RESTORING World War I No 1 Mk III SMLE Lee-Enfield | Using Indian Parts on British Rifle -Finished-
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- Опубликовано: 6 авг 2024
- In this video I make my second and final attempt to restore my World War I British 1918 BSA No.1 Mk III*, that has sadly been sporterized by a previous owner, to it's original military configuration. A while back I received this Indian Drill Purpose Ishapore No.1 Mk 3* that I ordered from J&G sales with the hopes of using it as a parts gun to preform this restoration. I think using a DP rifle for parts in this way is one of the best and most cost effective ways of bringing an Enfield sporter back to life. I love the finished product!
Thanks for Watching!
Restoring World War I No 1 Mk III SMLE Lee-Enfield Using Indian Parts on British Rifle Finished
@centuryarms
@J&G Sales Ltd
#WWI
#Enfield
#Restoration 
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Thank you for doing the lords work in restoring classic firearms!
I love it!
Looking at the value of these old guns today, you should do a good job at restoration. The wood is the first thing everyone sees. Unless you can get nice used wood, you are better off with new production. I just bought a No. 1 Mk III full set from Prestigious up in Alberta for a bit under $400 shipped. It is cut for both the long-range site and the Butt medallion. The quality of these are amazing.
Hello! My first restoration project was an heirloom SMLE, and it was a lot of fun. However, some things must be looked over on your rifle. SMLEs are capable of 2-1MOA when properly stocked up.
First, the muzzle MUST be pressing against the top of the hole in the nose cap, if it is not the barrel centering spring near the muzzle must be replaced.
Second, a tight fitting stock is not necessarily a bad thing, that is how target shooters preferred their rifles, you must check it is tight for the right reasons. The forend must be making good, equal contact in the draws, if it is not the wood must be re fitted. Target shooters preferred contact between the forend and butt socket, mil spec rifles did not have contact, neither is "correct".
Thirdly, ensure the barrel is being held down against the forend by the inner band. If it is not (you can slide paper under the barrel) then this can be remedied by adding thin washers to the spring & screw. Note: it must not be too tight, you do not want to be crushing any wood.
Rifle looks good! Only thing I would do is give the Indian stock a good cleaning, and apply some RAW linseed oil, maybe bring out a bit of the original grain. Good job! Any sporterized Military rifle that has not been cut down deserves to be restored!
Awesome tips dude. Thanks!!
@@ReadinessReviews For the most part, swapping forends is OK, but they were hand fitted to each individual rifle so problems can arise from time to time. The SMLE has a very complicated bedding system designed to make a thin whippy barrel shoot straight. There is a lot of great information in the "Lee Enfield Knowledge Library" on milsurps.com.
Thanks for having us along on this journey man!
And thank you for joining me!
I saved a sporter earlier this year. It looks rough but the bore is bright and it shoots very straight. I've been doing restorations like this for a few years now. Saved a fair share of rifles by doing this. If done right, you can save money and even make money.
It's getting hard to do them on the cheap but it is still worth it just to put them back right. Definitely worth doing on a rifle with a nice bore.
I found a 1916 Lithgow enfield in amazing shape for 300 bucks then i had to sell it to keep the lights on. it stil haunts me to this day thing was so accurate too
I think you did a very good job
Thanks!
Nice job! I enjoyed the vid - the N0.1 MkIII Enfields are my all time favorite rifles.
They may be my favorite too. Thanks for watching!!
Good job young man. Us old guys are seldom impressed with young guys. You earned this old Marines respect. Just for the record I purchased two hand selected No 1 MkIII’s back in the late 80’s for $75 each at a local department store. They are both still tack drivers.
Great job!!!
Great restoration I've got four or five myself and one ishapore 308 caliber that i made into a custom back packing rifle in jungle carbine configuration but has an FN pistol grip mounted directly to the trigger guard since it was heavy enough to weld the mount to the grip. You can take off the butt stock and still have the grip mount firmly to the trigger guard.
Thank you for this video. I’m doing the same thing you was doing with your rifle. I just bought DP stock and when I seen your part one I got super scared! This video helped me out big time!
