Restoration Project: Lee Enfield No4 Mk1 ROF Fazakerley

[AFJuvat]

Next up was the barrelled receiver.

After cleaning the receiver by soaking it in acetone and scrubbing it, I rinsed it with denatured alcohol. As with all other parts, once it has been cleaned, it cannot be handled with bare hands.

As I do not have a heat source large enough to heat it, nor a pot large enough to boil it in, I had to improvise.

I would heat the receiver and barrel with a propane torch - just enough to get it over 200 degrees.

To boil it, i picked up a 4" piece of PVC pipe and capped one end off. As I was heating and rusting the receiver, I had a few pots of water boiling.


I set up some wood slats on a rubbermaid trash can as a working platform, and got everything in place.


After heating and applying the rust blue solution three times:






After the third rusting, I started boiling

As the pipe was not long enough to do the whole assembly, I had to do it in phases

Barrel down:


Receiver Down:


After repeating the process four times, I rinsed the assembly with a clean pot of boiling water, then heated it with the torch to remove any water left in the receiver.

I then applied oil while the assembly was still hot. Since I did not have enough for a full soak, I stood the assembly up and propped it against the wall, and drizzled oil on with an applicator brush.






Next post: Finished.