No4 Mk2 Finish
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Category: Enfields
Forum Name: Info for New Enfield Owners
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URL: http://www.enfield-rifles.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=11821
Printed Date: March 26 2026 at 8:52pm
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Topic: No4 Mk2 Finish
Posted By: murphy2133
Subject: No4 Mk2 Finish
Date Posted: January 05 2022 at 3:48pm
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Recently acquired a No4 Mk2. It's in not great condition and still has tons of cosmoline (I'm literally taking a break from my mineral spirits/heat gun treatments to draft this). My question is regarding the metal finish. It appears to be painted? It seems like a satin finish, not matte like parkerizing. Is this factory or?? I know refinishing classic rifles is faux pas to many. I just want this rifle to be nicer looking than it is. Don't really plan to do anything to the wood other than some Tru-Oil once I bleed as much cosmoline out as I can but for the metal I'm at a loss. I've considered getting it blued, possibly cera-kote (if it is indeed a factory "paint" like finish). On another note, what are some resources I can use to determine dates/factory by serial number? Most of the resources I've found pertain to No4 Mk1... Thank you for any responses! EDIT: found out it is a paint finish. The paint on mine is pretty poor condition. Would removing and Cera-koting provide similar look? Bluing? Also, in pictures I've seen the bolts appear to be blued. Mine is mostly bare metal. Any in bare metal finish or were they blued or painted?
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Replies:
Posted By: Goosic
Date Posted: January 06 2022 at 7:48am
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The paint you are questioning is called, Suncorote/Suncorite and it was baked on. The same finish can be achieved using BBQ grille paint or automotive VHT header paint. To get the baked on finish you can use a heatgun on low and slowly go over the barreled action no closer than 6 inches for no less than 60 minutes or bake it in the oven on low, 175°- 200° for 60 minutes as well.
If you can supply us with the actual serial number we can determine a when and were.
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Posted By: AussieShooter
Date Posted: January 06 2022 at 8:26am
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uploads/5700/Page_1_Approval_to_Paint_Metal_and_Wood.pdf" rel="nofollow - uploads/5700/Page_1_Approval_to_Paint_Metal_and_Wood.pdf Hi Murphy, I have an Australian No1 MkIII with the suncorite. Unfortunately the condition is not great, but I was advised to leave it as is. It's part of the history. Apparently it is difficult to remove, and in doing so you risk damaging the finish of the rifle. So I left it as is. With my rifle, we were all (the royal we on this board) a little puzzeled on how it became painted, as the Aussies were not "known" to paint their rifles, and there was no evidence it made its way to India or Pakistan. It could have been a field requirement but we were unsure. During WWII the British War Department approved the painting of No1 No2 and No3 rifles, and I attached an interesting read for you. Now, yours is a peace time rifle, but as they say with Enfields, "Never say Never"!!
------------- "Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges" - Tacitus The more corrupt the state, the more it legislates |
Posted By: Shamu
Date Posted: January 06 2022 at 8:58am
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The Suncorite is the original & correct finish. You can replicate it with several semi-gloss black paints, but it will devalue the gun to collectors, odd as that seems. The bolts were also painted with Suncroite at the factory, but normal wear removes it fairly quickly. If you repaint it the bolt will be "sticky" until it wears off again!
------------- Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force) |
Posted By: britrifles
Date Posted: January 06 2022 at 9:21am
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It’s unfortunate that some people will sand off the metal finish on these old military rifles, and not realize they have a fairly rare milsurp rifle. My early 1941 Long Branch Mk 1/2 had been sanded, all the paint and most of the phosphate was sanded off. In that case, I think you have to refinish it. I decided to cold blue the entire action and barrel, along with all the other metal parts that had been sanded. I used Birchwood Casey Perma Blue. I liked how it turned out, almost a black finish. But, not the origional finish. Before:  After:  |
Posted By: AussieShooter
Date Posted: January 06 2022 at 9:33am
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Great job. Very nice recovery from the bubba'd original. ------------- "Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges" - Tacitus The more corrupt the state, the more it legislates |
Posted By: murphy2133
Date Posted: January 06 2022 at 12:36pm
Thanks! Here is a picture of the serial number! |
Posted By: murphy2133
Date Posted: January 06 2022 at 12:50pm
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Great job on the bluing! I attached some pictures of the barrel finish on my rifle. You can see in another reply the condition of the receiver, or part of it.   |
Posted By: Goosic
Date Posted: January 06 2022 at 1:09pm
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It was made in March 1950 by Fazackerly.
