Good evening Milsurpers.
I recently traded some of my Mosin-Nagants for 2 very interesting rifles. The first is a Schmidt-Rubin 1889 chambered in 30-30 Winchester. The second was a Winchester made P-14 Enfield that went through some old school sporter conversion at some point in it's long life.
With regards to the S-R 1889, all parts look original and authentic and even came with a box magazine made or modified to hold 30-30 Winchester rounds. Every part aside from the screws and springs also has little "+" markings stamped on them. Barrel and receiver numbers match while the stock, stock metal inlay/magazine bay, and bolt have different numbers. I can't determine if anything other than the front sight is of dubious modification as the rest of the gun looks completely unmodified (aside from the Swiss conversion). I've cleaned the upper metal parts of the gun and so far it looks in well used, but good condition considering it's age. The previous owner said he never fired it in his lifetime.
The question I have for this gun is... does anyone else have one? Moreover, is it safe to shoot modern factory ammunition? I looked around quite a bit for info on this re-chambered oddity and I haven't found much of anything useful. Some discussions here and there about it's rarity but no 21st century firing reports. I may just leave the gun alone anyway after finishing it's cleanup as I wanted it more for its awesome looking straight pull action than actual range usage.
The second gun, the Winchester P-14, has definitely seen better years. The original military wood, front and rear sights, and mag-well area have all had some sort of sporterizing done. The owner of this one said they've had it forever and that it's stayed the same as long as they've had it. From the looks of the thing, I believe them. The front sight also had a horrid repositioning job done to it and will definitely have to be removed and replaced. But this gun will be seeing range time. I've never held another gun that could match the Mosin-Nagant in terms of the overbuilt-to-last-millenia front until this one. It's as heavy as a sack of rocks and the action looks freakishly strong. And despite the fugly sporterizing the wood is rigid and held firm with the action. The rear peep sights are also still in fair, but serviceable, shape.
Some questions I have about this gun are:
Does anyone know a smith in AB that can do re-crowning/front re-sighting on such a freak of nature? Judging by the beefy muzzle end barrel thickness, I'd say even a drill and tap solution would be viable but would prefer something closer to the original military style hooded front sight.
I also hear-tell that P-17 Enfield stocks (I'm looking at you Boyds ) can be inlet to allow P-14 actions to fit more or less perfectly. Has anyone else seen/heard-of/tried such a thing? Or even have original P-14 wood for sale? While I don't mind the sporterized job that much, I'd still like to try and get some new wood, the job done to it left the grip and for-end feeling pretty thin.
I recently traded some of my Mosin-Nagants for 2 very interesting rifles. The first is a Schmidt-Rubin 1889 chambered in 30-30 Winchester. The second was a Winchester made P-14 Enfield that went through some old school sporter conversion at some point in it's long life.
With regards to the S-R 1889, all parts look original and authentic and even came with a box magazine made or modified to hold 30-30 Winchester rounds. Every part aside from the screws and springs also has little "+" markings stamped on them. Barrel and receiver numbers match while the stock, stock metal inlay/magazine bay, and bolt have different numbers. I can't determine if anything other than the front sight is of dubious modification as the rest of the gun looks completely unmodified (aside from the Swiss conversion). I've cleaned the upper metal parts of the gun and so far it looks in well used, but good condition considering it's age. The previous owner said he never fired it in his lifetime.
The question I have for this gun is... does anyone else have one? Moreover, is it safe to shoot modern factory ammunition? I looked around quite a bit for info on this re-chambered oddity and I haven't found much of anything useful. Some discussions here and there about it's rarity but no 21st century firing reports. I may just leave the gun alone anyway after finishing it's cleanup as I wanted it more for its awesome looking straight pull action than actual range usage.
The second gun, the Winchester P-14, has definitely seen better years. The original military wood, front and rear sights, and mag-well area have all had some sort of sporterizing done. The owner of this one said they've had it forever and that it's stayed the same as long as they've had it. From the looks of the thing, I believe them. The front sight also had a horrid repositioning job done to it and will definitely have to be removed and replaced. But this gun will be seeing range time. I've never held another gun that could match the Mosin-Nagant in terms of the overbuilt-to-last-millenia front until this one. It's as heavy as a sack of rocks and the action looks freakishly strong. And despite the fugly sporterizing the wood is rigid and held firm with the action. The rear peep sights are also still in fair, but serviceable, shape.
Some questions I have about this gun are:
Does anyone know a smith in AB that can do re-crowning/front re-sighting on such a freak of nature? Judging by the beefy muzzle end barrel thickness, I'd say even a drill and tap solution would be viable but would prefer something closer to the original military style hooded front sight.
I also hear-tell that P-17 Enfield stocks (I'm looking at you Boyds
) can be inlet to allow P-14 actions to fit more or less perfectly. Has anyone else seen/heard-of/tried such a thing? Or even have original P-14 wood for sale? While I don't mind the sporterized job that much, I'd still like to try and get some new wood, the job done to it left the grip and for-end feeling pretty thin.
