bubbaized Enfield

[aintright]

Don't know what the silver solder on the reciever was about or the braze on the barrel . But my love of the 30-06 has pushed me into trying to make a hunter out of it .
Just called my local smith and he wasn't home so I thought I would post some pictures and see if anyone here might know what the silver solder and braze is about .
Thanks , Kenneth

[bruce]

Your love of the .30-06 is about to lead you into a nice project! The silver solder on the receiver is likely the result of someone wanting a little added security beyond mere screws in mounting a scope base. The same probably goes for the braze up at the front sight. It the bore is good, you will have a nice hunting rifle. If the bore is bad, have it bored out to .338 or .35 caliber. With no other changes, you could then have a .338-06 or a .35 Whelen, both of which are excellent medium bore hunting rounds. Have fun! Sincerely. bruce.

[Clark Howard]

When the protective ears on either side of the rear sight are removed, there is a milled depression left. Bubba has filled this hole with solder or brazing rod. The same for the military sight groove under the front sight. Regards, Clark

[aintright]

Thank you for the information , will have him have a look at the throat , rifling appears to be clean and sharp . There is a
US W 2400 on the side of the reciever and a ordnance stamp and a star in a circle on the other side .
Does the W mean it is a Winchester reciever ? What is the star about ? And a 28 A stamped on top of the reciever at the left hand side of the port .
There is a 12-18 under the ordnance stamp at the end of the barrel also .
Just curious as to what all this means , it already has a nice Fajen hunting stock and barrel is floated . So if the barrel turns out to be ok , looks like I got a good start .
Thanks again , Kenneth

[kcw]

I believe your rifle is of very early Winchester production. I believe that they initially used the same receiver ring marking format as their recently concluded .303 P-14 contract for the Brits. Shortly after production began they converted to far more common four line: U.S.-Model of 1917-Winchester-123456 (Serial #) Being an early rifle I'd bet the barrel is a replacement done just after WWI or during the emergency WWII rebuild program. If so it's more likely to be a Remington or Eddystone barrel than a Winchester. If you're thinking of scoping it, the front ring will take the Remington Model 30 scope base (Remington built their Model 30 line of rifles out of surplus WWI receivers. However, Remington altered the bridge to take the same base as the receiver ring but not everyone followed that pattern, including whomever altered yours. Your bridge looks l VERY much like my sported Remington which uses Redfield type bases front and back. (Unfortunately the base numbers on mine must be on the underside of the bases). Nonetheless, a gunsmith with a basic knowledge of sported 1917's and a drawer full of bases can find a suitable scope base match for you in short order. I'm thinking that to clean up that sliver solder & tap the 2nd scope base screw hole on the bridge, tap two holes in the receive ring and supply a couple bases might run .....maybe $150?

[aintright]

Yes sir I figured that silver solder job would be in need of touching up . The smith is a real good smith , he won't have a problem with it . Thank you for the info on the gun . The barrel has a V with some smaller letters or numbers on the bolt side and on the opposite side there is what looks like 45 , but not sure as it is worn .
thNka , Kenneth

[aintright]

Took it by the smith yesterday and he bore scoped it . Throat is pitted , so still going ahead with the D&T , drop some glass on it and see how it does . Kenneth