P14

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M.sokyrka

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So I have recently come into possession of a complete Enfield(?) P14 action without a barrel or stock. The original chambering was for .303, and I was wondering what calibers, if any, it can be converted to. I've seen some chambered in .375 family calibers, but does this require any work being done to the bolt face? Also, where in Canada would I be able to purchase a barrel? And I know I'm going to get some hate for saying this, but I am not a huge fan of the lumpy look of the stock where the magazine is. Is there anyone that sells more "streamlined" looking stocks for these? I know there's been a lot of questions in this post, but please bear with me.
Cheers,
Matt
 
Any specific caliber you want or for any purpose like hunting related ?

If you find a barrel and it is warn maybe a 8mm- .303
Also there is a 7.62x39 ( a 7.62x54r is much higher pressures than the .303 and would push the Enfields action beyond the safe limits )
25-.303 is a popular one
6.5 - .303 is another good setup. Aka the " fast cat"

I believe there is a CGN user who sells .45acp kits
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/578034-45-acp-enfields


It all depends were you want to go with the build and what purpose it will be used for
 
I was thinking something more for hunting, and a caliber that has commercially available loads or cases (I don't have a whole lot of experience with reloading yet). I know the P17 was made for 30-06, but will the bolt on the P14 work for that? 25-06 could be a fun round if I could find a barrel.
 
OP, they can be chambered for anything that has similar rim diameter and the overall length will fit in the mag well.

You don't seem to realize what you're up against here.

If you can do the work yourself it might be worth doing as a project to learn from. Other than that, you may have a donor action for someone that wants to restore it back to its original glory.

I'm not saying your action is one of them but I used to purchase actions, exactly as you describe in ten packs for $150.

By the time I was finished, the actions were the cheapest part of a build. No one wanted a hunting rifle with huge (fugly) rear sight protectors or the "peep" sight. Removing those and profiling/drilling/tapping the receiver for scope mounts is not cheap if you don't have equipment or access to the equipment to do the job.

It's the same thing with surplus Mauser receivers and any other surplus military receiver you may encounter today.

25 years ago, there used to be all sorts of aftermarket products available to turn those very functional sow's ears into silk purses. That is no longer the case.

Even back then, most people picked up cheap for the time surplus rifles or just receivers with the idea of building their dream rifle or just doing the build because they liked the idea. Those hopes were often dashed right after they cut off the fore end from the stock and sanded it down to "get by until I get a round to it" Then they were relegated to a dark closet or the back end of the safe. Most are still there.

IMHO, by the time you get that receiver made into an acceptable hunting rifle, you will be looking at close to $1200 or more, depending on how top of the line you want to go and that doesn't include what the receiver cost you. You might be able to shave some of that cost down by doing some of the work yourself.

If you're thinking about the 375 H&H family? It can be done, but you will need to do a lot of modifications to the magazine and receiver.

If your thinking of the 375 Winchester, the rim is smaller in diameter and the extractor will likely need some work, if it will feed reliably to the chamber. It's on the edge of being functional IMHO.

If you're going to spend that kind of money, my suggestion is to pick up one of the more modern commercial rifles, chambered in the cartridge of choice, which will likely be cheaper and spend the cash you save on an appropriate scope.
 
bearhunter said:
OP, they can be chambered for anything that has similar rim diameter and the overall length will fit in the mag well.

You don't seem to realize what you're up against here.

If you can do the work yourself it might be worth doing as a project to learn from. Other than that, you may have a donor action for someone that wants to restore it back to its original glory.

I'm not saying your action is one of them but I used to purchase actions, exactly as you describe in ten packs for $150.

By the time I was finished, the actions were the cheapest part of a build. No one wanted a hunting rifle with huge (fugly) rear sight protectors or the "peep" sight. Removing those and profiling/drilling/tapping the receiver for scope mounts is not cheap if you don't have equipment or access to the equipment to do the job.

It's the same thing with surplus Mauser receivers and any other surplus military receiver you may encounter today.

25 years ago, there used to be all sorts of aftermarket products available to turn those very functional sow's ears into silk purses. That is no longer the case.

Even back then, most people picked up cheap for the time surplus rifles or just receivers with the idea of building their dream rifle or just doing the build because they liked the idea. Those hopes were often dashed right after they cut off the fore end from the stock and sanded it down to "get by until I get a round to it" Then they were relegated to a dark closet or the back end of the safe. Most are still there.

IMHO, by the time you get that receiver made into an acceptable hunting rifle, you will be looking at close to $1200 or more, depending on how top of the line you want to go and that doesn't include what the receiver cost you. You might be able to shave some of that cost down by doing some of the work yourself.

