Thread: 303 to restore

Hey everyone- managed to pick up this 303 that’s been sporterised but planning to restore to fully wooded once I’ve managed to locate some furniture for it. I know some will say not worth it, and it’s never going to be ultra collectible given bolt doesn’t match, but barrel seems pretty good nick, and I’d just rather see it as close to original condition.
Keeping an eye out on yellow site for some furniture and metal bits- will see how we go! Haven’t made it to the range yet to see how it shoots but time will tell I guess.

I know .303 people love to do it, but I always think that most sporterised .303's like that spent a much more significant part of their history being hunting rifles - hunting stags in the wilds of NZ for decades - than they ever ever did as military ones in the hands of a soldier.

So saying I think I ve got a couple of things you might need. Nose cap and maybe something else.

having been down this track mate you would be better of selling that as a hunting rifle and getting a good original 303 if thats what you want - its just so damn hard to get the bits needed - I gave up in the end

Yeah I hear what you're both saying about it being a pain and not being worth it on some levels- I'm in no rush to 'de-sporterise' it and just happy as is to own a bit of history. I know that tracking down the wood will be difficult, particualrly being a No1 Mk3* so the bits won't be as common as a No4 for example. Still keen to get it to the range and test it out and see how it shoots in time

Originally Posted by Te_Tianara

Yeah I hear what you're both saying about it being a pain and not being worth it on some levels- I'm in no rush to 'de-sporterise' it and just happy as is to own a bit of history. I know that tracking down the wood will be difficult, particualrly being a No1 Mk3* so the bits won't be as common as a No4 for example. Still keen to get it to the range and test it out and see how it shoots in time

your best bet is to just pick up the parts required at gun show tables over time if your in no hurry

Keep an eye out on the Antique Arms auctions
Forends, butts, nosecaps, top woods, they all pop up fairly frequently
I took a year or so to do what you’re planning

You are unlikely to find an intact full length bottom wood. There are two sources I know of. First is swapping the wood and fittings off a complete rifle with a bore that's toast. I have done this, combining a sportered Lithgow No1 with a mint barrel and metal, with a fully wooded Lithgow with pitted action and bolt and no rifling at all. I ended up with a nice example of a No1 to shoot. The second is a guy in NZ who has been machining replacements from beech. I bought one from him for a No4 and fitted it to one of my rifles. I would call them more of a rough starting point than a stock. They need a significant amount of work to get fitting well, if your not a skilled woodworker you likely wont get a satisfactory result (and the wood is not cheap) If your interested, I can track down his contact details and forward them to you.

Does your donor still have a fully intact muzzle? many have had the barrel chopped just behind the lugs or have had the lugs ground off. If the barrel is not as issued, I would find a better donor.

Message private joker on here, there is another seller on TM that will have everything you need.

keep in mind that the price of a full wood 303 is basically 400 bucks now. I would only bother if it has an excellent bore or if it something expensive like a 1903 or k98k, P14/17

If something is made of wood surely it can be copied...a fully wooded 303 would be nice in walnut.

Originally Posted by DavidGunn

If something is made of wood surely it can be copied...a fully wooded 303 would be nice in walnut.

Geoff on Trademe uses a duplicator. His work has improved over time.
I've done a few restorations. But frankly its not worth it these days. Especially if the receiver has been drilled.
The rebuilt gun will cost you more than a decent intact one.

Originally Posted by dogmatix

Geoff on Trademe uses a duplicator. His work has improved over time.
I've done a few restorations. But frankly its not worth it these days. Especially if the receiver has been drilled.
The rebuilt gun will cost you more than a decent intact one.

'Cost' should never enter into anything firearm or hunting related....when I am dead and gone there will be some lucky people buying my guns off the wife especially if she sells them for what I said I bought them for.

If you want to spend $900-1000 all up for a sporter 303, replacement top and bottom wood, replacement metal parts, dremel, boiled linseed oil, plus your time and effort getting the wood to fit correctly, but it will still be a miss matched gun with no collectors value, instead of paying $800 for all matching complete rifle with collectors value, do it.

I certainly learnt all about the idiosyncrasies about the SMLE doing it a few times. Not to mention a lot of general knowledge about 303s I didn't have before.
But now I have other shooting interests that take priority.

Yeah points noted everyone- I’m less so wanting to do it for collectors value and more for having a project to do. I know there are easier projects out there but figure this one was good considering this sporter was a $1 reserve yellow site auction

I did a No1MkIII a few years ago, it was a fun project.
A couple of things I learned;
Use a full set of woodwork from the same batch of repro if you can, otherwise the slight differences with mismatched wood really diminish from the result.
Don't overpay for the metal parts. I bought a full set, nosecap, barrel bands, sight ears etc, for under $100, but I see some people trying to hock a nosecap on its own for the same price.
Be prepared to do some inletting and fettling to fit, borrow some tools for the job.
Be prepared for some light sanding and hours of oiling many coats of finish.
Try to use a donor rifle with reasonable standard of finish, otherwise your nice looking repro wood will look out of place from a highly worn action and fittings.
Be aware that it might take work to shoot straight. Mine was a great shooter as a sporter, and I couldnt get it to shoot straight afterward. Hours of tinkering, following the best advice from alleged enfield experts, I gave up on ever making it a shooter again, which ultimately resulted in selling it as a wall hangar, despite it having a good bore.
I'm sure you're aware of some of these things already, but that's just my 0.02c from having done one.

Yeah parts can be a bitch. In a weak moment I let a bsa express sight go to @Scout in a swap for adjustable bone button rear sight for my no1 with the charger guide on the bolt head. It had already cost me more than I would've liked for the sliding guide. The rear sights are seem to be going for similar money. We were both happy and Scout will actually make use of it now. I did get it cheap though.
I only wanted to replace the sight as the notch had bee filed into a vee.
Looks naff. I do not forsee it ever getting made back into original configuration