the cleaning kit in the butt stock and charger clips it is a complete package. I plan to get those very soon.
I hope to shoot it over Christmas break. I've never done anything like this before-it is a first time effort. But I'm satisfied with the results.
Anyhow, here are pics of the completed rifle with its sling. 
I neglected to mention that I decided to name this rifle "Old Savage" in honor of my friend.
Here are more pics. The wood is a little funky in places but overall I'm satisfied. They just add to her character for me.
-Tutt
