Ishapore 1966 2A1

[dev]

This has been a real joy for me and labor of love finishing this rifle.
I would like to thank Mario from Keepshooting for being able to find me one in great condition with all matching serial numbers including the magazine.
It has taken me a good part of three weeks to get all of the cosmoline out of the wood and metal which was a huge undertaking and I also re-blued and finshed in boiled linseed oil.
This project was personal in that I never got to meet my Grandfather because he died before I could meet him after immigrating to the US at the age of 6 months but I did hear he lost his eye shooting his rifles which intriguing me. I never got to see the rifles as the story goes because the British government sized them, so much for liberty. I thought the Ishapore would be the closest I could get to channeling him even though it may not be of his period but at least ammo would not be hard to find.

Anyway here are some pictures.

It still needs many more coats of BLO but it's getting there. I will be taking it to Hap Baker this week to shoot it for the first time.

 

[gunconnection]

Looks good & Nice job.

 

[j8064]

A thing of beauty.
Congrats!

 

[NathanJ]

I am working on the very same rifle, a 1966. Sad part is all I have is this crappy ATI stock. I need to get a stock set myself. Beautiful rifle you have there. Here is mine currently.

Gonna try to finish sandblasting the barrel tomorrow

 

[dev]

Thanks for the complements it means a lot to me especially after the amount of man hours and detail that went into restoring it back to a battle rifle that probably either seen the snow post sino-Indian war or on the boarder of Kashmir.

Nathan I hope you find a stock for your 66 and are able to restore the rifle to it's original glory. It's sad to hear that when they were first imported many got bubbafied but hopefully they will command a collectible status in the future.

 

[fivepointstar]

that my friend is a beautiful rifle!

when i buy an Enfield it will be a Ishapore

 

[NathanJ]

It's sad to hear that when they were first imported many got bubbafied but hopefully they will command a collectible status in the future.

Well mine will never be as good as yours. The painted finish on mine was horrible so it is going to get a backyard parkerizing job with a home brew park mix.

 

[dev]

Well mine will never be as good as yours. The painted finish on mine was horrible so it is going to get a backyard parkerizing job with a home brew park mix.

Don't give up hope. I believe the original finish is black enamel paint over a parkerized finish. The enamel paint was terrible and was already coming off so I striped and discovered a parkerized finish underneath. There are some areas which were blued and I used a product called Oxpho-blue which did a great job and it blended into the worn finish.
All things considered I think you may find a good stock from a Ishapore that is a mechanical dud paper weight and depending on the furniture it may actually come out better then mine.

 

[NathanJ]

Well I don't see them on their site anymore but Springfield Sporters use to sell a set from a DP rifle for $60. Just requires a lot of fitting. I've done one I know. I am excited that it is .308. I like the .303 and I have a no 4 with an apparently new barrel on it. Just nice to keep them alive in a more modern cartridge

 

[dev]

Well I don't see them on their site anymore but Springfield Sporters use to sell a set from a DP rifle for $60. Just requires a lot of fitting. I've done one I know. I am excited that it is .308. I like the .303 and I have a no 4 with an apparently new barrel on it. Just nice to keep them alive in a more modern cartridge

From everything that I have read the Ishapore is also accurate. My brother-in-law was awarded one and after shooting his three months ago I just had to have one of my own. I also hear that they have gone up in value over the years but I don't think that matters much because it's a keeper.

 

[NathanJ]

Yeah, I don't really care about the value. I want to preserve it the best way I can by my hand. Put my energy in it so to speak

 

[Sev89]

That's fantastic! I'm starting to think I can justify stipping that awful paint off mine now

 

[guthook]

Got me thinking also....Hmmmm.

Nice Ishy!

 

[Scott7891]

that my friend is a beautiful rifle!

when i buy an Enfield it will be a Ishapore

+1

Original 303 ammo is expensive and almost impossible to find at reasonable prices and I don't shoot expensive high-powered .308 ammo, only surplus, so this looks like a winner to me.

 

[fivepointstar]

+1

Original 303 ammo is expensive and almost impossible to find at reasonable prices and I don't shoot expensive high-powered .308 ammo, only surplus, so this looks like a winner to me.

Bulls eye!!

 

[dev]

I forgot to mention that the black enamel paint sobered on was not part of the Ishapore service rifle. It would seem that it was used for preservation of the metal during storage so it is perfectly fine to remove it with some Citra Strip.

The parkerization is thick and well done.

After steaming out all that cosmoline I discovered this.

Sheesham otherwise known as Indian rosewood.

I did not stain the wood, only BLO was added. The wood has a beautiful color that has transparent marbleized bits of gold, red,brown and black that looks like hot ambers. The picture does not capture it well.

 

[Spyderdiver]

That is one nice rifle you have there. We need to meet up to take it out and see what it can do at 100 and 200 yards.

 

[Sirex]

VERY NICE rifle. I was looking, and bidding (lost) on a few Ishapore Enfields a while ago. Also bid on a Gibbs Quest Extreme carbine 7.62, and you guessed it, lost. That's how I ended up with a 7.62 Mauser, but nonetheless, I hope to get an Ishapore someday. I love they have either a 10 or 12 capacity magazine for a bolt gun.

 

[dev]

Just a little update. I just got back from Hap Baker and it fed, shot and ejected flawlessly. The for the first shot I had my head away from the rifle and after examining two cases I dreamed it somewhat safe so I warmed up to it.

This is my first bolt action rifle and it became second nature working the bolt and compared to my Brother-in-laws there is no play in the action and everything was solid. The .308 does pack a punch and the only complaint I have is that I don't like the sights.

This rifle is a conversational piece as the guy next to me asked me about it and the RO was a bit surprised that it was a .308 Enfiled after seeing the shells but I had to actually comment that it was actually 7.62.

I will probably have the head space measured to see if it will accept the .308 round.

If anyone is on the fence I would say don't hesitate, it's a quality rifle.

 

[Sev89]

Figured I'd kick some dust off this thread. I've decided to take my 2a1 with me for the opening day of rifle season. Now I have fired the bottom-line Remington .308 stuff from wally world through it with no hint of a problem, but I'll ask for the sake of asking. I shouldn't have a problem firing stuff like that through it, right?