Is this a "sporterized" Lee Enfield Rifle PICTURE HEAVY!

S

SBS_ICEMAN

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Hello everyone,

Looking for some info on this old rifle that has been rusting away in my girlfriend's mother's basement. The back story, as I have been told is that it was her grandfather's. I figured it would be an interesting exercise to clean it up and try and find some info on it. We managed to clear off the rust, grease and other unpleasantness so that the markings were visible. I have posted pics of the rifle and the markings below. The barrel is 26 inches long.

My main question is, was this a military Lee Enfield that could possibly be restored to it's former glory or was it made in this "sporter" format to begin with? My knowledge of old service rifles is quite limited and any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Even just pointing me in the right direction in terms of research would be awesome.

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Sorry for all the images but I wanted to get some good shots of the markings for everyone. Thanks in advance!

Regards,
D
 
It was a full length military rifle that has been sporterized. It is a sporterized p14 in .303 britsh. It looks to be a great candidate for a restoration. The barrel is still full length and it has the rear sight ears. Also it looks to be all matching. If the bore is good that would be a great winter resto project.
 
It's also a Mk1. This is a bit more scarce than the Mk1*. Eddystone made more of these than remington or Winchester(Eddystone was a division of Remington so Eddystone are the most common. I would stick to finding the original Eddyston furniture. As mentioned above, the M17 stocks will fit with some work but are not correct to the rifle. Numrich in the US sometimes have the furniture and most of the fittings.
Or!! Give it to me as I have an Eddystone stock looking for a rifle :)
 
I'm still looking for a stock for my P14. Missed out on one with Marstar by like a couple weeks.

Nice looking rifle! Here's the I've got to work with:

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SBS_ICEMAN said:
...
My main question is, was this a military Lee Enfield that could possibly be restored to it's former glory or was it made in this "sporter" format to begin with? ...
Click to expand...

It was a military Enfield, but not a Lee Enfield. As others have said, yes it could possibly be restored. It wasn't originally made as a sporter.
 
greyman441 said:
It was a full length military rifle that has been sporterized. It is a sporterized p14 in .303 britsh. It looks to be a great candidate for a restoration. The barrel is still full length and it has the rear sight ears. Also it looks to be all matching. If the bore is good that would be a great winter resto project.
Click to expand...

The barrel looks good to me. After a serious cleaning of course. There is some rust damage but nothing too serious. It may need to be refinished at some point.
 
Forend, rear handguard, front handguatd, front and rear sling swivels, piling swivel, rear barrel band to hold the rear handguard on where it butts against the reciever and the nosecap
Of course the volley sight just behind the mid barrel band on the left side. Note the volley sight arm was removed just before the war by the Weedon repair centre but the plate was left in place so either version is correct
I would suggest you find an exploded view from a parts dealer to see exactly what you need

By the way, the BNP (Birmingham Nitro proof) and calibre designation was added when the rifle was surplussed out since by law,it had to be reprooved before it could be sold on the civillian market even if it had been on the rifle range the day before
 
As stated p14.

Based on Mauser's design and action. Very slick bolt actions. Yours could be returned to mil configuration, or used to slay moose as-is. They cycle nicely, and are usually quite accurate .

Finding wood to return it original, as stated, makes for a good hunt. There are still some complete stocks out there.
 
Found a manual for the P14-P17 online. It is for the american version chambered in 30-06. Still looking for one detailing the P14 in .303 but they should be very similar. I have read that there were some production issues relating to part interchangeability depending on if it was made by Winchester, Remington or Eddystone. For now I think my plan is to try and find original hardware for a P14 instead of trying to mix and match with a P17. Though as mentioned above, the parts seem to be scarce!

Here is the link to the site I found the manual at. It has a bunch of other firearms manuals there as well. http://www.replicaplans.com/FirearmsManualsDownload.html
 
That's a great site. If you want to mess with P14s, you should pick up Charles Strattons book. Vol 4 Pattern 1914 and US Model of 1917. Gives the history et al.
 
John Sukey said:
By the way, the BNP (Birmingham Nitro proof) and calibre designation was added when the rifle was surplussed out since by law,it had to be reprooved before it could be sold on the civillian market even if it had been on the rifle range the day before
Click to expand...

The date code on the proof signifies it went through the Birmingham proof house in 1956. So that is when it hit the civilian mrket.
 
Found a nice chart with the "private view mark" from BPH.

This rifle has been around.

The G with the N with a 9 is the military nitro proof back in 1916 ish
Crossed flags beside the 16' is the view or inspectors mark
16' is the year of manufacture 1916
The arrow above the BNP is British military ownership of the rifle.
.303 is the bore dia
2.222" is the cartridge case length in inches
pressure proof load is 18.5 tons per square inch

Crossed lances with the FB is the Birmingham proof house inspectors mark called a "private view mark"
I read it as a FB which is 1955 when it was proofed.

Here is a chart

BPH.jpg
 
Refinish the stock, and use it as it is. Shoot it lots, they're a great rifle. Deer, bear, moose, targets, whatever.

There is a scope mount availalble for these, isn't there, which uses the existing sight mounting points?
 
You will want to take the bolt apart and check the firing pin spring, some era springs weren't the best and have compressed, you can get a new one from wolf springs for next to nothing though
 
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