If you're thinking about the 375 H&H family? It can be done, but you will need to do a lot of modifications to the magazine and receiver.

If your thinking of the 375 Winchester, the rim is smaller in diameter and the extractor will likely need some work, if it will feed reliably to the chamber. It's on the edge of being functional IMHO.

If you're going to spend that kind of money, my suggestion is to pick up one of the more modern commercial rifles, chambered in the cartridge of choice, which will likely be cheaper and spend the cash you save on an appropriate scope.
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You're absolutely correct, I honestly don't know what I'm up against. The receiver was given to me by a family friend, and it is already missing the sight protectors and drilled for a scope. I just wanted to see if it was possible to bring it back to firing condition. And I would be game to keep it as a .303, I just need to source a barrel for it.
 
M.sokyrka said:
You're absolutely correct, I honestly don't know what I'm up against. The receiver was given to me by a family friend, and it is already missing the sight protectors and drilled for a scope. I just wanted to see if it was possible to bring it back to firing condition. And I would be game to keep it as a .303, I just need to source a barrel for it.
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There is an add in the EE to sell barrels and a Carcano receiver. The top barrel in the batch is a P17, barrel. not what you're looking for.

If you bought it, you would also have to find a new magazine well and a replacement bolt.

Lest I forget, If it hasn't already been done, the pot belly will need to be removed from the mag well, so that a proper stock can be fitted.

If you intend to go as cheap as possible, P17 and P14 stocks do interchange and they can usually be found for around ten dollars at gun shows. Boyd's also makes both the sporting and military version. About $500 by the time you get it to your door.

No matter what you do to that receiver, the completed project will never be worth more than a couple of hundred dollars. It will be a labor of love, don't expect to make a profit on it.

Also, it sounds like you're quite young and maybe can't afford a new rifle.

For a lot less than that rifle will cost, just to get it to the shooting stage, you can purchase a scoped starter Savage or Remington package in just about any chambering you desire and it will shoot every bit as well and likely even better.

I think you should touch up the blue, if it needs it and turn it into a lamp or paperweight. You may be able to sell it on the EE??
 
Roy Dunlap's book, "Gunsmithing" has descriptions of making the trigger guard modification you describe. Else, you want to find a commercial BSA P14 conversion - the trigger guards were straightened already on the higher grade one - for sure on the Model D and Model E - not sure about the Model C.

Be aware that there were three manufacturers of P14's, and, at best, there was maybe 75% interchangeablility for "drop-in" parts. Specific magazines, needed to partner with specific followers, for example. There was a change in design partway through production, so there are two different bolt designs - one needs a relief groove in the rear of the barrel face, one does not - depends on whether the bolt you will use has the extended or original length left bolt lug. However, once into "custom" work, the sky is the limit. I have .pdf's from an older magazine showing the machining steps required to convert a P14 to 505 Gibbs and to 416 Rigby. Have to fab your own magazine box and follower, and so on.

As mentioned above, just after WWII, these were very inexpensive, and many were converted to perfectly suitable "moose rifles". I have several examples here - from simple "saw off the long stock" and go shoot a moose, to very nice commercial ones like from BSA. Elwood Epps created a "poor man's magnum" by enlarging the 303 British chamber - totally a handloading proposition these days, but very comparable to today's 30-06 performance.

When it comes to barrels, note that the barrel thread is unusual - it is a square profile thread, not a "V" thread. I mess around on my lathe a bit, but grinding a "square groove" cutter and cutting those threads is not something I have done. But as mentioned above, once you figure out how you will get a barrel thread cut, then you can use almost any bore barrel blank, and chamber to almost any cartridge. It will just cost either your welding and machining time, or paying someone else to do it, once you have figured out exactly what you want done. Note also that the rear action screw is not square to the bore line - lower end is tilted forward about 5 degrees - either needs to be welded up, re-drilled and re-threaded to square, with similar change to hole in rear of trigger guard, or it is an additional complication when attempting to inlet a stock and have the trigger guard fit to the action.
 
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I just picked up a p14 action myself that had the ears already cut and i also got a .243 barrel with a heavy profile it was already chambered but looks unfired the chamber will need to be cut down but its a good start for my 6mm Musgrave build.

its going to cost me almost $1000 Canadian by the time i am done and i could get something like a savage axis package for $500 but i like #### on close actions and i wanted to build something. only work i can't do is thread/chamber the barrel everything else will be done by me so that brings the cost down.

id hold on to the receiver OP till you can do a lot of the work you're self and reload. i have thought about a .375 .303 based wildcat but i think id put it in a martini action rather than a Enfield

if you are looking for a .375 id go for a zastava m70 in .375 H&H or even better for hunting in north America 9.3x62
 
Generally speaking, the P14 action is best for magnum calibers because of its length and strength. A Square uses the P14 and M1917 action for its magnum cartridges..


