P14/17 point of Sporterization?

Lebel

Lebel

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I'm not trying to be derogatory here but what precisely is the appeal of a sporterized P14 M17? After you; level off the ears, straighten the bolt handle, level off the floor plate, one stage trigger job and even convert to ####-on-opening; what exact feature of the gun do you like that's not modified? Wouldn't it just been cheaper to buy a sporter with those features? At least you can take it back to the store in case of defect.
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They were $2 at one time, when a commercial hunting rifle was $75, there were lots of them and it gave lots of gunsmiths hands on work.
The P14's were good candidates for conversion to standard magnum cartridges, and the M17's could be converted to any standard cartridge.
Today it makes little sense.
 
^^^ What he said. They were dirt cheap at one time, along with Mausers and Lee Enfields, and converting them was a cheap way to get a hunting rifle. Today, nobody would take a $500+ milsurp and sporterize it.

And it wasn't just backroom gunsmiths doing the work. BSA, Parker Hale, Churchill, took Mausers and Enfields by the hundreds, if not thousands and turned them into sporters. The milsurp collectors market wasn't what it is today.
 
Hitzy pretty much nailed it. But then you could say the same for re-loading - does not make economic sense for 25 to 50 round a year shooters. But "economic sense" doesn't really enter into it, when someone comments on your "really cool old rifle - where can I buy one", or when you are standing over your first elk taken with a hand load of a home cast bullet. 99% of today's people would rather just buy some Federal shells and a Savage Axis and go shoot that elk.
 
Century in 1993 did all the work, included a one piece base, the mag work, and reaming of 06 guns to 300WM, and a B&C stock for 299$. In return you got a nice big solid action, that in honesty I still enjoy, without changing the safety, or trigger, or COC. Today you cand still do it cheap with a few companies offering barrels, and getting the ears off is easier than ever, so for a few hundered bucks you can still have a nice action thats dead simple, and reliable, and not plastic.
 
'Boo said:
For most hunters it would also be cheaper to buy half a steer and a pig each year rather than hunting but what fun would that be.
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And isn't that the truth, right there. My wife does the dollars per pound in the freezer thing, and almost every year in more than 40, I loose... "but what would be the fun" in winning that particular argument???
 
50 years ago they were surplus and cheap .There was a commercial industry based on converting them into sporting rifles from military dress on both sides of the ocean .Even read about the owner of navy arms using pallets of civil war era rifles and other items for rebar when building a new dock on Bannerman Island back in the day when he was a youth
 
Dosing said:
Century in 1993 did all the work, included a one piece base, the mag work, and reaming of 06 guns to 300WM, and a B&C stock for 299$. In return you got a nice big solid action, that in honesty I still enjoy, without changing the safety, or trigger, or COC. Today you cand still do it cheap with a few companies offering barrels, and getting the ears off is easier than ever, so for a few hundered bucks you can still have a nice action thats dead simple, and reliable, and not plastic.
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Yep, have one in 7mm Remington, one of my favourite. Lots of complaining about them but not from me. It’s the only synthetic stock I own, and it’s no comparison stock wise to to the modern cheap plastic guns made these days
 
The "cost " aspect of your question has been answered thoroughly but one thing that hasn't been mentioned was the many hours of just pure enjoyment that was had by a lot of us back then when disposable income was a thing not much in evidence for a large part of society back then ...and we needed something to fill our time with, I spent many hours just sitting on a bunch of spread out news papers to collect the filing chips while working away on a bolt handle, safety knob or bolt release pin just to change them from the utilitarian state they came in to something more appealing to the eye.

I guess what I'm saying is that the "money" aspect of kitchen table gunsmithing wasn't always the catalyst that drove the action.

And edited to add....we often needed the excuse of a new "wild-cat or Improved" barrel to go and spend some time with Ron Smith in his grainery/shop for an afternoon or two.
 
I got a P17 from my uncle, but the stock has a break at the wrist, which I glued it with a good wood glue, but have been looking for a stock for a P17 without perch belly. Anyone know who might have one? Love the rifle! Like as mentioned no plastic on these!
 
Dosing said:
Century in 1993 did all the work, included a one piece base, the mag work, and reaming of 06 guns to 300WM, and a B&C stock for 299$. In return you got a nice big solid action, that in honesty I still enjoy, without changing the safety, or trigger, or COC. Today you cand still do it cheap with a few companies offering barrels, and getting the ears off is easier than ever, so for a few hundered bucks you can still have a nice action thats dead simple, and reliable, and not plastic.
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Yes. I have one in 300 Win. Mag. Heavy to pack around, but it has accounted for all my moose and Vancouver Island elk, many bears and a deer.
 
Anyone interested in a sporting P'14/M1917 should keep an eye out for one of the ones reworked by BSA. The receiver is contoured, and drilled and tapped for scope mounts and an aperture sight; sporting sights are installed on the barrel; the original stock is neatly sported. Very usable as-is, and the receiver work is already done if the action is to be used for a custom build.
 
Dosing said:
Century in 1993 did all the work, included a one piece base, the mag work, and reaming of 06 guns to 300WM, and a B&C stock for 299$. In return you got a nice big solid action, that in honesty I still enjoy, without changing the safety, or trigger, or COC. Today you can still do it cheap with a few companies offering barrels, and getting the ears off is easier than ever, so for a few hundered bucks you can still have a nice action thats dead simple, and reliable, and not plastic.
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Yup! And a good all weather gun it is. A bit finicky on the feeding sometimes, but it knocked down a lot of deer for me.
 
badbrass said:
I got a P17 from my uncle, but the stock has a break at the wrist, which I glued it with a good wood glue, but have been looking for a stock for a P17 without perch belly. Anyone know who might have one? Love the rifle! Like as mentioned no plastic on these!
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Boyds has sporter stocks for P14/M17 rifles. - dan
 
The Remington Model 30 is a commercial model P14/M17. The American plants were producing so many spare parts in WW1 that there were enough spares to keep Remington's parts bins supplied for two decades. I don't have my reference at hand, but the industrial strategy was progressive enough to use women in semi-skilled jobs for reasonably good wages. By throwing just a little extra money at an urgent problem, the plants' output was phenomenal. But, specialization led to gross over production, and the plants soon met every contract signed.
 
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