1916 P14 mag jam

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Location
Nova Scotia
Hello, I have a 1916 P14 that I finally got to take out shooting yesterday. It belonged to my grandfather and my uncle gave it to me a few months ago. When he did he told me that it would jam alot. So I bought some 303 snap caps and played around with it and it worked fine. I get it to the range, first round cycles fine, second round Jams. So I take a look and I see that the rim from the top round is behind the rim of the second down round causeing the round to jam. Has anyone encountered this before? I tried searching but came up with nothing. I assume the magazine spring is weak allowing the recoil to jumble the rounds.

Heres a picture of the old rifle.

1962858_10155099036535368_1850909919862564986_n.jpg


Thanks
 
1-Weak magazine spring. ---- replace or stretch it a bit.
2-Round nosed bullets ---Rifle was designed to feed spitzer type bullets and round nosed bullets can hit edge of chamber and jam.
3-Rounds loaded incorrectly, that is, rim behind rim ---- take care in loading that the rim of the cartridge being loaded is in FRONT of the one below it.
4- Bolt manipulation ---operate the bolt with authority and do not drag or slow it down.
5- Wrong magazine spring.

All of the above can cause jams, but your cause is probably #3 or #1.
 
Note that military spec ammunition had a bevelled rim, making rim-lock less serious a problem. Commercial ammunition does not have this bevel.

Load your magazine with regard to how the rims are lining up.

They should line up if you use a Charger..... but that, also, must be loaded and used the Army way. What your Buddy says is liable to be wrong! Get the Army diagram and do it like that.
 
Ya rims can lock up if not loaded a specific way. When loading, I always try to place them slightly forward, then pull back before pressing them into the mag, you know what I mean? Kinda hard to put into words.
 
Thank you for the replies, I was sure to load them so that the rims were properly in place, but it seems the spring is very light. I will try stretching the spring and see what that does.

Thanks
 
I am curious how this works out for you, be sure to report back if stretching the spring is effective.

Oh and don't rub it in too bad with your uncle if the mechanical malfunction is so easily fixed, he was probably cursing at it for years already..., haha.
 
P-14's are very sensitive to the profile of the bullet. The * modification was an attempt to improve feeding. Additionally, many were modified after the war by grinding the feed rails to bow out slightly. Try another type of ammo before doing anything drastic.
 
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