Can't get Enfield barrel clean - any ideas?

Chessman

New member
I bought a cheap ($90) Enfield No. 1 Mk III, made in 1942, at a recent gun show. It seemed in decent condition, and it came with a nice Monte Carlo aftermarket stock, so I took a chance on it even though the bore looked a bit rough.

After I got it home, I gave it a good cleaning. Unfortunately, I cannot get the bore completely clean. Even though most of it is bright and shiny, there is definite pitting and corrosion along the entire length of rifling. I can't seem to get it any cleaner, despite scrubbing with JB bore cleaner (a mild abrasive). I wouldn't mind the corrosion so much, but after firing one box of ammo, the barrel was so gunked up it took me all afternoon to clean out the accumulated copper. I attribute the heavy copper buildup to the roughness of the bore -- since it's not nice and smooth, it collects a huge amount of copper with every bullet that's fired. I know this rifle is just a cheap "plinker", but if I have to spend tons of hours cleaning it every time, even with one measly box of ammo, it'll take a lot of the fun out it. :)

Does anyone have magical advice on a way to get these old military barrels back to a better condition, which hopefully will make it shoot cleaner? Or should I dump the thing and search for one with a better bore?

Thanks in advance for any help!
 
Get one of Wheeler's fire lapping kits. That will do wonders for the bore.

If you just want to rebarrel it contact Springfield Sporters. They have surplus barrels in new condition for around $20.
 
Chessman,
In a recent issue of Gun World I saw a picture of what I thought was a left-handed Endfield. Is this possible? Have you ever seen one of these?
 
I agree with the firelapping suggestion. Two friends have had good results with firelapping old Mk.III's.

Saw the same photo in Gun World. Since every other picture of the shooter (Ed Sanow ?) I've seen he's shooting right-handed i assumed it was just a "flipped" photo. Maybe all the Australian manufactured Enfields are left-handed, you know - Southern hemisphere and counterclockwise vortex rotation, etc....

-ric
 
Thanks for the replies.

I've never seen a left-handed Enfield, mine is most definitely a righty.

Regarding fire lapping: if I understand it correctly, you must apply the abrasive material to an unloaded bullet, then load it into a cartridge. I don't have any reloading dies for the Brit 303, so can I "cheat" and rub some of the compound on a loaded cartridge? Or does the entire bullet need to be coated?

Fire lapping sounds like a good idea, but after buying the kit, plus reloading dies for Brit 303 (which I wasn't planning to reload), it starts being more than I wanted to spend on a cheapy plinker. I guess I'm sounding like a cheapskate. :)
 
You can try contacting http://www.beartoothbullets.com
They deal in firelapping supplies and may be able to help you out. Otherwise, you could always spend $15 on a Lee Loader in 303 Brit. It will allow you to reload what you need, cheaply and effectively.

I know there is another company out there that might sell firelapping ammo but I can't remember their name.
 
i bought an enfield no 1 mk111 last year and had a pitting bore however was mirror bright. what i did initially was mixed 2 part household ammonia with warm water 8 parts. cleaned it out liberally with patches while scrubbing with brass brush (couple of times). Then i took hoppes nine cleaned it with patches. sprayed wd 40 inside the barrel. sprayed again liberally with BREAKFREE. cleaned it out with patches and sprayed it again with BREAKFREE and applied drops of CLP oil.
Now i shoot military surplus ammo form 1942 with cordite and at the range after shooting 10-20 rounds i take a patch and damp it in ammonia solution, not dripping damp, (2 parts ammonia and 8 parts water) and run two patches couple of times. when i return from range i clean it with couple of patches with ammonia solution, couple of hoppes nine and spray it with Break free. even though i paid only 100 bucks for it, i love it with all my heart and its my favorite.
also read http://www.empirearms.com comment on cleaning after using corrosive ammo. Think about it back then around in wwi and wwii how many soldiers used non corrosive ammo? and we are buying those surplusand they still shoot and shoot good.
 
lest we forget...

A barrel with a pretty bore may shoot poorly and a barrel with a ugly bore can shoot well. Suggest shooting the gun to see what type of groups you get and then take it from there. Remember, it's a shooter and while we love minty guns, we're not in the business of museum conservation.
 
Here is how you can take care of your problem:

1. Cleaning rod with brass brush

2. Hand held electric drill

3. Powder for cleaning sinks (Ajax, if I recall correctly).

Mix this Ajax with a bit of water, put some inside the bore, stick cleaning rod into the chuck of the drill and
start moving cleaning rod back and forth inside the barrel
while rotating it with drill (looks like honing movement).

Will take you 15-20 minutes to clean the bore from the "flakes" - crude packed in rifling grooves. Then clean bore real well with soap and water, patches and etc. according to the usual procedure...

Did it for my SMLE #4. Worked fine.
 
Thanks everyone, for all the replies.

Oris: Interesting idea. I wonder if instead of using Ajax, some JB bore cleaner paste would work as well. My reasoning is the JB is intended for the inside of a barrel anyway, and it's a mild abrasive meant for polishing out a barrel.
 
Have you shot it first? I've got a sporterized 1917 Amberg 8mm Gewehr98 that has a bore that looks like 20 miles of bad road, but still has strong rifling and a uniform crown. I was gonna rebarrel it, but the darned thing shoots just fine, I've even gotten some sub-1" groups using my handloads.

The Lee-Enfields really suffered from their Cordite ammo when not cleaned properly. But before you get too carried away with abrasives and lapping/honing, take it out to the range with some good non-corrosive fodder in the 174-180gr range, like the Sellier & Bellot, and see what she can do...
 
buy a high quality surplus ammo, fire 3 rounds, and clean, fire three more and clean, do this without oiling the barrel or letting the powder/copper fouling build up. after the lands are bright and shiny, use some jewlers polish to lap the bore the cheating way. put some on your finger(you should probably wear gloves, as it says to avoid contact with skin)and smear a little(very little is the operative word)of the stuff around the side of the bullet at the point where is sticks out of the case and is the same diameter as the bore. fire one round and clean completly, then fire another and another until you can hold the gun, minus the bolt level with a tv screen, and get a perfect reflection of color and shape like a kalidascope when you look thru it. it is a real big pain in the arse, and you will not get rid of the pits, but you will put a shine back on the top of those pits, and accuracy will improve about 40% as for cleaning out the pits, i recomend sticking a cork in the chamber end, filling the barrel with hoppes no. 9 copper solvent and letting it sit in there for a couple days, topping it off as it evaporates(a cotton ball in the muzzel will slow down the proccess. store it in the garage or something, because the stuff smells like karosine, and i suspect that's one of the main ingredients so it's probably pretty volitile. after it's bath, wear out a good 32 cal brass brush on the barrel. Personal note, lately i've just let the copper fouling build up in the bore, and accuracy doen't seem too afflicted by it. (cast bullets are a no-no in pitted barrels. they are darn near impossable to clean when leaded. too much effort for me, though i suspect if i used Pyrodex and bore butter on it, the process would be less messy.
 
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