Any love for....

Dakk

Dakk

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... the Pattern 1914 (P14) as a hunting rifle?

I was out at the range the other day and fired off a few rounds from my P14, ringing the gong at 300 yards. I quite like the rifle. But does the P14 see any active use by hunters here?

Here's mine. Barrel (out of picture) is still full military metal. Winchester, made in 1916:

p14005-0.jpg


p14003-0.jpg
 
Mine is somewhat more customized. Took the belly out of the mag well. Milled off the ears and scoped it. Reamed to 303 Epps. Timney trigger. Custom stock.
Courtesy of Ellwood Epps.
 
One of mine, a BSA P 14 is in 404 Jeffery.
My Brother built it a few years ago for my 60th.
The actual build took about 3 years and he did everything including boring the barrel and carving the stock.
Its a heavy gun but an absolute tackdriver and functions like a dream.
 
I was remarking how I hardly ever see SMLE's hunting anymore. I saw one last year and that was it for a number of years. I don't think I've seen a P-14 for a very, very long time.:)
 
I was just thinking about the P14 as I have acquired my first part of a custom. A bolt. It cleaned up nice. Now for the rest...:cool:
 
I also have a P14 that has the "Epps" chamber.
It is a Remington built unit, and it has a very good barrel on it.
Timney trigger as well.
I have shot groups with the 180 Sierra Spitzer FB and W760 that are under 1 moa.
It also likes the big Remington 180 Cor-Lokt RNSP, and Hornady's 150 gr PSP.
It has a custom stock, and besides being a wee bit on the weighty side, is a great rifle.
Eagleye.
 
I consider the M-17 Enfield one of the best rifles I've ever owned . . . I like .30/06 better than .303. But a P-13/14 re-barreled for a .300 magnum of some flavor would do right fine as well.
 
Slooshark1 said:
I don't want to highjack but can anyone shed a little light on the history of the P14?
Click to expand...

Long story, short... the British fought the Dutch settlers in the Boer War, and found their mauser rifles superior to what they had themselves. They wanted their own version of the mauser. They developed the Pattern 1913 (P13) first, which has some flaws, then improved it with a new design & calibre (303) in 1914 (P14). The P14 combined the advantages of the mauser action with enfield rifling. Since WWI started in 1914, the British contracted the US to manufacture the P14 for them, which they often used in a sniper role, since it was a bit more accurate than the SMLE.

The epilog to the story is that when the US joined WWI, they started cranking out a new version of the P14 that they had been producing for the British, except in 30-06 cal, which they called the M1917. Roughly 2/3 of US 'doughboys' carried an M1917.

The P14 saw use through both wars, then in the 1950's & 1960's many were sporterized and sold as hunting rifles.
 
When I first saw the P14 I own now, I thought to myself.... "What a butt ugly rifle". When I found out that it would be a good moose rifle, I thought "That figures, it looks like a moose."

But you know what... that thing has really grown on me. Especially after I refinished mine. The P14 has a certain old world charm to its appearance that I have really begun to appreciate. Its a nice rifle to shoot as well. Love the iron sights. I had considered selling mine at one point, simply because I won't be hunting big game any time soon, and would really love to buy a .22 for the range. But I'm getting really stuck on it, and as long as I have it, I'll have the capacity to hunt & take down anything, in North American at least.
 
P14, P17, nope no love! They're all your's! have fun! Gave away every last one that came in the estate sale! Not saying no good, just say'n no love here for those ladies!
 
The P-14 (303 British cal) and the P-17 (30-06 cal) are strong, heavy actions to build a great hunting rifle. Keep it as it is, or I believe companies such as Bishop and/or Boyds still make sporter stocks for these rifles. Also, for barrels, Douglass has all the info on them and can make you a custom barrel/caliber, only needing the final head spacing for installation. Gents have been customizing these guns for years, and there's a very good reason why.
 
Some top flight makers and companies have built fantastic rifles on the P14's (Cogswell, Holland etc etc), often in big bores and other large cased rounds for which it is well suited (eg A-Square). The action just requires a butt load of expensive gunsmithing relative to Mausers AFAIK.
 
Ive seen a couple sportered ones (big sight cut off and different stocks) that were used for years for regular hunting. I had one in 300 weatherby and sold it the other year. Nice one off stock on it. I also know of a .310-308 norma M17 a relative has.

My dad retired his 30-06 p14 (or maybe 17) this year, and it was used to take alot of game to feed the family growing up, and wasnt exceptionally maintained, but worked very well for him.

Its a bugger about the barrel threads being so large though, if you want to rebarrel one you need to buy a new barrel and have the threads cut, the threads on pretty much other modern rifle are smaller and so pretty much unusable for rebarreling.

Id even consider using one to build a hunting rifle or target rifle, but Im a lefty and it is not really cost effective as compared to some of the new stuff on the market these days.
 
They are great for making a big bore gun, my Brother has them in 500 Jeffery, 505 Gibbs, 510 Wells, 460 Weatherby, 404 Jeffery, to name a few.
All are excellent shooters, more so if the shooter can tolerate the recoil.. :)
 
Dakk said:
When I first saw the P14 I own now, I thought to myself.... "What a butt ugly rifle".
Click to expand...

My exact sentiments when I first saw mine. A family acquaintance showed it to me, wondering if I could make the same mods to it that I did to my revamped No.4.

At the time I had no idea what it was, and I told him "no." He took it home, and at his request, I started the search as for what it was and for what that funny disc was on the forestocks' left side. After I found out, I told him the P14 story as I had read it on wikipedia and the Military Surplus Collectors Forum. I looked on the EE for what they're going for and as luck would have it, a couple of sporterized ones in better shape "wood wise", were going for $150.00.

It had never been registered, and he offered it to me for $100.00. I told him I didn't really want another .303, besides I really didn't care for the looks of it.

About 3 months go by, and this butt ugly rifle just stuck in my mind. Finally I phone him up and told him that I would buy it. It was my "death of the LGR" gift to myself.

I tore this rifle down, as I do all 2nd hand rifle purchases, to clean and inspect. That's when I started falling in love with this ugly duckling. This thing is in great shape. Other than the wood being shortened, no other mods have been made. No drilled holes in it anywhere.

Now I'm looking for the pieces to restore this gem to it's former full wood glory. And if I get lucky, the rest of the pieces for the volley sights.

BTW, it shoots great. Working on a better load for it. Would I use it to hunt with? Without batting an eye, you had better believe it. (if I hunted anymore)
 
I have a "sporter" that belonged to a dear old friend. His widow told me that the fellow wasn't a hunter, but his buddies convinced him to go whitetail hunting. She said he did shoot one deer and that was it. I bought it at the estate auction for $60, probably about 25 years ago.

Needless to say, this rifle holds a special place in the pile. :)
 
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