p14 actions

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p14shooter

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For all you knowledable guys out there. Would a p14 action withstand the pressures if it was rechambered into a 7mm rem mag? I was originally going to put a 243 on it but not sure if I want to go that route now. I am told that there are significant differences in the quality of the action depending on if it was manufactured by rem itself or eddy. I know there are far superior actions for this, but I have a project in mind, and this will suite the needs nicely if I can use it.

Paul
 
Rebarreled you mean impossible to rechamber to a smaller caliber. Difference in pressure between a 303 and a 7 mag is a lot if I remember right. That and the cost of reworking the bolt from a rimmed shell to a rimless shell.
 
FWIW, I have a .300 Win Mag built on a Model 1917 action with a Pattern '14 bolt. It has been fired hundreds of times with no loss of my life. If you research the pressure ratings you will find a value in CUP or Copper Units of Pressure. Although it is not the pressure curve, it is an absolute maximum value of the force of the cartridge. Plan around that number for starters.
 
Pattern 14 or 17 actions -as long as it is not one of the overhardened Eddystone ones- is the toughest strongest bolt action. Mine is a .375 h&h and I know that .404 Jeffery's have been done on them.

Dr Jim
 
Raton57 said:
Rebarreled you mean impossible to rechamber to a smaller caliber. Difference in pressure between a 303 and a 7 mag is a lot if I remember right. That and the cost of reworking the bolt from a rimmed shell to a rimless shell.
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Thousands of p14 and 17 have been rebarreled to all high pressure chamberings, A p14 bolt used in a p17 tranforms a action to a standard belted rim. To convert a 17 bolt face to a larger rim size is a simple machining chore.
 
The Eddystone is a very hard action, almost considered brittle and the least desirable of the three manufacturers. Remington and Winchester made the best actions.
 
Paatz said:
Hey I have an ERA P14.
What's the story on this hardness thing?
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Old information. The best books and descriptions are in books that are now 60-75 years old. What you'll read now is a newer interpretation of those narratives. Roy Dunlap writes, Remington's steel is quite uniform, Winchester's good but less desireable for hunting conversions because of a cutout under the back sight, and Eddystones have inconsistent uniformity. The problem is Eddystone was overly aggressive on the heat treatment; almost a defence acquisition scandal if it wasn't wartime.

When discussing these old rifles, I find myself going to the de Haas and van Zwoll classic, Bolt Action Rifles. So much knowledge in one place. The opportunities for gunsmithing, which cartridges have been proven and what tweaks to make, are intelligently discussed therein.
 
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T&G said:
Pattern 14 or 17 actions -as long as it is not one of the overhardened Eddystone ones- is the toughest strongest bolt action. Mine is a .375 h&h and I know that .404 Jeffery's have been done on them.

Dr Jim
Click to expand...

They can be made into an excellent 404, I'd never part with mine.
It is a bit heavy though...
 
P14's in GOOD WORKING condition - magnaflux the actions!!!!

Lots have been build into standard magnums for decades. Like M98 Mausers, a sizeable industry existed at one time to sporterise these.

As long as the action is sound, I have built several rifles off these actions. The biggest was a 300RUM pushing 220gr MK's down a 36" no taper pipe.

In this day and age, there are so many options for receivers that I would not bother anymore but they will work if you are willing to invest the money.

Jerry
 
Parker Ackley talked about the ERA actions in his books. He purposely blew up actions to see how much of an overload they would take before they grenaded. The very hard ERA actions blew up a little sooner than the Winchester and Remington actions. The load used was something ridiculous that no handloader in his/her right mind would load. BTW- He couldn't blow up a Japanese Arisaka. Just kept blowing the barrel off without affecting the action in any way. If you can get a set (there are two) of Ackley's books, they are well worth the price. A great read. I lent mine to a friend some years ago. Can't remember which friend...

I have built a 308 Norma, a 338 Win, and a 416 Rem Mag on an ERA P-14 action. Never had any trouble with any of them. All were made with barrels from ER Shaw, back in the day when we could order barrels by a telephone call. Too bad we have to pay 3X the price for a similar quality barrel now in Canada.

Yes, you can buy a factory made rifle for about 1/4 of the price you are going to have to pay to have a custom gun. But you'd miss all the fun...(and you'd have a JAFR -Just Another Factory Rifle) and lots of money left over to buy ammo and other goodies. Hmmmmm...
 
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