Good luck on yours! Thanks for watching!!
Top Job, these are the rifles of the commonwealth, have incredible history and even the path to being ‘sporterised’ is significant, I have salvaged one and am into a restoration, it’s a great project and inexpensive, cheers
I’d like to do one myself, I picked up a no1 mk3 that was restored from a sporter by a gun smith, it’s in overall very good condition with a beautiful bore, it’s a bit of a Frankenstein but I love it.
I have been eagerly awaiting part 2. I was on the fence, but I think I like that you left the drill markings on your rifle. Going to make for some double takes at the range.
Haha yeah. I can use the DP magazine too so the markings match up. Thanks for waiting around to see the finished product!!
Awesome work!
Thanks man! It was a fun project.
Gotta say your videos helped me alot with my milsurp rifles and definitely with my no1 mk3 keep em coming.
Awesome man!! Thanks so much for watching.
Thank you so much for this video,,,, I'm going to do the same restoration and now I know it will work!!!!
Nice!!
You could also buy another stock bolt possibly altering that one and not the original.
I also restored a No1 mkIII* and feel immensely satisfied for having done it. Had a new, old barrel put in, and now working to get it zeroed. Groups are excellent, but shooting high and right. I cleaned up the forend stock and bought a large butt stock to get a better cheek weld. They are great rifles! Glad u got it sorted out. Was anxiously waiting for part 2!
Thanks for checking in out! Is a great feeling bringing these old girls back to life. Good job with yours!
Check that the stock is pressing on the barrel tip as it is supposed to…
Very good information thanks . I was fortunate to recently pick up a beautiful RFI 2A1 built in 1967. Very happy ,has never been messed with
Very nice! I'd like to find one myself. I have plenty of .308 ammo.
@@ReadinessReviews luck to you on the find. I'm using Lithuania GGG M80 Nato Ball i got 3 years ago in 2A1 and my BM-59. Ammo is some of the best . Was cheap 3 ago.
Well done, good video as usual.
I appreciate that. Thanks man!
Great job .
I’m Australian and own one original
Lithgow 44 matching and have just purchased an Enfield 1916 sporterised. Your video has helped me greatly. Thankyou.
Ps - they’re sighted in yards .
All the best. 🙏
Nice! Thanks for watching.
Now that makes sense, I was considering the same route.
I think it's about the best option at the moment as long as you don't care about having the 100% factory correct parts.
@@ReadinessReviews Yes, I you find the right deal on a sporterized.
Great job! I would like to respectively add, eye protection please. It only takes one time .
That was wonderful to see an old lady regain her youthful beauty! I think I would have gone a step further and sanded down the lower wood to remove the DP stripes but I can understand you keeping the old DP's history alive as well. Sporterising an SMLE should be a criminal offence (preferably a capital one!) Well done you!
The reason I didn't remove the markings is that there is a chance that I find another forestock at some point and I'd be able to put the DP rifle back the way it should be as well. Thanks for watching man! I love these old rifles.
@@ReadinessReviews That's very good thinking! The thing that makes me want to cry though is that after the old Enfield factory was shut down (whenever that was) the owners employed a night watchman to guard the premises. He was only given a small wooden hut to operate from and to keep him warm in the winter they gave him a brazier to use outside his hut. The supplied fuel to burn in the brazier were crates of un-issued SMLE wooden forestocks and butts! May they burn in Hell forever!!
I imagine the reason you experienced difficulties stocking up the rifle is that each forestock was *hand fitted* to its respective receiver. Yes, that's right: The Brits mass-produced a rifle that required hand fitting. I suspect you were crushing the draws some. When you disassemble the rifle, give that area a good inspection.
You are probably right about that. I know the stocking up has a lot to do with the accuracy of the SMLE.
The SMLE REQUIRES a force fit on the stock for accuracy. The barrel tip should be pushed down with 2lb of force when stocked. Sporterised SMLE’s are inaccurate because of this omission.
Nice video
Thanks BlindFox!!
Nice fix .
Thanks 👍
Hey ...Love the Milsurp videos...Can you do a vid on deep cleaning of milsurp rifles ..your actions look amazing......
