P-14 to .300 H&H

L

Loyalist84

Member
Rating - 100%
6   0   0
Location
Eastern Ontario
Alright, bear with me on this one.

So in the spirit of the KISS Principle (and the meagreness of a student budget) I've decided to stop fooling with Ackley Improved calibers and over-heavy varmint rifles and consolidate the two. I'm going to jettison my .280 AI in favour of a varmint buster and take the .30-06 I was going to rebarrel into a .257 Roberts and go into something heavy duty.

Which is where the .300 H&H comes in. Now, the rifle I have is a post-war BSA gig. P-14 redone for .30-06, feeds well, straight bolt and magazine and a heavy walnut stock on 'er. All the works been done including filling in the Eddystone island and d&t. What would be involved (aside from fiddling with magazine dimensions) to make the rifle into a .300 H&H? It it as simple as opening the bolt face, re-chamber and test feeding? Or is there something I'm missing?
 
P-14's were based upon the 303 British, M 1917's were based upon the 30-06. So for what you are contemplating you need a p-14 bolt and a M1917 action/barrel.
 
I have a custom P 17 done in 308 Norma magnum. I bought it that way. I didn't know about the bolt swap. Excellent rifle to shoot. Whoever made knew what he was doing. I have been thinking of trying to have a couple of rifles made up in 300 H&H and 375 H&H. I can't decide so I may just have one built and buy the other one. If I could find one already made like my Norma I would get it. It just fits me.
Go for it, rechamber it.
 
The magnum conversions were quite common. Not too many years ago, relatively cheap sporters called Centurions were being sold in 300 Win mag for ~ 400$. You see the odd one around these days for about the same price...
If you're building one, getting it to feed properly is a challenge.
 
I had a P17 that was converted to 300WM. Bolt face opened up, reamer in the original barrel and mag work. The mag work is gonna be the PITA. You used to be able to buy magnum conversion bits, but I havent seen anyone selling them for years.
 
Just guessing I think the OP had it the other way around he had a P17 which is originally come in 30-06 and the P14 has larger diameter bolt face which is perfect for magnum cartridges as cosmic mentioned.

I had one of those Century arms P14 in 300wm back in the early 90s it has the dogleg bolt handle rear sight ears milled off drilled and tapped, a new barrel a birchwood stock and the floor plate still has a drop where it goes up towards the front of the stock.

It is a no frills bolt action rifle still has the original bolt design (close bolt to ####) but after some home smithing (I was young with little money and some spare time) I had someone weld a straight bolt, tune the trigger straighten the floor plate replace the bolt shroud kit to make it #### on open and replace the birchwood stock to a MPI fiberglass stock and accuglass it myself.

At the end I got myself a semi custom rifle probably cost as much as a new Remington 700 at the time if not more but its a true moa rifle with factory ammo if you ask me now I probably won't do it again but it was my first rifle and a good learning experience after all.

The Pattern 14 is a very strong action if you google A square they used to convert these to custom rifle in big bore safari calibers (A square hannibal) before they close down.
 
Honestly, get rid of it and look for a deal on an old Remington 721 or save your pennies for a Pre 64 M70. If you're dead set on spending $1000-$1400 then go shopping for a 30-06 or a standard-length magnum (7mag, 300, 338 or 458) in a M70 Classic and have it reamed (in the case of the 30-06) or rebarreled and the appropriate mag box and follower swap (and ejector mod) to a 300 H&H. If you go down the road with the P14 you'll be into the rifle for the same, or more, money and in the end you'll have a rifle that no one wants (and eventually you will want to sell it because you won't be happy with it).

Sorry to be harsh, but it is what it is.
 
Snider shooter said:
I have a custom P 17 done in 308 Norma magnum. I bought it that way. I didn't know about the bolt swap. Excellent rifle to shoot. Whoever made knew what he was doing. I have been thinking of trying to have a couple of rifles made up in 300 H&H and 375 H&H. I can't decide so I may just have one built and buy the other one. If I could find one already made like my Norma I would get it. It just fits me.
Go for it, rechamber it.
Click to expand...

I have one that was gramps, a .311-308 norma mag. Actually I guess if its a .311 it was probably just a P-14 and not an M-17.

Anyways, I've wanted to do something with it as it has been in the family probably longer than I have, but it's surplus to my needs and I shoot left handed (left eye dominant but right handed).

I wanted to build a 375 taylor chatfield with it, but, it probably wouldnt be used. I could hand it over to my daughters one day, but a smaller caliber would be better, well almost anything would be better than that old anchor, but I like to build stuff.
 
BigUglyMan said:
Honestly, get rid of it and look for a deal on an old Remington 721 or save your pennies for a Pre 64 M70. If you're dead set on spending $1000-$1400 then go shopping for a 30-06 or a standard-length magnum (7mag, 300, 338 or 458) in a M70 Classic and have it reamed (in the case of the 30-06) or rebarreled and the appropriate mag box and follower swap (and ejector mod) to a 300 H&H. If you go down the road with the P14 you'll be into the rifle for the same, or more, money and in the end you'll have a rifle that no one wants (and eventually you will want to sell it because you won't be happy with it).