No4Mk2 (F) =Fazackerly 3/50 = Date of manufacture |
Posted By: britrifles
Date Posted: January 06 2022 at 3:41pm
| That’s a tough one. Looks like wide scratches/gouges on the paint finish. The barrel is 95% covered by the wood, so probably just as well leave as is. Perhaps just touch up the wide scratches with a stove paint that is close to the same sheen of black, “satin”? |
Posted By: murphy2133
Date Posted: January 06 2022 at 10:42pm
Thanks Goosic for the serial number info! Britrifles, I've included a few more pictures now that I was able to get the rifle broken down further. These are after cleaning with mineral spirits, toothbrush and heatgun. I'd like to take it down further, but that spring behind the mag release looks a bit tricky to re-install...  The bare metal bit is the import marks. Hard to make out unless I run a silver Sharpie over it...  |
Posted By: britrifles
Date Posted: January 07 2022 at 2:25am
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Murphy, you can easily remove and reinstall the mag release/sear spring with needle nose pliers. The mini Vice grip type needle nose work great for this. Then you take the pins out with a brass drift/punch and get it all cleaned up. One of my No. 4’s has about 90% of the paint finish removed, not sure when that had been done. May have been bead blasted by Fulton’s when it was assembled as a target rifle. It also had a new BSA barrel installed at that time that appears to be blued and not painted. My UF 1956 No. 4 Mk 2 rifle appears to have a blued (black) finish and not painted, this rifle is a DCRA 7.62 conversion, Long Branch may have refinished it. Anyone on the forum with late production (‘55/‘56) Fazakerley rifles? What does the action body finish look like? |
Posted By: murphy2133
Date Posted: January 07 2022 at 7:55am
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Britrifles, thanks again! Time to go find my locking pliers... I've been using 0000 steel wool to gently remove any surface rust. This doesn't cut through any paint that is left but takes the rust off. I'll get the rest of the action area broken down and cleaned up. Some, grease, oil and wax and back together. Still not sure if pursue refinishing the metal. If I do I'll take it to a pro rather than attempt touching up or full re-finish on my own. More than likely I'll get this all cleaning and rust removal done then put money into ammunition for it. I've got about 100rds of the WW2 surplus that may or may not all fire. When it's all done I'll put some new pics up! Thank you all for the information and responses!
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Posted By: shiloh
Date Posted: January 07 2022 at 9:35am
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For the action just thoroughly soak it in a penetrating de-greaser let sit for awhile then blast is all out with a non chlorinated break cleaner, spray can type. I`ve done this many times with out completely taking them apart, works good, once clean lightly lube up all the moving parts.
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Posted By: murphy2133
Date Posted: January 07 2022 at 10:10pm
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Got it all done. Those trigger pins were certainly unpleasant. Got all the surface corrosion cleaned off and here's what we have. Put a coat of Birchwood Casey Wax on the wood inside and out and all the outer metal surfaces. Not great, but miles ahead of where it was. The trigger is amazing now! The action is a smooth as it should be! Now I need it to not be 20 degrees with 3 foot drifts at my range so I can shoot!   |
Posted By: britrifles
Date Posted: January 08 2022 at 3:04am
| Looks good. Looking forward to a range report. What ammo do you have? |
Posted By: Zed
Date Posted: January 08 2022 at 7:06am
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It's looking good. In my opinion it is better to leave the original finish; you can see that it has a history. Even if we will never know what that is! I hope that it shoots well. If it doesn't, we can probably help you sort it out. I do have one refinished Lee Enfield; it is one of my No8 .22 trainers. I bought it via the internet, it was described as original finish; which turned out to be gloss black from a can. It chipped off easily. So I decided to get the rifle professionally blued. (Although it's actually black). Others I have cleaned off varnish from the wood and reapplied linseed oil as original. But for the most part, I just keep them clean and serviceable. Looking forward to seeing the range report. ------------- It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice! |
Posted By: Shamu
Date Posted: January 08 2022 at 3:13pm
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That's a perfectly respectable Lee Enfield. ------------- Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force) |
Posted By: Goosic
Date Posted: January 08 2022 at 3:15pm
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My personal opinion is to leave it, "AS-IS."
Very respectable example of a battle implement...
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Posted By: murphy2133
Date Posted: January 08 2022 at 10:25pm
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Thanks! When the firing pin tool comes I'll pull the bolt and get the rest of the gunk cleaned out of there. For ammo, I have some WW2 surplus. Light oxidation on a couple of the casings. It's all I could really find at reasonable prices. Have about 100 rounds of it so I'll see how it goes! If I can hit my 8 inch gong at 100 I'll be happy. 200 would be keen but I'm not going to hold my breath.
