Temps here outside of Houston have not been conducive to much anything outside except first thing in the morning. A few days ago we had a good rain mid morning and it stayed cloudy after. So, since I am on vacation I decided to clean up one of the rifles I bought a while back.

This Enfield .22 trainer was not as bad as the IMA Martini Henry I got last year, but it was close. I am more a enthusiast than a collector, and when I get a new piece I take it apart and I clean it. I believe that these old guns deserve to be in the best shape they can. That means cleaning the dirt and goop off both the metal and the wood, then oiling both as necessary.

I started with my usual bath and scrubbing with mineral spirits. Then the metal went into Ed's Red and the wood got a scrubbing with Simple Green. I washed off the wood after and towel dried it, setting it to the side to finish drying. It got a couple coats of BLO later. The metal is in very good shape on this rifle and they put green paint of some kind on it below the woodline which can be seen in a couple of the pics. The wood is solid with a typical Indian repair on the heel. The wood used in that repair looks very much like the fore end wood. The plug they put in the unit disk hole looks like very nice hardwood as well.

It looks like they put it together in May of 1960. They used a 1940 RFI receiver to build this trainer and they serialized the receiver, bolt, fore end cap and fore end wood. It would have been interesting to watch the armorer who did the work digging through the parts and wood to put this puzzle together.


All in all it was a excellent day of cleanup. Here are a bunch of pics for you.

Impressive! Is that receiver sight from a No. 4 .303?

I believe it is. The markings go up to 13 and I think the No5 Jungle Carbine sights only go up to 8. I wish they had left the large quick sight loop on it.

Very sweet. I didn't even know these existed in .22 . I have a 1964 Ishapore Enfield 2A in 308 that has become a favorite.

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Dave

Very unusual. It seems like that arsenal in India turned them out between the wars if I remember correctly. Picked one up 40 years ago. Still have it. Like a new rifle. Back when I was younger and didn't have any money, I collected old military rifles. I would spend $35 to $65 on each one. When that's all you've got, that's what you spend. Never seen a 22 conversion.

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Dr. B

Very unique with that #4 rear sight on it. I don't recall an armory version of a #1 done like that. Perhaps a later addition by carefully cutting and fitting the sight attachment tennons and sight from a donor #4 rec'vr to the #1 . Nice job.
I see the #1 rear bbl sight has been removed for a clear sight unobstructed view.

I had a nice New Zealand property stamped 22 Enfield trainer , 1924 marked but foolishly sold it a few years back.

They are great shooters.
Good find, nice job cleaning it up.
Go out and have fun with it.

I believe this is from a batch that SOG had about 3 or 4 years back. Some had the regular No1 sights and some had the altered No4 sights. I got mine off Gunbroker last year. The barrel is bright and shiny. I have several different types of .22 that I will try in it. Would be nice if it threw bulk Federal well, since I have so much of it.

I have one also mine was originally manufactured at Lithgow in 1941 and rebuilt into a trainer in Sept.1949. They are a hoot to shoot. I mounted a Parker Hale match rear sight and lyman No.17 globe front sight. Have fun with yours.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

You put BLO on that fine specimen? Ouch

The standard finish for British Enfields for many years was raw linseed oil. Raw linseed oil takes FOREVER to dry. Boiled linseed oil takes about a week in our high humidity environment to dry to the touch. I've been using BLO on firearms wood for a couple decades and even if it were not a "proper" finish for a particular gun, I like it. I believe that all wood deserves to be treated in some way to help keep it in good condition. This way is how I do that.