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Here is a plain jane BSA P'14 sporter. Note that the rear bridge has been countoured like a Remington 700. Also drilled and tapped for an aperture sight. Those are R700 bases. The scope is a Bushnell Scopechief 4x. Scope zeroed easily, indicating the contouring and drilling and tapping were done correctly. Bought the rifle last fall. All in, including the scope and mounts, I have about $225 invested. This is a good shooting hunting rifle, capable of doing anything expected of it.
The action could be used to build a custom rifle. The hard work has been done. Straighten the bolt handle and trigger guard. You can get sporter stocks for the issue guard or the straightened guard.
These BSA conversions turn up fairly often in both .303 and .30-06. Usually go begging. Real potential as is, or as an action.
Have a look at the Criterion barrel antiqueguy hotlinked (tsk, tsk). There is a picture of the P'14 barrel's breechface. The square threads are one thing. Those eccentric milling cuts are quite another, from the standpoint of making a barrel.
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tiriaq said:
Here is a plain jane BSA P'14 sporter. Note that the rear bridge has been countoured like a Remington 700. Also drilled and tapped for an aperture sight. Those are R700 bases. The scope is a Bushnell Scopechief 4x. Scope zeroed easily, indicating the contouring and drilling and tapping were done correctly. Bought the rifle last fall. All in, including the scope and mounts, I have about $225 invested. This is a good shooting hunting rifle, capable of doing anything expected of it.
The action could be used to build a custom rifle. The hard work has been done. Straighten the bolt handle and trigger guard. You can get sporter stocks for the issue guard or the straightened guard.
These BSA conversions turn up fairly often in both .303 and .30-06. Usually go begging. Real potential as is, or as an action.
Have a look at the Criterion barrel antiqueguy hotlinked (tsk, tsk). There is a picture of the P'14 barrel's breechface. The square threads are one thing. Those eccentric milling cuts are quite another, from the standpoint of making a barrel.
View attachment 359047
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fixed the link I know there is a company who sells criterion no4 barrels here can't remember who
 
Thanks. That Criterion replacement P'14 barrel is US$269.95. By the time it is imported here, it is going to be close to C$400. Buy a custom blank, and have a 'smith do the work, and its going to be $600 or more, just for the barrel.
Unless the thing is going to be a serious custom rifle, it might not make sense.
I remember working on a matching pair of rifles made by a top tier US gunmaker on M98 actions. One was 7mmRM, the other .375H&H. Matching S&B scopes. These were made to order, and had been used for hunting in Africa as well as in North America. Sort of rifles featured in the coloured pages in Gun Digest. The .375 had cost $9000.
 
tiriaq said:
Thanks. That Criterion replacement P'14 barrel is US$269.95. By the time it is imported here, it is going to be close to C$400. Buy a custom blank, and have a 'smith do the work, and its going to be $600 or more, just for the barrel.
Unless the thing is going to be a serious custom rifle, it might not make sense.
I remember working on a matching pair of rifles made by a top tier US gunmaker on M98 actions. One was 7mmRM, the other .375H&H. Matching S&B scopes. These were made to order, and had been used for hunting in Africa as well as in North America. Sort of rifles featured in the coloured pages in Gun Digest. The .375 had cost $9000.
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$595 for the no4 barrel at Hirsch precision. in the end if I were going to do another p14 id use the .303 barrel I have its in really good shape but .303 epps would be my choice just for the added case life.
plenty of different actions to build on if someone where wanting to but it just doesn't make sense anymore when you can buy something like a Zastava Mauser in just about any caliber you would want for under $700.

only reason im building my p14 is because I want to I could leave the .303 barrel on there and throw it in a boyds stock and call it a day if a martini action popped up tomorrow id do just that and put the the 6mm in the martini action
 
I have bits and pieces of P'14 and M1917 actions kicking around. Doubt that I'll ever use them. Basically too much work for a rifle I don't need. Only new No. 4 barrel I have left is a '50s BSA replacement barrel in the grease paper. In the day, they were 3 for a $100. Maybe I'll trip over a sported 4T.
The BSA sporter in the photo is a good solid hunting rifle. But I can't see that I would ever build a custom rifle on the action.
Pblatz posted a photo of one of the A-Squares. It is my understanding that some of the actions they used came out of the drill rifles imported from India - the ones with the holes drilled through their chambers. Broke one of these for parts, used the stock to rebuild a sporter. The bore was absolutely like new. Too bad they'd drilled it.
 
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