Sorry to be harsh, but it is what it is.
Click to expand...



Sound advice.

Unless there is a sentiment value tie to it or you must do it with that action otherwise there is no point of doing it from the economically point of view.
 
Spcamno said:
Just guessing I think the OP had it the other way around he had a P17 which is originally come in 30-06 and the P14 has larger diameter bolt face which is perfect for magnum cartridges as cosmic mentioned.

I had one of those Century arms P14 in 300wm back in the early 90s it has the dogleg bolt handle rear sight ears milled off drilled and tapped, a new barrel a birchwood stock and the floor plate still has a drop where it goes up towards the front of the stock.

It is a no frills bolt action rifle still has the original bolt design (close bolt to ####) but after some home smithing (I was young with little money and some spare time) I had someone weld a straight bolt, tune the trigger straighten the floor plate replace the bolt shroud kit to make it #### on open and replace the birchwood stock to a MPI fiberglass stock and accuglass it myself.

At the end I got myself a semi custom rifle probably cost as much as a new Remington 700 at the time if not more but its a true moa rifle with factory ammo if you ask me now I probably won't do it again but it was my first rifle and a good learning experience after all.

The Pattern 14 is a very strong action if you google A square they used to convert these to custom rifle in big bore safari calibers (A square hannibal) before they close down.
Click to expand...


Sorry, I should have been more specific. What I have is a commercial BSA Model D rifle. It's done on a P-14 action for certain because it bears no US arsenal stampings or other marks. It's definitely not the most economical thing as BUM and Spc say. However I've got a stickling thing in my mind that demands I only have CRF centrefire rifles. So really, aside from the Mauser or Model 70, not a ton of options about. In addition I'd be tempted to work out something for a Model 70 but I'm just not a fan of it and like the fact that it was put together in Birmingham so really it's the option I'm sticking with.
 
I had this done some years back on a Sportered Winchester P17. Used the original .30-06 barrel rechanbered to .300H+H and a P14 (.303) bolt. Turned out ok and was accurate, but when all said and done I wouldn't do it again. With all the other action work required ie: extending bolt travel, bolt handle etc, in the end you end up with a overly heavy action for the caliber. Also the trigger guard is heavy. Maybe if building a .416 Rigby or bigger, but then I'd go with a CZ550.
 
Dude - BSA model D rifles are modestly collectible in their own right, as the vast majority of BSA conversions were the cheaper models. Save the model D, or sell it for good bucks, and chop up another sporter. BTW - the BSA conversions were re-heat treated so no worries about the ERA brittle receivers.
 
Spcamno said:
Just guessing I think the OP had it the other way around he had a P17 which is originally come in 30-06 and the P14 has larger diameter bolt face which is perfect for magnum cartridges as cosmic mentioned.

I had one of those Century arms P14 in 300wm back in the early 90s it has the dogleg bolt handle rear sight ears milled off drilled and tapped, a new barrel a birchwood stock and the floor plate still has a drop where it goes up towards the front of the stock.

It is a no frills bolt action rifle still has the original bolt design (close bolt to ####) but after some home smithing (I was young with little money and some spare time) I had someone weld a straight bolt, tune the trigger straighten the floor plate replace the bolt shroud kit to make it #### on open and replace the birchwood stock to a MPI fiberglass stock and accuglass it myself.

At the end I got myself a semi custom rifle probably cost as much as a new Remington 700 at the time if not more but its a true moa rifle with factory ammo if you ask me now I probably won't do it again but it was my first rifle and a good learning experience after all.

The Pattern 14 is a very strong action if you google A square they used to convert these to custom rifle in big bore safari calibers (A square hannibal) before they close down.
Click to expand...


I have one of those. They called it the Centurion. It's been my go-to moose, elk and black bear rifle ever since my buddy gave it to me.
 
cosmic said:
Dude - BSA model D rifles are modestly collectible in their own right, as the vast majority of BSA conversions were the cheaper models. Save the model D, or sell it for good bucks, and chop up another sporter. BTW - the BSA conversions were re-heat treated so no worries about the ERA brittle receivers.
Click to expand...

I was vaguely aware of that, but I tried it on the EE a couple times with no takers so I decided I might as well make use of it and put the British engineering to good use!
 
For what it would cost , I would take a look on Tradex at their Zastava M 70's . Mauser 98 , CRF in 300WM and ready to go . I picked one up in 375 H&H a few years back , great value for the money ........... and if it were my rifle , I'd leave the old BSA as it is .
 
dan belisle said:
These days it has to be a labor of love. There's just too many cheap rifles out there for it to make economic sense. On the other hand, google some of Tom Burgess' Enfields. Schwing!! - dan
Click to expand...

Why do I always have to look ? Those are some very nice rifles ............ what's the going rate on a kidney ?
 
anglia2 said:
Why do I always have to look ? Those are some very nice rifles ............ what's the going rate on a kidney ?
Click to expand...

Tom built some wonderful stuff. He's passed on now, but I had the good fortune to carry on a long correspondence with him about Enfields and Win 70's before he went. Some great info, and a really nice guy. Put me in touch with Echols for some 70 stuff. Also a great guy. - dan
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom