Refurbishing an Ishapore No. 2A

I ordered this rifle from a major distributor, paying for the best they had available. I must confess that I was somewhat disappointed. The stock was nearly black from age and accumulated oil, with a good number of dings and dents. The action and all metal parts were covered in a baked on black lacquer that had the appearance of having been just dipped in the can. The lacquer was so thick that no markings were visible except those that had been buffed by the distributor to record serial numbers. Many of the grooves and joints were so full of the finish that they were invisible to the eye. All this under a coat of Cosmoline that was caked on from age.

I let the rifle sit for a week or so while I waited for my disappointment to wear thin. After cleaning off the Cosmoline with mineral spirits and a tanking in hot water and "Simple Green," I took a look at the stock and decided that under all that oil and grime was something worth saving. There were those dings and dents, but considering the age of the rifle (1965) I've seen much worse.

I'd like to say upfront that before I went into this refurbishment that I had no intention of trying to make the rifle look either new or even close to that. My intention was to duplicate an Armorer's efforts to return a rifle to service in the best condition possible with standard armorers tools. Having worked in that position myself I thought my efforts would be adequate. I also had not initially thought of writing an article on it so I have no "Before" picture.

I first detail stripped the rifle and started by cleaning the stock. I applied multiple coats of a chemical stripper, gently scrubbing off the stripper with steel wool and toothbrushes. After several hours of work the stock started to look much better. Now I needed to finish removing as much oil as possible, so I baked the furniture under a heat lamp that "boiled" the oil from the wood.

This too was a time consuming process that involved much wiping of the wood with a denim rag to remove the liquefied oil and move the furniture to a new location under the lamp. I continued to bake the furniture until little or no more oil came out.

While performing this process I found several cracks in the furniture that required repair. The fore end handguard had a nasty crack that ran about ¾'s of the length, but fortunately did not go clear through the wood. As it was a long and deep crack I chose to route the crack out with an 1/8th ball burr and a Dremel tool. I went almost as deep as the crack, very carefully as I did not want to punch through to the other side. I then cleaned the groove I had made with acetone and then mixed the dust with AcraGlass and filled the groove. Once it had cured I sanded down the excess with course sand paper wrapped around a piece of round stock. The handguard is much stronger and will be more durable with this treatment of AcraGlass.

The rear handguard was also cracked in several places and also received a dose of AcraGlass. As there was an "Arsenal repair" on the piece consisting of two strips of material inletted into the handguard (which I could see move when flexing the handguard) I took the precaution of working some Hot Stuff glue into and around the inletted strips. The piece felt very sturdy and was much less flexible when the gluing was complete.

The stock was in fairly decent shape other than a repair at the trigger guard front screw bushing and an arsenal patch just in front of the barrel band. The repair at the screw bushing included a 1/8th inch brass rod through the stock and a large wood screw inserted from the left that went entirely through the stock. As the screw was really rusty and buggered up I replaced it with a matching screw made of brass. I also applied some AcraGlass around the bushing itself to stabilize the wood there. The arsenal patch I left alone.

The butt stock also needed help. There was a hairline crack in the top of the wrist about two inches long and another ran about ½ an inch back from the butt plate on top. After cleaning out the cracks with repeated applications of acetone, followed by a blast from an air hose, I applied some Hot Stuff to the cracks. They virtually disappeared and need a close inspection to be seen.

The butt plate screws were stripped out, so I drilled out the holes and glued in a 3/8ths dowel in each hole. This required my being careful, as there was an "Arsenal repair" on the toe of the butt stock that I didn't want to disturb. It is of a lighter colored hardwood that I'll touch on again soon.

After all the cracks were repaired I applied a hot iron and a wet cloth to all the dings and dents in the furniture. Some came right out, some came partially out, and some didn't seem to notice my efforts. I didn't mind as it adds character to an old veteran. Regardless, the furniture looked 100% better than before I started. I buffed the stock with a denim rag and started the process of staining and oiling the wood.

As the different pieces of wood obviously came from different sources, the object was to attempt to get them to match as closely as possible. This is much more difficult than it sounds. After repeated applications of different colors of stain (three to be exact), I finally decided that I was as close as I was going to get. The repair on the toe resisted all attempts to darken the wood and I finally gave up there completely. I'm sure that it is possible to find a stain that would work, however I had already spent entire days on the rifle as it is. I applied several coats of boiled linseed oil (letting dry for a day or so), rubbing vigorously between coats with my denim rag. Again, I only wanted my efforts to duplicate an armorers, so rather than go for a finish that looked more like lacquer or urethane, I stopped at several coats. I could have used "Linspeed" or a similar product but that would have defeated my purpose. You may be asking why I used a denim rag. It was available, it is fairly course cloth and it is durable. I also use burlap for stock refinishing and I find both these materials excellent for an oiled stock finish.