Great job on the restoration! I had thought about getting one of those DP guns and converting it to .22 with the kits that are out there. I think others have mentioned this, but the accuracy is probably off due to how the barrel is not bedded quite right with the replacement stock.
Thanks for watching man! I think it would be awesome to have one in .22. I'm sure you are right about the bedding.
DP’s can be DP’s for a lot of reasons from water to fire damage (or just shot out in the 1950’s) - get it inspected CAREFULLY.
My III^ from Royal Tiger's stock was separtated at the socket so I went down to Ace and bought a brass machine screw, not and two washers drilled the area where you had problems the glass bedded the area? I agree their far more expensive today!
I like to get it to move and run a little oil down screw driver , let it sit and then tighten a hair and keep repeating loosing , oiling ,tighten a hair .
Nice perseverance! I’d definitely be tempted to improve on the finish of the Indian stock. Steaming out the dents and taking it back closer to its original finish. You may be able to deal with the high shooting by looking at the front sight. A replacement may be able to raise it enough for you to zero it at your required length. Well done though.
I just have to remember to take a low hold and it does just fine. Changing the front sight would do the trick though. The stock could use some extra work it I wanted it to look really nice. I may mess with it again in the future. Thanks so much for checking it out!!
At 100 yards, you should be 2.77" to 3" high of POA. The SMLE should then be zeroed at 200 yards.
Yup after I changed to a 6 o'clock hold I was hitting a lot better.
She looks great, I got my 1918 No 1 Mk 3 from RTI...
Were you happy with the rifle you received?
@@ReadinessReviews Yes I was happy with it, it has great rifling, I may order another one, I got one of the Yugo 98ks from them and it too is in great shape. Over all I got 3 rifles from RTI and I'm very happy with them...
I bought my 1941 BSA Number 1 mark lll* in 2019 for the equivalent of 170 USD. It was in good condition, but lacked the safety catch and I wanted to replace the non-windage adjustable rear sight with an adjustable one. I pirated the parts of a disabled nr 1 mark lll, and now have a decent rifle (plus a few spares) for the total price of about 230 USD. I particularly like the number one because my ageing far-sighted eyes like the rear sight that is mounted forward towards the centre of the rifle a lot better.
Heck yeah man. That's awesome.
Shame those DP rifles are 400 CAD + Tax up here! 150 USD is a great price.
Got a full length barreled action SMLE waiting for a deal on a DP. Gonna have to pull the front + rear sights from the DP. But should be a pretty decent project.
Some were very briefly on sale for 250 which is much more reasonable. Theres probably a greater demand Enfield parts in Canada.
Anybody know if original SMLE nosecaps will fit the Ishapore stocks? Great videos BTW!
Basically the deletion of the square piece on the wrist was a precursor to the No.4 Mk1 which used the same cross piece as the later No.1 MkIII's.
Yup
Good vid, but if you're gun isnt shooting right its because the bedding isnt sey at all. It looks like youre missing the center band and its spring as well as the barrel cap spring
All the part are there. I'm sure things aren't tightened properly though.
It may have taken you a year but like you said you been really busy. What was your hours into the rifle? It was a fantastic job and has that specials feeling when you put your touch on it. Awesome Job!
It was probably 10-12 man hours when it was all said and done. Most of that was cleaning time because the one rifle was packed in grease. I was so glad to finally get this one finished.
I put an Indian stock on an Indian rifle. It was tight and difficult to get on. But it did eventually go on.
I guess tight is better than loose lol
@@ReadinessReviews can't argue with that.
Years ago I bought a a sporterized Remington 1903a3, I bought a “C” stock and the necessary hardware (most of it was reproduction). It took a bunch of work, the stock didn’t fir quite right but it ended up looking beautiful! Would I do it again? Probably not, just don’t have the time like I used to. But I am glad I did this project.
Doing a project like that is always so rewarding. Finding the time is the problem though.
I'm doing this exact thing except mine is a 1916 Lithgow.
Oh nice! Good luck.
Has anyone checked into the full stock set they sell on Sarco inc.? the reviews are pretty cruddy but there are only 4 reviews on there. it may be a cleaner looking option for those who do not want to use the drill purpose wood.
The reviews turned me off.
I just picked up an ishapore restoration project and was debating on the drill purpose vs piecing it together.
DP is a nice one-stop-shop. It saves money overall too but if you want it to be as original as possible piecing may be better.
Ishapore is a place near to my area . Ishapore gun factory . How did you Americans get it?
Nicely done. I’m curious, are you going to get rid of the stripes on the stock now that it’s on a functional rifle?
I'll be leaving them as-is just in case I ever put the two rifles back the way they were.
If you want to sell the cut down stock I'll buy it, I have one I picked up from a gun shop cheap someone had cut the barrel down on and would be a great match with that cut down stock. I collect Enfield rifles so could not pass up this one since I have the ammo already. Great video keep up the good work 👍🏻
Thanks for Watching. I'm going to hold onto it just incase I ever need it.
Were they both missing the recessed barrel band with screw and spring in the middle of the forend near the middle forend band for the sling?
No the DP rifle had it.
Good job on the project. What was the length of the shank of the big screwdriver used to remove stock bolt?
It's a 16 incher lol. You don't need one that long. I think 10 is fine.
@@ReadinessReviews Thanks, I got stock to remove off a drill rifle as well. Appreciate the content.
My SMLE is still a pile of parts and a partially assembled rifle. A year is a new record! Haha
I have a couple guns in the same condition LOL. Finding the time to actually get stuff done can be so difficult. Thanks for giving it a look buddy.
is it possible to change a barrel on a no 1 mark 3. I have one but the barrel is shot out
Where do you find a long shank screwdriver that long I cant seem to find one anywhere. I have looked everywhere locally
Got mine from harbor freight
@@ReadinessReviews I have been trying to restore my ishapore lee enfield for 2 years now unable to find a screwdriver long enough. Its hard when you live in rural rural Georgia when the closest harbor freight is in griffin 😂 appreciate it
I might have paid too much, but I just picked up a sporterized 1918 BSA no1 mk3 with a good bore for $400. I hope I'm not in over my head. My biggest concern in getting it back it's original configuration is the brass cross pin there above the trigger since I'm using a new set of unfinished wood. Any tips from the crowd are greatly appreciated.
The new wood doesn't have a brass pin?
@@ReadinessReviews Nope. No pin. After some research I found a gentlemen who used some brass threaded rod you can get at the hardware store. I didn't know previously, but the pin acts as a magnum crossbolt for added durability.
are you going to take the paint off the DP foreend?
I actually like the paint
So, I’ve been doing this project along with you, but I found out I don’t have a screwdriver big enough for the stock bolt. I have long enough, but not beefy enough. What size screwdriver are you using there? I’m gonna have to buy one. Edit: oh, I see it is a 3/8x16. My bad, thank you.
Glad you found your answer!! Let me know how the project turns out!
I got it done last weekend. Everything went ok. My butt stock bolt was rust welded into place, but with some minor torque it came loose. I’ve never seen a rifle so dirty as that Isophore. It was a Herculean task to clean, but I got it done. Your videos were a great help. Thank you.
@@jedibike Good job brother! Glad I could help!! Enjoy that rifle.
i want to order or buy grendle smle no 1, can i get it?
If you live outside of the US I can't be of assistance.
i turned my dp rifle back in a shooting #1mk3 Enfield rifle using the original barrel and receiver. shoots fine and no problems yet.
Keep us updated i was curious about doing that myself
@@joelopezjl28 i have a video on my channel of mine.
Very cool. I'll check the video out.
Let us know how much the facial reconstruction surgery costs.
"I know all this screwing is riveting content" lol
Haha, glad someone finally caught it
Remember clean all parts thoroughly, no toilet paper in 1930's India. No telling what's on the wood?
how did you get an Indian rifle in the USA? Is this captured rifle from the Indian army .
Many Indians also have USA-made 'M1 Garand' , captured from the Pakistan army .
They were sold to the USA as surplus years back.
Great work.
Thanks! I happy with how it turned out.