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Posted By: britrifles
Date Posted: January 09 2022 at 2:49am
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If your taking the bolt apart, first check if there is any movement of the cocking piece on the striker. You can see this if you carefully watch the gap between the striker and cocking piece it as you take up and release the first stage of the trigger, you will see the gap increase and decrease. This makes for a spongy trigger that does not break clean. This can be corrected by “tinning” the threads of the cocking piece with solder. I’ve had to do this will all of my No. 4 rifles, it made a big improvement on trigger pull.  Also check the front face of the cocking piece, the “bent”, for a worn groove from contact with the sear. This can fixed by stoning the face, be very careful to maintain the squareness and angle in the vertical plane. You can see the groove worn in the bent face of this cocking piece on my Long Branch Mk 1/2.  And finally, it’s important that you don’t screw the striker too far into the cocking piece during assembly. The end of the threads should not protrude beyond the back face of the cocking piece and there should be a gap between the cocking piece and back of bolt body when the bolt is in the fired position. This keeps the threads from being continually pounded causing the first problem I described above.  |
Posted By: The Apprentice
Date Posted: January 09 2022 at 9:36am
Sean What a very nice rifle you have, Just like you I just joined the Enfield forum and Owning my first Enfield rifle you have done a very nice job on detail cleaning your rifle and posting your progress. Senior members thank you for your post as well it’s been very valuable for me to lean about my rifle as well. Finally Sean you posted about a firing pin tool do you have a link to where you found it ? Is it rare and hard to find ? Great post everyone ------------- New to Enfield’s |
murphy2133 wrote:Posted By: Shamu
Date Posted: January 09 2022 at 9:48am
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They are all over the internet, but many are poor quality rubbish & will bend or break if you use them. Just Google "Lee Enfield firing pin tool".  You can make your own from a suitably-sized deep well socket, by grinding the face to leave the 2 pins, or welding a short couple of pieces of drill rod to make them.  ------------- Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force) |
Posted By: Canuck
Date Posted: January 09 2022 at 9:58am
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Britrifles, thank you for those detailed photos and analysis of the spongy trigger issue. I learned something new today re: tinning the threads of the striker with soldering lead, great idea! I will check all of my #4's for this potential problem. Once again, the knowledge contained in the heads of our members here and their experience is over the top! ------------- Castles made of sand slip into the sea.....eventually |
Posted By: murphy2133
Date Posted: January 09 2022 at 10:05am
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I got my tool off ebay, about $30 shipped. Hopefully it doesn't break! If it does I'll dig the Dremel out and make my own. I agree with Canuck, the collective knowledge in this group is amazing! I very much appreciate all the responses and the attitude of members; often new enthusiasts (in any group) are be-littled or given the "google it" or "use the search button" answers. While there often is some validity to that, I've seen none of that here! Thanks again!
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Posted By: The Apprentice
Date Posted: January 09 2022 at 10:57am
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Thank you for posting The pictures Chaz I really appreciate it ------------- New to Enfield’s |
Posted By: Shamu
Date Posted: January 09 2022 at 7:06pm
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We ain't big, but we is nice & we know things! as you may have figured out we're only serious when we need to be.  ------------- Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force) |
Posted By: murphy2133
Date Posted: January 16 2022 at 7:11am
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Made it out to the range yesterday! Took my 13 year old daughter with me and we had a great time. She did better than I did with the Enfield! Below is a clip of one of her hits. First 5 shots she had with it had 3 hits at 100 yards on 10 inch gong. Filled the mag and started recording and didn't do as well, 4 out of 10 hits. I managed to hit 8 out of 10 at 100yds on the 10 inch and 2 out of 6 on the 8 inch at 100yds. It amazes me how much more difficult the 8" is vs the 10" to hit at same distance. Overall the rifle shoots nicely. The trigger is, well...different. I had a hard time telling when it would break. I got the firing pin tool in late this past week so didn't dive in before shooting. I think addressing the threads (there is definitely some play in the cocking piece) will help. My ammo surprised me, being that it had some light corrosion on it didn't expect to perform as well as it did. Here's the link! https://youtu.be/dG1mG6f1yUw http://youtu.be/dG1mG6f1yUw" rel="nofollow - http://youtu.be/dG1mG6f1yUw
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Posted By: Zed
Date Posted: January 16 2022 at 12:56pm
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Enjoyed the video. It's great to get out and shoot with family. my daughter is 10 and has been shooting the .22 Enfields for 3 years; she's not ready for the .303 yet. You are using the battle sight on your rifle, so your result's were quite good using this type of sight. The adjustable "singer" type mk1 sight are the best for range work with the standard rifle. It has a smaller dioptre and is adjustable up to 1200 yards. Regarding the trigger; you should be able to get a very crisp two stage trigger on this rifle. Britrifles has covered some important points; in addition to that you can polish the face of the sear and the trigger fulcrums and be polished but don't remove material.
------------- It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice! |
Posted By: Shamu
Date Posted: January 16 2022 at 1:43pm
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Great!  please both take a look at this vid before the bolt bites you!  Great
to see you all out enjoying it. If you have the sandbag between the
magazine front & the sling swivel it will jump up less too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SovVmYlDz5g&t=50s" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SovVmYlDz5g&t=50s ------------- Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force) |
Posted By: britrifles
Date Posted: January 16 2022 at 2:19pm
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Your off to a great start. With a bit of work, you will consistently hit a 6 inch plate at 100 yards. As Zed said, look for a Mk 1 machined rear sight, there are reproductions of the No. 5 rear sight that have approx 1/2 minute clicks when fitted to the No. 4. Advice: Position the rifle such that the fore-end stock is on the front rest behind the sling swivel band. Approximately where your support hand would go when shooting prone. Keep it in the same position for each shot. |