While all this stock work was going on, in between lulls in the rubbing and ironing and oiling, I worked on the metal. The action and all associated parts were also subjected to chemical stripping, again multiple coats, again much scrubbing with brushes along with a softer variety of "Scotchbrite" pad. This too took many hours of hand labor as I did not want to alter the finish of the metal, wanting it to be original as possible. I could have bead blasted the metal and been done with it, however that is not what would have occurred in a unit level armory back in India.

I finally arrived at a point when I felt the metal was as clean as it was going to get. The baked lacquer finish is very durable and even after repeated applications small areas resisted being removed, so if one looks very closely, there will be some small spots visible.

Now the action was ready I cleaned the metal with acetone and applied Brownell's "Dicropan IM". All metal received a minimum of two applications, the action, trigger guard and nose cap received three. In between each application the metal was washed with hot water and "Simple Green" in a cleaning tank to neutralize the bluing solution. It was then scrubbed with soft Scotchbrite, and cleaned again with acetone. Once the desired color was achieved the metal was liberally doused with CLP and left to sit for a day or so.

The butt plate had been arsenal repaired by welding at the top around the upper screw hole, however not much attention had been paid to trying to match the original contours. I filed the high spots down, re-countersunk the screw holes, matched the butt trap to the butt plate (there was a very discernable gap between the top of the trap and the plate) and polished it up a little, but not too much.

The locking bolt (safety catch) and all the screws were damaged, almost all beyond repair. The only screws I was able to save were the rear sight spring retaining screw, the protector nut, ejector screw, and the extractor screw. All others were replaced. I ordered the locking bolt and another set of screws from Sarco. I was still missing three screws when I found out about BDL LTD of Edgefield SC. I must say it was a pleasure to do business with Brian and Tina Dick. I sent them an email asking about some parts and they answered almost immediately. After I had emailed that "my check is in the mail" Brian offered to send me selected parts before my check arrived. You cannot ask for better service or a better "Bang for your buck" and all that for a customer that barely met their minimum purchase price. As BDL specializes in Enfield's I would most heartily recommend them for any of your Enfield needs.

While waiting for the screws from BDL LTD to arrive, I re-assembled the rifle and took stock of the finished product. The color of the metal was very good (in my opinion) and matched quite well. The furniture, while not exactly matching, was presentable, functional, and more durable than before the project was started. I installed an English woven sling as I believe it is correct. This rifle was made in 1965 and that pattern of sling was in use by the Indian Army and Constabulary.

It was at this point that disaster struck. The last thing I had to do was to re-blue the magazine and the project was completed (with the exception of the last four screws). After completing the magazine I dropped the rifle butt first onto the concrete floor. The butt stock was damaged to the point where it needed serious help. While I had entertained the idea earlier, I had decided not to glass bed the butt plate, again trying to keep the rifle as original as possible. Now it was absolutely necessary.

I prepared the butt stock by routing a small groove around the bottom of the butt plate seat. I used a 1/32nd dental burr and worked very carefully to avoid skipping out of the groove. After that was done I coated the butt plate and the screws in paste wax and then two coats of release agent. I put modeling clay on the backside of the butt plate to fill the areas around the butt trap so that I wouldn't have to route out that area later. I mixed up some AcraGlass, mixed in some fine sawdust and added a touch of brown dye. After applying the AcraGlass where I wanted it, I wiped off most the excess and placed the butt stock under a heat lamp to accelerate the curing process. This was actually a very bad idea. I didn't think about the modeling clay and it melted, making quite a mess.

After the compound had cured I removed the butt plate, removing the wax, clay, and release agent (And what a job that was!), I then routed out a recess for the butt trap spring assembly and sanded off the high spots. There are several voids in the ArcaGlass beneath the butt plate, but these are of no consequence and the material gives much more support than the original material.

I then reassembled the rifle. The stock needed a touch up of linseed oil, and some more buffing, however it was finally finished. It was at this point that BDL's screws arrived, and I was as happy as a puppy with a new chew toy. The screws were as new, with the rear trigger guard screw being actually new. Money well spent and one happy customer.

The refurbishment of this rifle will be decried by purist collectors as "butchering" or defacement. I disagree. There are two types of collector. The purist wants unaltered firearms (which is in itself virtually impossible as every combat arm in the world has armorers that refurbish weapons on a regular basis), usually looking for the best condition available. This collector will usually not accept alterations of any sort by others.

The second variety of collector wants a piece representative of the type, in the best condition possible, however does not mind if it was restored by someone other that a "bona fide armorer." This collector will accept alterations as long as they are in the spirit of the piece, keeping the firearm as original as possible. This is the type of collector this project was geared for. While the rifle is "not original" it really wasn't original upon receipt. It had been overhauled before (most likely more than several times) and not by a loving and caring armorer, but one who just wanted to get it out the door as quick as possible.

Having worked at Depot level weapons maintenance I can attest that, as in all professions, there are those that just want a paycheck and there are those that go the extra yard because they care. I think that this refurbishment represents those that care and there are certainly many more examples of this rifle available in much better condition than this one was in before I started.

Regards,
Eric