P-14 Action with P-17 bolt

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Will a P-17 bolt fit a P-14 action? I have a custom P-14 action with a heavy varmint contour barrel installed. The rifle is chambered in 220 Swift. The rifle is very accurate, and feeds fairly well, but my extraction is a little weak. The claw extractor grips the semi-rimmed cases well and pulls them from the chamber, but most of the time it just drops the spent cases on the mag follower before it hits the ejector. Since the 220 Swift has the same size head as a 30-06, I was thinking that a P-17 bolt would be better suited for the task. I originally used a P-14 action and bolt because the price was right, it was one that the gunsmith had kicking around. If the bolt does fit, is it something that I can do myself? As a mechanic I'm fairly good with steel, and I am familiar with headspacing.
 
Instead of jumping into a bolt swap, which as 505 pointed out is not possible without alot of rework(money) have you tried to troubleshoot the problem? These kinds of problems can usually be traced back to insufficient extractor pressure on the casehead therefore the case just drops down once it has cleared the chamber.
bigbull
 
I have used a P17 bolt in a P14 action when I rebarreled one to 308 and there was no difference in action length
 
My 300 Win Mag was built on a M1917 action with a P14 Bolt.

Logic suggests the reverse would hold true.
 
The P14 has a 'flat' breech while the M1917 has a 'coned' breech. Not all bolts will headspace in the same rifle as there are minor differences between each manufacturer of each series.
 
tiriaq said:
Does your rifle have a p-14 or M-17 extractor?
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I'm not sure tiriaq, I believe a P-17 extractor. There was a lot of filing done to the extractor claw to make it work. the bolt face on my bolt is milled out to fit a 303 casehead exactly, I just assumed that a P-17 bolt face would be milled out to fit a 30-06 casehead. The extractor I believe was designed to jam the 303 casehead into its milled out surface, and since the 220 swift has the same size casehead as the 30-06 it does not. The claw pulls the spent case out quite fine and just drops it onto the follower. Therefore I just figured that a 30-06 bolt would work just fine:redface: Of course there would be some fitting involved.
 
There seems to be some misunderstanding about P14's and P17's...

All P14's were .303 British...
...P17's came later and were all 30-06...

The .303 boltface (P14) is cut larger than the 30-06 boltface (P17), as well as the 303 extractor is cut for a larger case than 30-06.
 
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I've only personally handled P17's, so my info might be a bit shady on P14 extractors. The extractor on the '17 is a bendy piece of metal that's known to be the very first to go (either to break off or lose its appropriate amount of flexibility). If this is the problem, a cheap aftermarket spring actuated extractor would do the trick (eg. Numrich for less than 10$)
 
Dukeoflawnchair said:
I've only personally handled P17's, so my info might be a bit shady on P14 extractors. The extractor on the '17 is a bendy piece of metal that's known to be the very first to go (either to break off or lose its appropriate amount of flexibility). If this is the problem, a cheap aftermarket spring actuated extractor would do the trick (eg. Numrich for less than 10$)
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Sorry but you are thinking of the 'Ejector' not the 'Extractor'. The extractor is the metal claw on the bolt which holds the case for loading into or extraction from the chamber. It extends down the side of the bolt.
The claw on the M1917 extractor is the full size of the complete item while the claw on the P14 is about half the size of the rest of the extractor. If you hold the two bolts side by side and look at the bolt face on the differences are obvious, although my explaniation may not be!
 
guntech said:
There seems to be some misunderstanding about P14's and P17's...

All P14's were .303 British...
...P17's came later and were all 30-06...

The .303 boltface (P14) is cut larger than the 30-06 boltface (P17), as well as the 303 extractor is cut for a larger case than 30-06.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming guntech, that the boltface on the P-17 is cut to the exact size of the 30-06 casehead? So would it therefore make sense that the P-17 bolt would work better on the 220 Swift casehead, being that the Swift casehead is the exact same size as the '06? What I'm wondering guys is simply this. My rifle has been put together using P-14 receiver and P-14 bolt and headspaced. Before I spend good money on buying a complete P-17 bolt, would there be any reason that the bolt would not fit, or not fit without a lot of work involved, ie removing the barrel, or rechambering? Or should I just go ahead and play with extractors?
 
P14/17

In Hass's book, "Bolt Action Rifles". he states that the magazines, bolts and receivers are different between P14 and P17 guns. I believe that most big bore conversions (longer than 375 H and H} use the P14 rather than the P17 due to receiver dimensions. I have both a P14 and a P17 rifle and will check the interchangeability of bolts for you.
 
P14/1917 Enfield

THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENCES.....Lots of good advise and opinions been offerred already from some very experienced guys!!!!!

These actions are from the same family however the differences are many...mag and feedrails, charger cutout, bolt stop,bolt face and most importantly .....the bolt. The 1917 enfield has a cone bolt and chambers at a 45 degree angle. The P14 has a flat face and a half moon recess for the lugs. DeHass book describes it to a "T".

Now down to your problem. Depending how the P14 was put together, head space will be the issue. Is the rifle feeds OK and shoots well best is left alone. In target shooting you do not want the casing to fly too far. If you want them to clear the chamber then a modification is required.

I have a 308 built on a P14. It used a 1917 Enfield (Winchester) bolt remachined on the face to the P14 profile(the lugs have been reprofiled and face trued) with the extractor collar cutout slightly relieved so that I get 100% ejection. It also uses a 1917 bolt stop/ejector. Might want to replace this part first rather than playing around with a bolt...a $20.00 part..window need modification.

If you go for the bolt mod...then THIS IS A JOB FOR AN EXPERIENCED GUNSMITH OR MACHINIST.If you have the equipment and skill the worse case is ruining a $50.00 bolt.
 
I've had this done back and forth. There is no problem using a '17 bolt in a '14 receiver and vice versa.

The catch is that this must be done at the time that the barrel is installed. The different extractor grooves in the face of the barrel will preclude interchangeability for that reason alone.

If you want to put a '17 bolt into your '14 .220 Swift, you will, at minimum, have to have the barrel unscrewed and will likely be required to cut its rear end off. You will then have to re-thread the shank and re-cut the chamber, including having the brech coned to accommodate the '17 bolt. In addition, the extractor cut will have to be made wider for the '17 extractor.

In other words, you will have to start again as if you're installing a brand new (unthreaded and unchambered barrel). If you do this, you should have no problem. I can't imagine a gunsmith doing all this for less than $150 (on a good, generous day), however.
 
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